Using A.D.A.M.

Starting this week, you will want to begin using the A.D.A.M. Interactive Physiology CD on the muscular system. It should automatically open a new window for the CD.

You may have to do some installs, but don't worry-- they won't hurt your computer (unless yours is really old and can't handle the software... in that case, use it at the student success center or library). Once you have gotten this far, and selected Interactive Physiology Muscular System, you will see a screen similar to the following:

ADAMstart.jpg (107502 bytes)

I have added a couple of instructional notes on the diagram above, so that you know how to begin the program and how to make some changes in how it plays. One change is that you can alter the animation speed, and this may be important during some points in the programs... you may want to slow it down to see everything better. Another change is that you can turn off the narration... I would recommend that you leave the narration on for at least the first time you watch any of these programs. OK?

After you click in the middle on the above screen, the following screen will appear:

ADAMmusc.jpg (58617 bytes)

This is the main table of contents for the muscular system CD. Each of the six items in buttons is another topic within the muscular system. For this week, the only one that we will be using thoroughly is the first one-- "Anatomy Review: Skeletal Muscle Tissue." We will be covering the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) as well this week, but the "Neuromuscular Junction" program goes into more depth than we need to cover right now. We will return to use this particular NMJ program later, when we do the nervous system. I'd suggest waiting.

In Unit 8 we will be covering the "Sliding Filament Theory" and "Muscle Metabolism," while in Unit 9 we will be covering the last two, "Contraction of Motor Units" and "Contraction of Whole Muscle."