Vertebral Column

Highlight/Shading Activity

Instructions: Review the illustration. This illustration displays the division of the vertebral column.

Task: Outline each division of the vertebral column by shading or highlighting it in the colour shown in the list:

  1. cervical vertebrae, c1-c7 (orange)
  2. thoracic vertebrae, t1-t12 (red)
  3. lumbar vertebrae, l1-l5 (purple)
  4. intervertebral disc (green)
  5. fused vertebrae sacrum – both illustration views (dark blue)
  6. coccyx (grey)

Image Attribution

The image used in this activity was sourced from OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology OER by Betts, et al., which is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Following OpenStax’s leadership and in the spirit of open education, we have licensed this OER with the same license. 

Image Description

This illustration activity shows the structure of the vertebral column. The left side of the illustration shows the front view of the vertebral column. The right side of the illustration shows the side view of the vertebral column. The illustration includes (from top): 7 cervical vertebrae (C1-C7) that form the cervical curve, 12 thoracic vertebrae (T1-T12) that form the thoracic curve, intervertebral disc, 5 lumbar vertebrae (L1-L5) that form the lumbar curve, fused vertebrae of the sacrum and coccyx that form sacrococcygeal curve, the sacrum, and coccyx.