Kathleen M. Reilly - The Human Body: Get Under the Skin with Science Activities for Kids

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When you look in the mirror, you see the same you whos always looking back. Its easy to go through your day sleeping, eating, walking, talking, doing homeworkall without thinking about it too much. But under your skin, youve got an amazing set of systems that are working together to create the life you live.

Did you know youve got a river inside of you? You do, sort ofyour bloodstream! Just as a real river carries boats up and down the waterways to their destinations, so does your bloodstream, shuttling oxygen and waste products all around your body.

And youve got a furnace system, too. Your body can regulate its own temperature, cooling you down or warming you up. You stay the perfect temperature to keep all your systems on go.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

Why are all of the systems of the body important? How does our body let us do what we want and keep us alive?

You also have levers in the form of bones and joints and a highly developed computer system called the brainall tucked into your skin in a neat order!

Have you ever thought about how it all works?

WORDS TO KNOW

bloodstream: the blood moving through the body of a person or animal.

oxygen: a gas in the air that animals and humans need to breathe to stay alive.

regulate: to control or to keep steady.

lever: a bar resting on a pivot used to lift and move objects.

joint: the point where two bones meet and move relative to one another.

X-ray: a photograph taken by using X-rays, a wavelength that can penetrate a solid.

humors: the fluids that people used to believe were responsible for the health of the human body. These included black bile, phlegm, blood, and yellow bile.

organism: any living thing.

cell: the basic unit or part of a living thing.

germs: harmful microorganisms, which are organisms that are too small to be seen with a microscope.

DISCOVERING THE BODY

Before there were X-rays and other machines that offered a glimpse inside a live body, doctors and scientists had to make some guesses about how things worked inside of us. One popular theory from ancient times was that evil spirits made you sick. Perhaps you offended a demon and, therefore, were struck down with the flu.

Later, people believed that the body was ruled by four different humors, or fluids, that had to be kept in balance. If you had too much bile in your body, for example, youd get cancer.

This is how we look under the skin!

Ancient doctors didnt have the knowledge that modern doctors do. However, in their studies and writings, they laid the groundwork for the doctors and scientists who came after them to develop an understanding about the human body.

As time passed, doctors and scientists began to realize there were tiny things that make up the human body and every other organism. They learned that our bodies consist of billions of cells. They also came to realize that germs can be spread through the air and by touch and that the simple act of washing hands goes a long way in stopping the spread of illness!