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Human Body Systems
Each of our body systems are interconnected and dependent on each other.
Our heart, which is part of our circulatory system, does not beat unless
our brain, which is part of our nervous system, tells it to. Our skeletal
system is dependent on our digestive system for increase in size and strength.
Our muscular system needs our respiratory and circulatory systems to supply
energy in the form of oxygen and nutrients. It takes all the systems for
human growth and development.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about human body
systems.
Places To Go | People
To See | Things To Do | Teacher
Resources | Bibliography
Places To Go
The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out
about human body systems.
Did you know the food you eat has to travel 20-30 feet through through
your body? Take a virtual tour of the Digestive
System.
 Virtually
explore the heart.
When you were born, your heart weighed less than an ounce. A human adult's
heart weighs about 12 ounces. An elephant's heart weighs about 44 pounds.
A blue whale's heart is about the size of a small car and weighs about
1500-1600 pounds!
Visit your public or school library and find the book Yikes! Your
Body Up Close by Mike Janulewicz. This book has amazing close-up
photographs of interesting parts of your body. You won't believe what
your tastebuds look like up close and personal. You'll probably become
a better brusher when you see the bacteria that starts growing on your
teeth as soon as you eat. Your white blood cells which fight infection
are pretty awesome-looking, but the cells in the lining of your stomach
look like something from an alien monster movie.
Body
Quest
Want to take a slice out of a virtual human body? This informative site
does just that: it allows you to take a tour of the human body and learn
about its different systems. The site contains many graphics, such as
a body map, as well as alphabetical and categorical indexes for easy navigation.
Experiments and a quiz for each body system are also included.
Your
Gross and Cool Body
This site poses the question “What makes the human body work?”
Follow Wendell Worm and his friend Dora as they explore gross body sounds
and yucky body parts to answer that question.
Can
Teach: Body Systems Links
Check out this site that indexes a plethora of links about each of the
various body systems. 
 People To See
Do
you have medical questions? Ask
the professionals.
Scientific
American: Ask the Medical Expert
Find answers to an interesting assortment of questions from sneezing to
sleep research here.
Things To Do
Animal
Skull Collection
Come on, you know you'd like to see the skull of a piranha with all those
little, sharp teeth. Compare the skulls of an alligator (reptile), a bear
(mammal), a shark (fish), a frog (amphibian), and a canary (bird). Find
out the 2 main ways that the teacher who maintains this site prepares
the skulls. (Okay, one way is that he puts them in a container with alot
of dermestid beetles. "In the preparation of most skulls, I have found
it best to strip off as much of the hide and the flesh as possible, including
digging out eyeballs and the brain. This will eliminate most of the smell
of decomposition while the beetles do their work. The one exception would
be that of bird skulls. I have found that a good culture of beetles will
strip a bird skull clean, feathers and all, in just one day, before the
smell of decomposition becomes a problem." This is what really happens
in nature--it's just part of the life cycle!
 Famous
Left-Handers
Which part of our nervous system decides if we are right or left handed?
The last 4 presidents of the United States have been left-handed : Bill
Clinton, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford! Do you sense a pattern?
Are there any presidential candidates for 2000 who are left-handed?
 Neuroscience
for Kids
Explore the nervous system.
BBC:
The Human Body
Take a look inside your body and find out about the nervous, circulatory,
skeletal, and digestive systems. Click on parts of the body you want more
information on and learn all about them.
The
Real Deal on the Digestive System
Trace your lunch all through your digestive system with information from
this site.
The Hosford
Muscle Tables: Skeletal Muscles of the Human Body
Check out this site that contains detailed information about the muscles
of the human body. It even has a clickable body muscle map that enables
you to click on a part of the body to learn more about the muscles of
that area.
Inner
Body: The Skeletal System
Check out this cool skeletal diagram that features all kinds of facts
about bones, ligaments, and tendons.
Teacher Resources
Online activities are a listing of internet
sites with fun, interesting, and educational tasks attached to each one.
(You can learn how to use this WWW
Activities tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Lesson Plans/Webquests/Activities
Bibliography
- Avison, Brigid. I wonder Why I Blink and Other Questions About My
Body. New York : Kingfisher Books, c1993.
- Cole, Joanna. The Magic School Bus : Inside the Human Body. New York
: Scholastic Inc., c1988.
- Ganeri, Anita. How Do We Know What's Inside Us? Austin, Tex. : Raintree
Steck-Vaughn, c1995.
- Hanson, Jeanne K. Your Amazing Body : From Headaches to Sweaty Feet
and Everything in Between. New York : Scientific American Books for
Young Readers, 1994.
- Morgan, Sally. The Human Body. New York : Kingfisher, 1996.
- Parker, Steve. The Human Body. New York : Gloucester Press, 1993.
- Parsons, Alexandra. An Amazing Machine. New York : Franklin Watts,
c1996.
- Peacock, Graham. The Super Science Book of Our Bodies. New York :
Thomson Learning, 1993.
- Sanders, Pete. Bodyworks. London ; New York : Franklin Watts, c1997.
- Walker, Richard. The Children's Atlas of the Human Body : Actual Size
Bones, Muscles, and Organs in Full Color. Brookfield, Conn. : Millbrook
Press, c1994.
- Williams, Frances. Human Body. New York : DK Pub., 1997.
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