human body study guide

8/2/2019 Human Body Study Guide

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sAbout The Human Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Pre-Viewing Teaching Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2sActivity 1. Name That Part

Teaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

sActivity 2. Pumping for LifeTeaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

sActivity 3. Be a BrainTeaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

sActivity 4. The Brain TeamTeaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Post-Viewing Teaching Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10sActivity 5. Its a Cell Call


Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

sActivity 6. A World of SenseTeaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

sActivity 7. Tasty AromasTeaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

sActivity 8. Bone BasicsTeaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

sActivity 9. On the Other HandTeaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

s Activity 10. The Living SystemTeaching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

sActivity 11. My Personal BodyInventory and Health Profile


Activity Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

s Letter to Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

sResources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Dear Teacher:

Discovery Pictures and the British Broadcasting Corporationhave partnered to bring you The Human Body, aremarkable large-format film that brings a fascinating new

dimension to the exploration of the miracle of life in its most

personal of settingsour own bodies. For the first time ever,

students will view their intimate, everyday world from someamazingly intricate and novel perspectives.

The film uses ground-breaking photographic techniques and

state - of - t he - a rt tech nology to tra nsport viewers on an

incredible voyage into the workings of the human body.

This Teachers Resource Guide, which

was prepared with the help of pro-

fessional educators like yourself, will

further your students understanding of

the bodys organ systems and how they

work together, and the relationship

between a healthy lifestyle and a healthybody. The material is designed for use

with students between ages 8 and 14.

Activity 1 includes space for a Body

Ma i ntena nce Plan for student self -

assessment and for tracking inform-

ation learned as students work on the various activity masters. Be

sure to send copies of the letter on page 24 home with your

students so they can share it, as well as their Body Maintenance

Plans, with their parents, guardians or caregivers.

The material is designed to be flexible. Please feel free to modify

and duplicate the copyrighted materials to suit your students

needs. And, please share these materials with other teachers in

your school.

I hope you and your students enjoy viewing The Human Body as

much as we enjoyed making the film and bringing it to you!

Sincerely,

Jana Bennett

Executive-in-Charge

Discovery Pictures

Contents Page

2001 DCI/BB

Heart strings


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The film explores the complexities of the human body by

investigating, in great detail, the functions the body performs

routinely every day, notes executive producer Jana Bennett. We

investigated and portrayed the human body in ways never seen

before. This film brings images to

the audience on a scale never beforecaptured in the history of cinema.

To make The Human Body come

alive took not only the marriage

of the latest developments in

medical imaging with cutting-edge

cinematic techniques and cameras,

but also a good measure of

ingenuity as well. As a result, The

Human Body is an incredible

technological achievement for

Discovery Pictures and the BBC.The films opening sequencea

close tracking shot over the

bodyis just one instance where

ingenuity played a major role.

You had to light the body with an

enormous number of big film lamps

to accomplish that [tracking shot over the body], explains writer-

producer Richard Dale. The lights gave off tremendous heat and

ultraviolet light, which could have been very damaging to the skin.

The commercially available UV filters were not adequate to stop

that much light, so our photographers developed little aquariums

that could fit in front of the lamps. They had cold water, which is

quite a good absorber of UV, constantly running through them.

Ultimately, The Human Body shows us more than a biological

wonder at its best; the film also shares the emotions of life. From

the joy of learning and the anxiety of puberty, to the potential

wonder of pregnancy and birth, The Human Body tells us the

amazing story of our own livesthrough our own bodies. Large

format has traditionally climbed mountains and gone to the

bottom of the ocean, but we have turned the camera on ourselves

and looked to our own bodies as a place for exploration,

observes Dale. Technology makes it possible to think about our

lives differently and to suddenly realize how marvelous the

human body is.

The Human Body is a presentation of The

Learning Channel and BBC Worldwide of a

Discovery Pictures / BBC co-production in

association with the Maryland Science

Center and the Science Museum, London

with major funding provided by the

National Science Foundation and distributed

by nWave Pictures Distribution.

Three years in the making, The Human Bodyreveals the incredible story of life. Inastonishing detail, this large-format film presents a

look at the biological processes that go on without

our control and often without our notice. Throughout

the film we follow a family from dawn to dusk as

they go about their daily routines. But this is no

ordinary story. This is the tale of what takes place

beneath the skina tale that allows us to see the

extraordinary accomplishments of our everyday

lives.

The everyday biological processes that keep us ticking

are all in a days work for the human body. Finding a

way to film and illustrate those activities for a screen

seven stories tall required a cinematic inventiveness

that was anything but routine. Co-produced by

Discovery Pictures and the BBC, The Human Body

incorporates ground-breaking computer graphics with

stunning real-life images to create a day in the life of a

human body. This film is one of the most technicallycomplex large-format films ever made, states director-

producer Peter Georgi. To get the subject matter on

the large screen, weve pushed the boundaries, taken

advantage of the most advanced scanning electron

microscopes, the latest thermal imaging and high-

definition digital video cameras, the cutting edge in

medical computer graphicswhatever we thought

could provide the best possible images.

And provide images it does! The Human Body will

provide a glimpse of:

sthe 100 billion new red blood cells the bodygenerates each morning;

sthe 40 yards of new hair that sprouts every day;

s a human egg nestling into the folds of a

fallopian tube;

s a thermal image of a child riding a bicycle;

s a trip on a tomato from mouth to stomach;

sbabies able to hold their breath under water, and

sthe inside of an ear as cells actually dance

to music.

Play at monitor-image ofLuke's eye

About


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2001 DCI/BBC

Student Objectives: To develop an understanding of where thevarious body parts are located in relation to one another and to consider

what it takes to createand maintaina healthy body.

Materials: None

Teaching TipsPart A. Have students research any needed information about thefunctions of body parts in preparation for the diagram matching

activity below. To play Body Trivia, divide your students into teams of

3 to 5 students each. Each student should find at least 5 interesting facts

about his or her teams chosen body part, then teams should combine

facts into a master list and develop true/false and fill-in-the-blank

questions based on them. Teams take turns quizzing other teams, with

the team that first responds correctly winning a point. When all teams

have asked their questions, the team with the most points wins.

2

Name That Part

lungstake in oxygen (O2) and expelcarbon dioxide (C02)

diaphragmmuscle that helps us breathe in

and out

kidneyhelps filter waste from the blood

brainthe bodys control center

liversecretes bile that helps digestion

heartpumps blood through the body

stomachbreaks down the food that we eat

large intestineremoves the liquid and leftovers

from digested food

small intestineabsorbs the nutrients from

digested food

Part B. First talk with your students about theimportance of living a healthy lifestyleproper

diet and exercise, avoiding smoking, drugs and

alcohol, etc. You might want to have students add to

their Body Maintenance Plan as the unit progresses

and as they learn more about different aspects of

their bodies.

Add-on Activitiess Students might work in their

original groups to identify

and demonstrate a

mechanical body

partsomething

that performs the

same function as

the part they

studied (i.e., a

computer as the brain,

a pump as the heart). As

a class, they could link

their parts together to

form a machine that

works like parts of the human body. You might

want to share The Robot Zoo: A Mechanical Guide

to the Way Animals Work, by Philip Whitfield

Obin (Turner Publishing, 1994) with students. The

book contains detailed, tongue-in-cheek

illustrations that transform 16 different creatures

into complex machines.

sYounger students could use fabric paint to

draw body shirts showing major organs, the

skeletal system, the circulatory system, etc., on

white T-shirts.

Pre-Viewing Teaching Strategies

Digestion

1.Review with students the words appearing in italics onthe teaching strategies pages in this guide (the left-hand

pages) and the activity masters (the right-hand pages).

Explain that these are just some of the things they will

learn more about during the film and from the activities

they will do after viewing the film.

2.Use the synopsis of The Human Body on page 1 to givestudents a brief summary of the film. Review with them

the major body parts and their functions.

3.Reproduce and distribute the Letter to Parent/Guardianon page 24 for students to take home.

s Activity 1

Pre-viewingActivity


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2001 DCI/BBC

The new large-format film, The Human Body, willtake you on the most fantastic trip youve everexperiencedinside an actual human body. Youll meet a

familyparents-to-be Heather and Buster, their teenage

nephew Luke, 15, and his sister Zannah, 8. Youll go inside a

cellthe bodys basic building block. Youll see the many

miracles we live through each day ashidden from us andoften unnoticedour bodies are achieving incredible things.

In this film, you will see how all of those parts you have

work together as a remarkable interdependent system. Youll

learn that regardless of the differences in how we look on

the outside, and although we may live very different lives, we

all share the same basic structure. But first, before we begin

this journey, lets find out what you already know!

Part A. The human body below is like a car that is madeup of different kinds of partstogether they make the body

hum at top speed. As the body mechanic, its your job to

identify where those parts are located. Draw a line from thename of the part to its correct location, and write on the line

below each what that part does.

Now youre going to become a specialist! Youand your team will pick one of the body partsyouve identified. Each member of your team will do some

research and develop a list of interesting facts about your

part. Then, combine your lists and try to stump your

classmates in a game of Body Trivia. (Your teacher will

explain the rules.)My teams body part is: ______________________________

Use the back of this sheet for your list of interesting facts.

Part B. Like any complex machine, your body needs proper

care and maintenance to work well. In the space below, begin

your own Body Maintenance Plan. (An example has been

given.)You can finish it on another page.

My Body Maintenance PlanNew Facts New Facts New Facts

Using your choice of

building materials

(anything from toothpicks

to bricks!), build a class exhibit that

shows how the body is put together.

lungs____________________________

____________________________

diaphragm____________________________

____________________________

kidney____________________________________

____________________________________

brain________________________________________

________________________________

liver__________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________

heart____________________________

____________________________stomach____________________________

____________________________

large intestine____________________________

____________________________

small intestine____________________________

____________________________

Add-onActivity

Name That PartActivity

1

Diet

Exercise

I will alsodo this:

I wontdo this:

Eat 5

fruits and

vegetables

a day.

Reproducible Maste


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Pumping for LifeStudent Objectives: To learn about the respiratory system

and how the heart works.

Materials: Tennis balls, modeling clay, toothpicks or tacks

Teaching TipsPart A. Review with students the following background:The diaphragmthe muscle that separates the chest and

the abdominal cavityhelps us to breathe in and out as

it expands and contracts, exchanging carbon dioxide for

oxygen. Blood carries the oxygen and nutrients through

the left side of the heart and from there, via the

arteries, to all of the bodys cells, as carbon dioxide and

other waste products are returned to the blood. This

blood flows through the bodys veins to the right side of

the heart and from there to the lungs. The lungs release the

carbon dioxide and waste products and pick up oxygenrepeating the cycle.

A fter doi ng the ten n is ball ex peri ment, have students discuss

t he resu l ts. Then talk with them ab out the effects of cha nges

in alt itude on how the respi ratory system works. When you

cha nge altitudes too quick ly your body isnt able to ad just fast

enough to the cha nge in the air pressure. The higher you go,

t he th i n ner the air

b ecomes and the

less oxygen there is.

That mea ns you

ta ke in less oxygeneach time you

breat he. Mo st

people begin to

not ice the effects of

h igher altitudes at

7,000 to 8,000 feet

ab ove sea level (at a

ski resort in the Colorado Rock ies or the Sw iss Alps, for

exa mple). The sy mptoms of this cond it ion k nown as

a l t itude sick ness i nclude headaches, short ness of breath and

nausea. They genera l ly go away within a few days, after your

b ody has ad justed. An o x i a ( mea n i ng no oxygen) is one of

t he mo st com mon problems mountain cl i m b ers face. Along

w ith a shortage of oxygen, there is a si mu l ta neous inc rease in

t he amount of ca rb on diox ide in the blood, which causes us

to breat he faster in an effort to el i m i nate it .

Part B. Demonstrate for your students the correctways to take a pulseby placing their index and middle fingers

together at the pulse point on the neck or

wrists. (To make it easier for yourstudents to see and count their pulse,

you might have them use a

toothpick inserted into a small

lump of clay and have them

rest the clay on their wrist

pulse point with the toothpick

pointing up. Another method

is to use a metal thumb tack

placed on the wrist with the

pointed end up.) Tell your students

that the average pulse rate for a

young person can range from 90 to 120beats per minute. The average pulse rate

for an adult (the rate they approximated in their tennis ball

experiment) is about 72 beats per minute. A word of caution:Students physical abilities may vary widely, and some may not be

able to safely undertake even limited exercise. All students should

be monitored carefully during any kind of physical activity.

Add-on Activitiess Students might learn more about the diaphragm and

investigate the causes and various cures for hiccups.

s Students might interview someone they know who has

asthma to learn what can trigger an asthma attack, what it feelslike to have an asthma attack and what doctors can do to help.

sStudents can do some research to learn about the

stethoscope, which was invented almost 200 years ago. They

could compare the early model to the one used today to see

how similar or different they are.

sOlder students might check out the American Heart

Association Web site (www.americanheart.org) to research

heart-healthy nutrition, and plan a weeks worth of heart-

healthy meals.

sStudents might research and report on the pioneers of heart

surgery and the technological advances that have occurred in

this field. As a starting point, students might want to reviewPioneers of Heart Surgery, NOVA Online,

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/heart/

pioneers.html.

4

Pre-viewingActivity

s Activity 2

2001 DCI/BBC

Heart

Blood in vein


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The human heart really doesnt look much like theheart on a Valentines Day card. Actually, it looksmore like an upside-down pear.

The heart is part of the circulatory system. It works

together with the lungs and diaphragm, which are part ofthe respiratory system. The respiratory system causes

oxygen to be inhaled into the body and removes waste such

as carbon dioxide as air is exhaled.

Part A. In the film The Human Body, youll see Lukesheart and lungs working together to keep his body moving

on the basketball court.

Try this experiment. Put

a tenn is ball in your

ha nd and sq ueeze it as

ha rd and as quickly as

you can. Your goal will

be to compress it 70

times in one minute

t hats close to the

number of times your

heart contracts in

one minute.

How many times did you open and close your

hand? __________________________________________________

What did your hand feel like at the end?__________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

What you just did for one minute, your heart does all day

long! Imagine how strong your heart must be to pump

constantly without stopping, 24 hours a day.

Part B. The pulse you feel when you put your fingerson the pulse points in your neck or on your wrist is the

blood being pumped through your bodykind of like water

being pumped through a hose and a garden sprinkler.

Your pulse rate changes as you become more active and

your heart beats harder to increase the flow of oxygenthroughout the body. The average resting pulse rate for a young

person ranges from 90 to 110 beats per minute. As you get

older, the pulse rate slows to an average of 72 beats per minute.

What is your resting pulse rate?__________________________

Now raise your arms over your head 10 times. What is your

active pulse rate?________________________________________

Pumping for Life

Now that you know how to take your pulse, keep a log of the different activities you do for one full day and take

your pulse at six different points during the day. Use the space below to keep a record of your pulse rate during

various activities. Some examples are listed.

In bed on awakening____________ Brushing your teeth________________Walking________________________________

Playing sports__________________After eating________________________ Just before going to sleep______________________

Other ________________________ __________________________________ ____________________________________________

Now, make a bar graph of the changes in your pulse rate as you went through the day.

Interview the school nurse, your doctor or another local health professional to learn about

high blood pressure and how a healthy lifestyle can help to prevent or manage it. Use what

you learn to add to your Body Maintenance Plan.

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

Activity

Red blood cells

5

Activity

2

Add-onActivity

2001 DCI/BBC

Reproducible Master


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Be a BrainStudent Objectives: To identify the major parts of thebrain and their functions and to learn about brain preference.

Materials: None

Teaching TipsPart A. Brain Structure.Provide this background: Today, weknow a great deal about how the brain works. For example, we

know that different parts of the brain control different abilities and

functionsbut that wasnt always the case. That idea was

introduced 200 years ago by an Austrian doctor named Franz

Joseph Gall, who also believed he could diagnose what was

happening in the brain by reading the different bumps on the

head. Galls theory, phrenology, quickly became very popular.

However, today we know that Galls theory has no true scientific

basis. With the help of todays technology, we can actually look

inside the skull and see the brain as it works. [Answer key to the

brain matching quiz: 1. E, 2. D, 3. C, 4. A, 5. B]

Now review this information with students before they do the

lobe quiz: The biggest part of your brain is divided into two

equal partsthe right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. The

two hemispheres work together and share information through

a thick band of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum, which

divides them. Each hemisphere is further divided into four

lobes, each responsible for certain functions and senses.

[Answer key to the lobe function quiz: 2vision; 3hearing,

memory; 4pain, touch, pressure, sensation of temperature]

Part B. To determine which eye is dominant,students should cut a one-inch circle in a sheet of

paper and hold it about one foot in front of their eyes.

With both eyes open, they should focus on a distant object and

hold the index finger in line with the center of the hole and the

distant object. First, they should close the left eyeif

everything is still lined up, the right eye is dominant. Then, they

should close the right eyeif everything is still lined up, the left

eye is dominant. To determine which ear is dominant, students

should cup the left ear and listen as you whisper a phrase, then

cup the right ear and listen as you whisper from the same

location. Students can determine dominance according to which

ear heard the phrase more clearly. Check out the site at

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.htmlfor

more information.

Brain Dominance.Explain to your students that the right side

of the brain controls the muscles on the left side of the body

and the left side of the brain controls the muscles on the right

side of the body. Although the two sides of the brain sha re

many funct ions, they also have unique specia l ties. The right

side cont rols spatial abil ity and intuitive thought; the left side

controls verbal language and ana ly tical abi lity. Scientists today

are lea rning more about brain dominance. A left- brain -

dominant person is analytical, verbal and logical. Left- bra in-

dominant people are good at logic and word problems and

genera lly not so good at creat ive, nonl i near thought. A right-

brai n -dom i nant person tends to be creative and holist ic in

t hought. Right-bra i n-dominant people tend to see the whole

picture but may miss the detai ls. They may need help withexpressive language and logic. Be sure to stress to students

t hat, while they may tend to be right- or left -bra i ned, they

need to develop both their analy t ical and creative sides to be

a well - rounded indiv idua l.

[Answer key to the brain dominance quiz: Students who

answered true for questions 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8 tend to be right-

brained. Students who answered true for questions 3, 5 and 6

tend to be left-brained. Since many people exhibit some of both

tendencies, student scores could be inconclusive.]

Add-on Activitiess Students can research why we yawn or laugh, how we

understand language, or why we need sleep.

sWorking in small groups, students might pick one disease or

condition that affects the brain. Each

group could prepare a class report on the

diseases causes, symptoms, affects,

treatments available, and how the disease

might affect other body parts.

Cerebrum

Cerebellum

Brain Stem

Pituitary Gland

Hypothalamus

Pre-viewActiv

s Activity 3

2001 DCI/BBC

Frontal Lobe

Occipital Lobe

Temporal Lobe

Parietal Lobe

6


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A. Cerebrum 1.__Are you too cold? Too hot? Should youshiver or sweat? This body thermo-

meter will let you know what to do!

B. Cerebellum 2.__ It may be tiny, but those hormones itmakes are sure a big deal.

C.Brain Stem 3.__

This connects the brain and the spinal cordso you wont lose your mind!

D.Pituitary Gland4.__ If you think it or say it, it s tarts in thispart of the brain.

E. Hypothalamus 5.__ Got rhythm? Youve got this!

Be a BrainYour brain is faster and more powerful than the mostpowerful computer youve ever seen. As you learn in TheHuman Body, it controls everything your body does. To do so, it

uses nearly a fifth of all the calories you eat or drinkmore than

any other part of your body!

Part A. Each part of your brain has a very distinct and

important role to play. See how much you already know by

matching the name of the part to its description below. Then, label

the parts in the drawing.

Part B. There are several ways to test which side ofyour body is dominant. Try the exercises suggested by

your teacher to see how you measure up:

Which hand do you normally write with? ________Which foot do you use to kick a ball? ___________

Which eye is dominant? ________Which ear did you

use to hear better? ___________

Have you ever heard someone say they are right-

brained or left-brained? What do you think that means?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Test yourself to see which side of your brain you

would tend to use by answering true or false tothese questions.

True False1. Id rather think of a theme for a

party than actually plan one.

2. If I get lost, Id rather have a mapthan a list of directions.

3.Dont tell my teacher, but I do better onmultiple-choice tests than writing essays.

4.When Im studying for a test, I needmusic to get my brain in gear because

silence is too quiet.

5. In a debate, its hard for me to acceptthe side of the issue I dont agree with.

6. I like to do my homework right awayinstead of waiting until its almost due.

7.When I lose something, I try to seewhere I was when I lost it.

8. I usually can tell what peopleare thinking.

Remember thateven though some things may beeasier for you depending on which side of the brain

you favoryou couldnt function as a whole person

without both sides!

Cerebrum

Cerebellum

Brain Stem

Pituitary Gland

Hypothalamus

Now see if you can fill in the correct functions of the lobes from

the clues provided below. The first one has been done for you.

1.Frontal LobeYou need this to make things happen and toreact to them when they do. This controls: planning, speech,

movement, problem-solving, emotions.

2. Occipital LobeIt may be 20/20 or 20/200.

This controls: ____________________________________________________

3. Temporal LobeListen and youll remember.

This controls: ____________________________________________________

4.Parietal LobeOuch! Thats hot and it hurts!

This controls: ____________________________________________________

Activity

3

2001 DCI/BBC

Reproducible Master

What if your brain

were a computer?

Do some research to

construct a display that shows the

parts of the brain that correspond

to functions of the computer.

Add-onActivity


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8

The Brain TeamStudent Objectives: To consider how learning happens andto encourage students to consider how they learn best.

Materials: None

Teaching TipsFirst, provide your students

with this background

information about the brain,

then have them label the parts

on the drawing: The bra in

only weighs three or four

poundsabout the weight of

an average textbookbut it is the mo st complex object in the

world. Neu ro ns receive, process and relay all the specialized

in format ion needed to go about your da i ly life. But it isnt the

num b er of neurons alone that makes this complex systemwork its the way they are organized and con nected.

There are many different kinds of neurons, but they all havesome things in common. Like other cells, they all have a cell

body with a nucleus that contains the cells genes. The nucleus is

surrounded by cytoplasma liquid that contains all the

materials the neuron needs to function. But unlike other cells,

neurons also have dendrites and axons. Dendrites are like an

antenna system that receives signals from other neurons. An

axon is the channel that sends signals from one neuron to

another. The axon of one neuron is connected to the dendrites

of the next neuron by a synaptic terminal.

Part A. Lead a

class discussionabout learning

styles (see activity

sheet) and

preferences before

your students

complete the

learning preference

survey.

Part B. Inpreparation for the

activity, put 12 small objects in a box on your desk. Set a time

for three subsequent viewings to test students recallthe first

time at the end of the same class, the second time at either the

beginning or end of class the following day, and the third time

two days later. Each time the students view the box, they

should write their new list on a new sheet of paper without

referring to previous lists (have them keep their lists for later

comparison). You can find additional information on this topic

athttp://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html.

Add-on Activitiess Students might research the

damage that can be done to the

brain and various other organs

such as the liver, kidneys or lungs

by smoking cigarettes or using

alcohol or illegal substances to

achieve a chemical high.

s Students might create their own

neuron models using pipe cleaners or

some other material of their choice. You can find directions for

this activity athttp://faculty.washington.edu/

chudler/chmodel.html.

sStudents might do some research to learn about the natural

high exercise can induce because of the bodys release into the

brain of endorphins, which then are broken down to create a

short-lived feeling of euphoria.

dendrites

nucleus

cytoplasm

axon

synapticterminal

Profile of a neuron

Brain cell dying

Pre-viewingActivity

s Activity 4

2001 DCI/BBC

Structure of a neuron


10/26

Review with your teacher these terms about neurons:

s Cytoplasma liquid that surrounds the cell nucleuss Axona channel that allows signals to pass between neuronssSynaptic terminalallows the axon of one neuron to

connect to the dendrites of another

See if you can label the parts of a neuron on the drawing below.The more you practice what you have learned, the stronger these

connections (dendrites) become. And the connections you form at

this time in your life are the most important ones because they

become the platforms you will build on to make even more

complex connections later on.

Part A. Have you ever stopped to think about how youlearn? Some people (visual learners) learn best by looking at

things, or reading about them. Some people (auditory

learners) learn best by hearing about things. And some people

(kinesthetic learners) learn best by actually doing things.

In the space below, list 10 things you have learned in your classes

during the last two days. Next to the item, describe how you

learned each. Weve given you one example to help you get started.

Example Learning StyleA new Visual (if you read about it

computer program in a manual)

Auditory (if you listened to

a lecture about it)

Kinesthetic (if you

performed tasks using it)

Things I Learned How I Learned Them

Part B. The more links theneurons in your brain create, the

better your memory becomes.

Try this exercise to see what

happens as your neurons go to

work. Look at the objects your

teacher has placed in the box.

Then return to your seat and list

as many of them as you can on the back of this paper.

How many items did you list? ________

Look at the objects again at the end of class. Then take a new

sheet of paper and make a new list. How many objects are

on your list? ________

Look at the objects the following day and make another new

list. How many objects are on your list? ________

Now look at them one final time. How many objects did

you list? ________

9

dendrites

nucleus

cytoplasm

axon

synaptic terminal

The body is made up of bi llions of cel ls. In the

nervous system these cel ls are called ne u ron s.

They are specialized to ca rry mess ages to the brain, and

t hey connect to other neurons through branch- l i ke

st ructures ca lled d en dri t es.

Every time you learn something newa new word, how toride a bike or play the fluteyour neurons develop new

connections to other neurons. In fact, your brain eventually

will form trillions of connectionsthats more connections

than there are stars in the entire universe!

Activity

4The Brain Team

Work in groups to create

other exercises that

demonstrate how

repetition increases memory. Then

create graphs that illustrate what the

exercises demonstrate.

Add-onActivity

Brain cell

2001 DCI/BBC

Reproducible Master


11/26

2001 DCI/BBC

Part B. Gauge how much your students already know about geneticsand how much background information they will need. You might

discuss Gregor Mendels research with dominant and recessive genes in

pea plants and explain that researchers have

known about DNA since Mendels time, but

it wasnt until 1953 that two English

scientistsJames Watson and Francis

Crickdiscovered how DNA isactually put together. DNA is

composed of building blocks called

nucleotides. Nucleotides are made

up of deoxyribose sugar, a

phosphate group and one of four

nitrogen bases: adenine (A), thymine

(T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C).

Alternating deoxyribose sugar and

phosphate molecules link together to

form something like the side supports on a ladder. Complementary pairs

of nitrogen bases form the rungs of the ladder. Adenine is always paired

with thymine and guanine is always paired with cytosine. The technical

term for the DNA ladder (see diagram on activity sheet) is a right-handed

double helix, because the strands twist to the right. Everyones DNA has

the same basic chemical structure, but the way its components are

arranged differs from person to person. Each persons DNA is unique to

him or herself. (Identical twins, however, have identical DNA, although

their fingerprints are different.) Information on building DNA models

can be found here:http://biology.about.com/science/biology/library/

howto/htcandydna.htm.

Add-on ActivitiessMany people have concerns about the possibility of manipulating

DNA as a way to genetically engineer humans. Older students might

develop position papers on genetic engineering or hold a debate on the

ethics and/or possible consequences of such practices.

s Students might research news articles about the

use of DNA to solve crimes to learn the arguments

for and against this technology, then develop their

own positions on this issue. For example, should

there be limits on how and where it is collected, or

how it is used?

Its a Cell CallStudent Objectives: To learn how cells function

and to understand the structure of DNA.

Materials: Uncooked eggs, vinegar, distilled water,(golden) corn syrup, unbreakable containers, plastic

food-handling gloves, safety glasses

Teaching TipsPart A. Have your students work in groups of 3-4students each for this activity. Each group should de-

shell two uncooked eggs by soaking them in

household vinegar for a day or two, until the shell

dissolves completely. After soaking, the eggs will be

very swollen, rather firm and easily broken. Caution

your students to handle the eggs carefully and to keep

a tray underneath them to contain spills. Note: Have

students wear inexpensive plastic food-handling gloves

so they do not touch the raw eggs directly. Because

vinegar is an acid, students also should wear eye-

protection glasses.

Tell students that water is one substance that can

permeate the eggs membrane, in the process called

osmosis. When the egg is soaked in a solution in which

the concentration of water is lower than that inside the

egg (corn syrup), the liquid inside the egg passes

through the membrane into the solution and the egg

looks like a flabby bag. When an egg is soaked in a

solution where the concentration of water outside the

egg is higher (distilled water), the water tries to reach

equilibrium by passing through the membrane into

the egg, and the egg becomes larger and firmer.

Results of Experiment

Egg 1Corn Syrup Egg 2Distilled Water

10

Post-viewingActivity

Red blood cells

Post-Viewing Teaching Strategies

1. Lead students in a discussion of the film, encouragingthem to share their impressions of both its content and

the impact of the large-screen format on the presentation

of the content.

2.Ask students if what they think and know about having ahealthy lifestyle has changed since viewing the film.

3.Refer to Resources on page 24 for additional informationand ideas.

s Activity 5


12/26

You cant see them, but theyre everywhere. In fact,every single living thing on this planet is made up ofthem. Cells may be tiny, but they play a big role in the

human body! In fact, in The Human Body, we see the cells of

the mothers unborn baby grow and change.

Part A. Healthy cells are essential for a healthy body. Justlike other living things, cells need to take in oxygen and

nutrients and get rid of waste products. Every human cell issurrounded by a cell membrane that controls what the cell

takes in and what it lets out. Whats really amazing is that it

allows in and out only the things its supposed to!

Be sure to handle the de-shelled

eggs carefully (the membrane

can tear easily). The membrane

on your de-shelled eggs is very

similar to the membrane that

surrounds a human cell.

Cover egg 1 with corn syrup.Cover egg 2 with distilled water.

Use the chart below to record what happens to your eggs

during a 24-hour period.

Why do you think each egg changed the way it did?

Its aCell Call

Part B. The cell is the smallest living unit in our bodies, and has a language andstructure all its own. An entire world exists inside the cell:

spower houses to create energy

splaces to store energy

splaces where energy is used

s a place where things (like proteins) are made

s a place where our physical characteristics are stored (genes)

s a place where all of these processes are controlled (the nucleus)

Lets build a model to help explain what is going on, starting with

the nucleus. Inside the nucleus we will find DNA. DNA is the reason

you look the way you doyour hair, eyes, height, skin type, skin

color, and so on. DNA is found in genes, and genes are responsible

for how similar you look to your parents in some ways or like your

grandparents in others and even like your brothers and sisters. If

we opened up a gene, took out the DNA, and gently stretched it

out, we would find that it is shaped like a spiral. Scientists call that

a double helix. There are two strands of DNA wound around and attached to

each other by units called bases, named adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G),

and cytosine (C). The strands are made up of a sugar (deoxyribose) and a

phosphate molecule.

The DNA strands join together as follows: A on one strand will always pair with T

on the other, and G will always pair with C. It looks something like this:

C T C A C A G C G T A C C

G A G T G T C G C A T G G

The bases form the ladder, and the sugar-phosphate

molecules form the outside spiral form. Follow your teachers

instructions to make your own DNA strand.

Describe the egg at the Describe the egg at thebeginning of the experiment. end of the experiment.

Egg 1

(corn syrup)

Egg 2

(distilled water)

Names and Wordsto Know

sAdenine, thymine, guanine,cytosine: The chemicals, or nitro-gen bases, that are found in DNA.

sDNA (deoxyribonucleicacid): The genetic material that iscontained in every cell in the

human body. Every persons DNAis unique, except for that of

identical twins.

sDouble helix: The structure ofDNA. A double helix looks

something like a twisted ladder.

sHuman Genome Project: Aproject that identified every gene

present in human DNA.

sMendel: The Augustinian monkwhose work formed the foundation

for the science of genetics.

sWatson & Crick: The Englishscientists who discovered how DNA

is put together.

Activ

5

1 2001 DCI/BBC

Do an Internet search to

learn about the Human

Genome Project, the

progress it has made and why it is

so important.

Add-onActivity

Reproducible M


13/26

AWorldof Sense

StudentObjectives: Toconsider how the eyeand ear work and to

learn about visual

perspective and sound

waves.

Materials: Tuningfork, broad plastic bowl

or other unbreakable container, empty shoe boxes

or other similar containers, various sizes and

widths of rubber bands

Teaching TipsTalk with your students about the different parts

of the eye and how they work together. The optic

nerve in the back of the eye sends what the eye

sees to the brain. When the light passes through

the eyes lens and the image hits the retina, the

image is upside down. Therefore, the image that

travels through the optic nerve to the brain also is

upside down. The brain has to flip the image over

so its the right way up and makes sense.

You might want to have your students make a

pinhole camera (camera obscura)showing whatan image looks like when it reaches the retina of

the eyethen sketch the images they see through

it. For directions on how to make a very simple

pinhole viewer, go tohttp://www.exploratorium.

edu/IFI/activities/pinholeinquiry/viewer.html.

For information about making an actual pinhole

camera that can take pictures, go to

http://www.kodak.com/global/

en/consumer/education/lessonPlans/

pinholeCamera/pinholeCanBox.shtml.

Part A. Here are some Web sites that containadditional examples of optical illusions:

http://www.justriddlesandmore.com/illusion.html

http://www.aoanet.org/jfk-optical-illusions.html

Part B. Talk with your students about the three differentparts of the ear. Explain that the outer ear is the part you

can see. It collects the sound waves. The sound waves

travel through the outer ear canal to the middle ear, where

they strike the eardrum. The eardrum begins to vibrate, and the vibrations

pass through three tiny bonesthe hammer, the anvil and the stirrup

which transfer the vibrations to the inner ear. There they enter a small curledtube known as the cochlea, where they are turned into nerve signals that

allow the brain to understand the sound.

Tuning-fork experiment: Strike a tuning fork so the students can hearthe sound. Explain that the sound was caused by vibrations. Then, have

students take turns dipping the tuning fork in a broad

plastic dish or bowl or other unbreakable

container of water. The vibrating fork sets up

little waves in the water, just as it sets up

waves of molecules in the air.

Rubber-band experiment: Havestudents stretch several different widths of

rubber bands over an empty box, in the

order of thickness, then pluck each one with

their finger. (Be sure that they protect their

eyes in case the band snaps.) Have students

describe the sounds the bands made and rate their

comparative pitch (highness or lowness of the sound). They will see that the

thinner rubber bands vibrate faster than the thick ones, causing them to have

a higher pitch. Now have students pluck one rubber band, immediately touch it

with their finger, and listen to the sound. When they touch the vibrating

rubber bands, the vibrations stop and the sound stops.

Add-on Activitiess Students could do a simple experiment that allows them to find their blind

spot, the area on the retina that has no receptors. For directions on how to

conduct this activity, visithttp://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chvision.html.

s Students might work in teams to prepare presentations about vision

beginning with the eye patterns of a newborn who is learning how to see.

s Students can try this experiment to experience the direction of sound: One

student stands at arms length behind a blindfolded classmate and snaps his or

her fingers in various directions. The blindfolded student points in the

direction the sound is coming from. Next, the experiment is repeated with the

blindfolded student wearing a pair of earmuffs. Finally, with the blindfold still

in place, the student removes the earmuffs and places a cardboard tube from a

roll of paper towels over one ear before the finger-snapping exercise is

repeated. Students should be able to detect the direction of the sound with

their ears uncovered. It will be more difficult to determine the direction when

the sound is muffled by the earmuffs. Putting the cardboard tube over one ear

causes the sound to travel a greater distance to reach that ear, so the student

will perceive the sound as coming from the opposite direction.

s Students might work in teams to research and report back to class the

causes of earaches and ear wax, how cold germs can be spread to the ear,

and how the ear controls balance.

s Activity 6

2001 DCI/BBC


Ear cochlea

The human eye

12


14/26 1

The eyes may be the windows to your soul, but ittakes both your eyes and ears for you to senseyour world each day. Together, they allow you to see a

friends face or hear your favorite music.

Your Eyes. When you first open your eyes, your toplayer of sense cells is actually scorched away by the bright

light. But, happily, beneath them, a fresh layer is

revealednew sensors with which youll see the new day.

Lets learn how your eye works, and how it can fool you

because seeing isnt as simple as it looks.

Your cornea focuses light, and the iris controls just how

much light passes through the pupil. The lens helps focus

this light on the retina, which contains a layer of light-

sensitive cells. If your eyeball is too long or your cornea is

too curved, you will be nearsighted (objects that are closeto you are clear but those in the distance are blurry). If

your eyeball is too short or your cornea isnt curved

enough, you will be farsighted. This means you can see

distant objects clearly but things that are close are blurry.

Part A. Sometimes, your brain makes you see things thatarent really there. For example, if you look down a long

straight roadway, the sides of the road seem to come

together in the distance. This is because of perspective

the way two objects appear in relation to each other. Try

this optical illusion. Which flower has the bigger center?

If you picked the flower on the left, youre wrong! Actually,

both centers are the same size. (Measure them with a ruler

to make sure.) You can fool your brain into thinking that an

object is bigger or smaller by placing it next to objects of

different sizes.

Your Ears. If youve ever been to a very loud rockconcert, you may have experienced a ringing in your ears

afterward. Your ears are sensitive to sound and can be

easilyand permanentlydamaged if you expose them

to loud noises like this without protection. Your ears are in

charge of collecting sounds and turning them into nerve

signals that your brain interprets for you. Without your

ears, your brain wouldnt have anything to interpret and

you wouldnt be able to hear or dance to music! Next time

youre enjoying your favorite CD, take a moment to thank

those hairs in your ears. They are part of a built-in

amplifying system thats better than anything you can find

in your local electronics store.

Part B. Sound is produced by vibration. Try this: Feel yourthroat as you place your fingers lightly on it and say, My

name is _______. Do you feel the vibrations? Vibrations that

come from the sources of sound cause air molecules to move,

setting up sound waves. Your ears contain the three tiniest

and most delicate bones in your entire body. Theyre located

right behind your eardrum, and theyre called the hammer,the anvil and the stirrup. Their job is to transfer sound

vibrations that reach your outer ear into your inner ear.

Now, follow your teachers instructions as you experiment

with a tuning fork, a bowl of water, and some rubber bands,

to see what a sound wave looks like and why some sounds

are high and some low.

Look at this

illustration at right.

What do you think

you see? Take a class poll on

the results.

Your eyes may fool you, but

you cant fool your earsif you

damage them when you are young,

your hearing will get worse as you

get older. Research the harmful

effects of loud sounds and where

you might find them in your

everyday life.

AWorld of SenseActivity

6

Add-onActivity

2001 DCI/BBC

Hammer, anvil and stirrup

Reproducible Master


15/26


16/26

1

As you breathe in, odor molecules in the air enter through

your nostrils, pass into the nasal cavity, and then go to the

olfactory bulb. Thats where special nerve cells (receptors)

determine just what the odor is. The nerve cells send signals

to the brain, which lets you know what youre smelling.

Part A. Some people have a better sense of smell thanothers. Although the average person can identify between

3,000 and 10,000 different odors, some people who have acondition called anosmia have no sense of smell at all.

Follow your teachers directions to identify the odorants in

the containers prepared for you. Hold the container in front

of your face and waft your hand over it toward your nose to

get the best whiff.

Which containers are the same? Identify them on the third

line below each pair:

# ____ # ____

# ____ # ____

_______________________ ________________________

# ____ # ____

# ____ # ____

_______________________ ________________________

Which containers are not the same? Identify them below:

# ____is ___________________________________ and

# ____is ____________________________________.

When you have a bad cold, does everything taste the same?Thats because youve lost the ability to smell what youre

eating! Use the chart below to record the results of a test that

will show you how important that smell/taste partnership is.

Smell Only Taste Only Smell & Taste

Bag 1

Bag 2

Bag 3

Part B. All tastes come from differentcombinations of four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty

and bitter. Different taste buds interpret these

tastes. Follow your teachers directions to find the

different taste centers on your tongue. Record

your findings below as 3 if it is a strong taste, 2 if it is

neither strong nor weak, or 1 if it is weak.

Part of

TongueTip

Middle

Left side

Right side

Now, use the information above to draw a taste map of your

tongue, using a different color for each type of taste and

shading to show how strong the tastes are in each area. How

does your taste map compare with those of your classmates?

Everything our body does for us takes fuel.

Getting the food to fuel our bodies into our

mouths, as we see in The

Human Body, is one thing. What

happens next is not quite as tidy.

Biting into that great-tasting pizza is

the first step on an amazing journey

through your digestive system.

After your molars grind it up,

chemicals in your saliva begin to break down the

pizza as your tongue pushes it to the back of your throat.

Like squeezing a tube of toothpaste, your muscles squeeze it

down your esophagus and into your stomach. Thats where

some serious action takes place. The mushy stuff that used to

look like pizza is mixed with acid and digestive chemicals

until it is broken down into tiny bits, which move into the

small intestine. There, chemicals and liquids continue the

process, until all the nutrients are absorbed.

The final stage of your pizzas journey takes place in the large

intestine, which is a kind of drying chamber. The liquid is

removed from the leftovers and absorbed back into the body.

All thats left now is the stuff you dont need. And you know

what happens to it! Your bodys team approach to thisprocess should make it a little easier to understand the

problems that can occur when you dont get enough to eat or

eat the wrong kind of food.

Use resources to check out the USDAs

food pyramid and compare what you

usually eat with what it recommends.

Where can you improve your diet?

TastyAromas

Add-onActivity

What do the aroma of pizza when you enter theschool cafeteria and the stench of sweaty socks inthe locker room have in common? Its your nose, of course!

Everything you need to smell with is inside your nose. It

alerts you to those socks and tempts you with that aroma

then it even helps you enjoy the taste of the pizza!

Sweet Sour Salty Bitter

Activity

7

2001 DCI/BBC

Reproducible Master


17/26

16

Bone BasicsStudent Objectives: To learn about boneshowto build healthy bones and how to protect our bones.

Materials:None

Teaching TipsPart A. Provide this background information forstudents: The spine (also known as the spinal column

or backbone) is a collection of 33 bones known as

vertebrae that are stacked up and held together by

connective tissues called ligaments. The spine is what

allows us to stand upright and to be flexibleto twist

and turn and bend. The spine also provides

protection for the spinal cordthe group of nerves

that helps to send information from the brain to

other parts of the body. Moving joints allow forflexibility, too.

If students are having difficulty finding examples of

hinge joints and ball-and-socket joints, you might

want to provide them with a few examples. (Hinge

joints could include the hinges on a door or a lift-top

desk; many swivel desk lamps have ball-and-socket

joints. Students might relate best to the example of a

computer joystick.)

Part B.Examples of protective equipment used in

sports include: bicycle helmets, batting helmets forbaseball and softball, helmets for riding scooters, knee

and elbow pads for inline skating, and skateboarding.

This activity provides an excellent introduction to a

discussion of sports safety in general.

Use the activity about calcium in food as the basis for

a discussion about good nutrition. To extend the

discussion, you might want to have students plan a

weeks worth of lunches that are well balanced and

supply significant amounts of calcium. Explain that

the bodys need for calcium changes with age. For

example, the National Academy of Sciencesrecommends that adults under age 50 should have

1,000 mg of calcium daily, while people over 50

should have 1,200 mg daily.

Add-on Activitiess Just as good nutrition is important to good health,

environmental factors can affect our health, tooeven

that of unborn babies.

Students might investigate

environmental hazards suchas smoking and discuss

solutions to deal with them.

s Students might explore

how the shapes of different

bones relate to the amount

of force they must

withstand.

sStudents might explore the

amazing engineering that

allows the spine to support

the human body. For

example, they mightexperiment with a ball of

modeling clay and four

coffee-stirrer straws placed

vertically to see how the head sits on the little vertebrae in the neck.

s Students might do research to see how the skeletal systems of other

animals are designed to provide different kinds of mobility.

s Students might do observational research to see how different types

of shoes affect posture and balance. Why are high heels so bad for the

female foot?

s Students can make a rubber

bone by soaking a chicken

bone in vinegar for severaldays. Because vinegar is an

acid, it dissolves the calcium,

leaving the bone thinner and

vulnerable to breaking, much as

it would be if it were diseased

from osteoporosis due to a

loss of calcium.Refer towww.flinnsci.com/homepage/

bio/rubbone.html.

sHave students investigate

ot her uses for ther m al

i m ag i ng, the technology that

showed Lukes image in the film (for exa mple, fi re fighters can locate

vict ims overcome by smoke who have hidden in a burn i ng house by

pointing a thermal imagi ng camera at the house) .

Can students think of how this technology might

be med ical ly usefu l?


s Activity 8

2001 DCI/BBC

X-ray of a skeleton

Hand bones


18/26

1

In The Human Body, we see Luke pedaling hisbikeor, more specifically, its the thermal imageof Luke, surrounded by thermal images of people

walking thermal images of pets. Thermal imagers are

instruments that create pictures of heat. So, were

looking at the heat Lukes body is generating. (Hes a

pretty colorful guy, dont you think!)

What would Luke look like if all you saw were his

bones? Skeletons or fossils in a museum are dry and

brittle, but Lukes bones, like those in your body, are

very much alive. Living bones contain marrow, the

soft tissue that manufactures red and white blood cells

and produces nutrients vital to your body. The 206

bones in your body hold you up, allow you to move

and protect your internal organs. Theyre growing and

changing just like other parts of your body.

Part A. The place where two bones meet is called ajoint. And, while many joints move, somelike those

in your skullare fixed.

One kind of moving joint, a

hinge joint, allows the bones to

bend and straighten. Your

elbows contain hinge joints.

Another kind is called a ball-

and-socket joint, because the

round end of one bone fits into

a cuplike area on another bone.Ball-and-socket joints allow the

bones to swivel and turn in all

directions. Your hips have ball-and-socket joints.

People who build things use joints, too. How many

examples of hinge joints and ball-and-socket joints

can you find in things you might encounter every

day? Make your lists in the space below.

Hinge Joints Ball-and-Socket Joints

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bone BasicsActivity

8Part B. If you have ever broken a bone, how long did ittake to heal? Professional athletes, such as hockey and

football players, wear equipment to protect their bones. What

are other examples of protective equipment in sports?

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Calcium Clues. You need more than equipment to protect

your bones, howeverits also important to eat a diet rich in

calcium. Calcium is a mineral that helps bones harden and

become strong. If you dont get enough, you could be at risk

for osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to fracture easily.

And if you dont have enough calcium, your body will actually steal

it from your bones.Your risk of developing osteoporosis

depends in large part on how much bone mass you attain

between the ages of 25 and 35.

Bone mass is determined by:

syour genes (the bone strength you inherit from your parents)

sthe amount of calcium in your diet

sthe amount of exercise you get

Dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt are high in

calcium. What are some other good food sources of calcium?

List them below and add them to your Body Maintenance Plan.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Move It or Lose It! Weight-bearing exercise done on your feet

walking, running, skiing, tennis, etc.also can help to build strong

bones as well as muscles.Did you eat any foods yesterday that

had calcium in them? Did you exercise? Fill in the information

below. Compare what you ate to the calcium sources you listed

above. Do you need to improve in any areas?

Yesterday I ate: ________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Yesterday I did this exercise: ____________________________

Heres where I could improve my diet and exercise plan:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Build a model spine by stringing

spools or other circular objects

together to represent the

different vertebrae.

2001 DCI/BBC

Add-onActivity

Reproducible Master


19/26

18

On theOther HandStudent Objectives: To experiment with the

sense of touch and to learn how fingerprints areclassified.

Materials: Small paper bags, rice, small paperclips, index cards, unpopped popcorn, sugar,

seeds, sand

Teaching TipsPart A. Paper clip/bag activity: Partiallyfill the bags (enough so that each small group of

students has one bag) with rice. Add several

small paper clips and mix well. Students should

close their eyes, reach into the bag, and try to

pick out the paper clips.

Identification activity: Coat the index cardswith glue and cover each card with one of the

materials. Place each coated card in a numbered

bag. Students should reach into the bag and try

to identify the material they are feeling. You can

use this activity as a springboard to a discussion

of the role of the hand as a sensory organ. Have

students ever used their hands to feel their way

down a dark hall? To pick an object from a

drawer without looking? Have they ever noticed

the Braille bumps next to the buttons in anelevator? You also might include a discussion of

Braille, and even let students experience touching

the letters in the Braille alphabet, or invite

someone from the local Braille association to

speak to the class about Braille.

Part B.Provide students with this background:Fingerprints are ridges on our skin that make it easier for

us to hold onto things. Just as everyones DNA is different,

no two people have the same fingerprints. Even identical

twins have different fingerprints. Fingerprints can be classified by patterns

arches, loops and whorlsby the size of the patterns, and by the position of

the patterns on the finger.

Have students work in pairs. Each

student should take a#2 pencil and

make an ink pad by coating a

small area (about 1 inch square)

of the card with pencil lead.

Each student should then take

an impression of the pad of

their index finger and pinky

finger of the hand they write

with. After the student rolls one

finger over the pencil lead, his or

her partner will carefully lift the

fingerprint onto a piece of transparent

tape and attach the tape to a blank

index card. The second print should be

placed next to the first print. Students should label each print (e.g., left index

finger) and write their name on the reverse side of the card.

Designate one desk for loops, one for whorls and one for arches, and have

students place their ca rds on the appropriate desk. Which is the most

common pattern? (Use a magnifying glass if needed to see better.) No te : As

a safeguard of their ident ity, have students dest roy the fingerpri nts aftert hey have created them.

Add-on ActivitiessModern fingerprint identification techniques date from 1880, when the

British journal Nature published letters by Henry Faulds and William James

Herschel that described the uniqueness of fingerprints. Have students do

research to learn more about fingerprint classification as

a crime-solving technique. What other purposes can

fingerprinting serve (for example, identification of

missing children)?

sStudents might do some research to find out how hands

sweat and what triggers that response.sAsk if students have footprints from their birth in the

hospital. They could call the hospital to ask why

fingerprints arent taken instead; could a footprint really

identify a baby?


s Activity 9

2001 DCI/BBC

The hand

Loop Whorl Arch


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Have you ever

wondered why your

thumb is stuck down

there on the side, all

by itself? Try this

experiment to find

out. First write your

name on the first line below. Then have your

partner tape the thumb to the index finger

on the hand you write with. Write your name

on the second line. What does your signature

look like this time?

Signature #1

____________________________________________

Signature #2

____________________________________________

While taped, try the following: Pick up a

penny, comb your hair and button a shirt.

After you are untaped, write a description on

the back of this paper of how you felt and

what happened.

Part B. Follow your teachers directions

as you take your fingerprints. Then,answer the following questions:

What kinds of patterns do you see in your

index fingerprint?

______________________________________________

In your pinky fingerprint? ______________

How different are your prints from the

prints of your partners hand? __________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

Create a display that shows how

our hands are different from the

paws of

animals, and how those

differences reflect our

varied needs.

1

Your hands are truly amazing things. They help you pick up a penand write. They help you throw a baseball, comb your hair and doso much more. As you saw in The Human Body, they were formed when

cells died off from the original paddle-shaped structures you had as anembryo. Imagine trying to pick up a pen with paddle-shaped hands!

Part A. Your sense of touchoriginates in the dermis, or bottom

layer of your skin. Some areas of

your bodylike your fingertips

are more sensitive than others

because they have more of the

nerve endings that send signals to

the brain.

Place a penny on your desk. Closeyour eyes and pick it up. Is the side on the top heads or tails? Now open

your eyes. Did you guess correctly?___________

Describe what you felt: ____________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Close your eyes again. Reach into the bag prepared by your teacher and try

to pick out a paper clip. Open your eyes. Were you successful? ____________

What did you feel? ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Now reach into each of the bags and try to identify what it contains.

How did you do?

Bag 1. I guessed: ____________________________________________________It really was:____________________________________________________



Bag 4. I guessed: ____________________________________________________

It really was:____________________________________________________

On the Other HandActiv

9

Add-onActivity

Surface of a fingertip

2001 DCI/BBC

Reproducible M

Loop Whorl Arch


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20

The LivingSystemStudent Objective: To consider how the different body

systems work together.Materials: Advertising brochures for new cars (optional)

Teaching TipsPart A. In preparation for this activity you might want to

have students review ads and flyers for new cars, collected from

dealer showrooms, to see how ad agencies promote the features

of the various automobile systems in their sales brochures. For

example, if students were to visualize the human body as if it

were a new car with loaded features, they could use the

following as a sample:

Redesigned for 2001!10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty!

Look What You Get!Automatic Power Windows

Power Locks Air Conditioning

Power Steering Power Disc Brakes

CD Player Power Mirrors

Rear Defroster Tinted Glass

Intermittent Wipers Tilt Wheel

The various features can be equated to those of the human

body; for example, intermittent wipers function like eyelashes,

which keep our eyes clear of irritants. Our ears give us stereo

sound like the cars sound system, and a V8 engine might

equate to a strong, healthy heart.

Encourage students to have fun and engage their imaginations

as they write their brochures, but remind them that their copy

must contain factual information. They might use the classroom

computer to create their brochures layout and design.

Part B. Have students write a plan for their Web site andcreate drawings to show what it would look like. Alternatively,

each team might focus on one aspect as they work together to

develop an actual class Web site.

Systems of ImagingThe Human Body gives us a remarkable glimpse of the

amazing things that go on, hidden in our bodies. Todays

medical technology can provide high-resolution pictures of any

organ or area of the body, avoiding exploratory surgery in

many cases.

You may choose to share the following with

students: X-rays, developed in 1895, use radiation

waves to form images of organs and other objects

inside the body that show bones as white and

softer tissues as different shades of gray. Ultrasound, developed in

1957, uses high-frequency sounds to create images of internal

tissues. CT (or CAT) scans (computerized axial tomography),developed in 1967, use a highly sensitive X-ray beam that passes

through the body and feeds information into a computer, creating a

picture. MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging), developed in 1974, use

computer-controlled radio waves and a magnetic field to create

three-dimensional pictures of the inside of the body.

Add-on ActivitiessStudents might use dry pasta shapes, pipe cleaners, wire and

other small objects to construct small models of the human

skeletonthe backbone, for example.

s Students might do online research and compile an annotated

directory of Web sites about the human body.

sStudents might research and report on an

athlete of their choice who has been

in the news because of an injury,

how the injury was diagnosed

(MRI, CT scan, etc.), and the

medical treatment he or she

received. How different do

they think the athletes

chances for recovery are

today compared to that of a

past era or decade?

sWilhelm Conrad Rntgen, a

German physicist who discovered

the X-ray, refused to patent his

discovery or realize any financial

gain from it, preferring instead that the world benefit from his

research. You might have students discuss the ethics involved in

profiting from medical research.

sMedical science has made tremendous progress in the field of

organ transplants, but waiting lists for donors are long (as of

spring 2001, they number 75,000 in the U.S. alone). Not every

patient who needs a transplant will get one, and difficult choices

sometimes must be made. How would students feel if the choicefor a transplant were between a close relative they loved, a

celebrity they greatly admired, and a brilliant scientist whose

work could potentially change the world? They could form a

position panel to debate how transplant

recipients should be selectedthe person

who needs it the most, the person who can

pay the most, or the person who has the

most to contribute to society. Or should

there be some other way to choose?


s Activity 10

2001 DCI/BBC

Lung cells


22/26

2

An eyeball or a big toe by itself wouldnt be worth very much. But,when you put them together with other body parts in a completehuman body, you have one pretty incredible organism!

Part A. Imagine that youve just been named as a memberof the lead copywriting team at the Beautiful Bodyworks

Agency. Your job is to write the copy for a new brochurethats designed to sell the human body as a first-class

system. Work with your team to develop sales copy or a

slogan of 50 words or less to promote each of the following

body systems. Next to the system, write the name of an

object you think best represents it (see first example):

s The Digestive System (wastebasket)

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

s The Skeletal System ( ________________________________________________________________________________)

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

s The Respiratory System (______________________________________________________ )

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

s The Circulatory System ( ________________________________________________________ )

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

s The Nervous System ( __________________________________________________________________)

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

s The Endocrine System (________________________________________________________________ )

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

Now, pull it all together in brochure copy that will make every reader want to

own a genuine human body.

Your brandnew humanbody will need the best body parts to

make it zoom along in top form. What

parts will you need to hire so that your

body can eat, play sports and so on? List

as many body parts below as you can andname their functions (see first example):

Heartpumps blood throughout the

body; the engine that keeps me going

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Part B. Now, use the informationyou gathered in Part A of this

activity as the foundation for the

Beautiful Bodyworks Web site, to

promote the human body. There are

lots of other things you might

do, too.

s Create a body-parts puzzle that

has an outlined body and major

parts that Web users must put in the

right places.

sDevelop an interactive display that

shows how the parts of a disposable

camera work like a human eye.

How will you tie all the body parts

and systems together? This is your

chance to show how creative you

can be. Get those neurons going!

The Living System

Work in groups to developmodel mini-ecosystems that

show how humans and other

living things are linked in a web of life.

Show how the sun, water, oxygen and

other factors are

part of how we

function as people

in our environment.

Add-onActivity

2001 DCI/BBC

Activity

10Reproducible Master


23/26

Student Objective: To create a personal health profile.Materials:None

Teaching TipsThis is a personal profile. Your students should take this activity

master home along with the Dear Parent letter on page 24 of

this guide, and complete it with their parents. Suggest that, if

your students do not know some of the information (for

example, blood type, blood pressure, and so on), they can have

the tests done the next time they visit their doctor or at a free

community screening, etc.

Add-On ActivitysNow that students have completed the unit

activities and have seen the film of The Human

Body, you may wish to have fun with the quiz below. Photocopy

this page, clip the quiz along the dotted line, and distribute it to

students. After they have tested themselves, you may wish to

have them take copies home to family and friends, so everyonecan see who is the smartest brain of all!

Answers: The statements are all true with the exception of:2. Over half the bodys bones are found in the hands and feet.6.The brain weighs roughly three pounds.7.Dolphins can hear 14 times better than humans.8.Taste is the weakest of the senses.

11.The bone marrow manufactures red and white blood cells.15.Your nose can tell the difference between 3,000 and

10,000 different odors.

22

My PersonalBody Inventoryand Health Profile

Did You Know That?

Interesting Facts About the Human Body

True False

1.The average person has about 10,000taste buds in his or her mouth. s s

2.One-fourth of your bodys bones are inthe hands and feet. s s

3.Youll grow an average of 35 yards of hair today. s s4.Your heart will pump about one million barrels

of blood during your lifetimeenough blood to

fill more than three supertankers. s s5.Youll make over 200 billion new red blood

cells today. s s6.The brain of an average adult weighs 9 ounces. s s7.Animals can hear better than humans, and

dolphins have the best hearing of all. They can

hear five times better than we can. s s8. Taste is the strongest of the five senses. s s

9. In three months, theaverage person grows over

five inches of fingernails. s s

10. The aorta is the largest artery in your body.Its almost as big as a garden hose. s s

11.Your pancreas manufactures red andwhite blood cells. s s

12. If you laid all the DNA in your body end toend, it would be more than 10 billion miles long. s s

13.Your brain uses up nearly a fifth of all thecalories you eat or drink each day. s s

14.When your ears pop, its actually the eustachiantube opening to make sure the air pressure is

the same on both sides of your eardrum. s s15.When your nose is at its best you can tell the

difference between 1,000 and 5,000different odors. s s

16.Your heart beats about 100,000 times |in one day. s s

17.The longest bone in your body is the femur. s s18.You get dizzy after spinning around fast because

the liquid in the semi-circular canals in your

ears is still moving after you stop. s s

True False

The Human Body is full of amazing information about the human body! Test your knowledge by

answering true or false to each of these statements. After youve checked your answers,

take another copy of the quiz home and test your family and friends. Who is the smartest brain of all?


s Activity 11

2001 DCI/BBC


24/26

After seeing The Human Body, you have a better

appreciation for the daily miracles that make you

who you are today and who you can be tomorrow, next year and

human body study guide

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