Human Body Unit Study

Your body is built from trillions of tiny cells that team up to form tissues, organs, and whole systems. Bones hold you up, muscles move you, your heart pumps blood all day and night, your lungs bring in fresh air, and your brain keeps everything working together. An adult has 206 bones, and a baby is born with closer to 300, many of which fuse together as the child grows.

This Human Body Unit Study takes children on a tour of the body one system at a time. Trace a life-size body outline and fill it with paper organs, build a working model of a lung from a plastic bottle and a balloon, check your pulse before and after jumping jacks, and bake bone-shaped pretzels. Books, songs, crafts, lapbook ideas, and a Body Systems Rummy card game work for preschool through high school.

Learning Objectives

• Name the main body systems and the job each one does
• Explain how cells, tissues, organs, and systems fit together
• Locate the major organs on a body outline
• Name the five senses and the organ used for each
• Find and count your pulse and explain what changes it
• Follow a bite of food through the digestive system
• Explain how germs spread and how washing hands and vaccines help the body stay well
• Practice daily habits that care for the body, such as sleep, exercise, and brushing teeth
• Learn about scientists who helped us understand the body

Timeline

• About 1600 BC: The Edwin Smith Papyrus, an Egyptian medical scroll, describes injuries and how to treat them.
• About 400 BC: Greek physician Hippocrates teaches that illness has natural causes. Doctors still take an oath named after him.
• About AD 160: Galen, a Greek doctor working in Rome, writes about muscles, nerves, and the pulse. His books are used for more than 1,000 years.
• About 1510: Leonardo da Vinci fills notebooks with careful drawings of bones, muscles, and the heart.
• 1543: Andreas Vesalius publishes On the Fabric of the Human Body, a book of detailed anatomy drawings that corrects many old mistakes.
• 1628: William Harvey shows that the heart pumps blood around the body in a circle.
• 1670s: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek builds simple microscopes and is among the first to see red blood cells.
• 1796: Edward Jenner tests the first vaccine, against smallpox.
• 1816: Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope, first made from a rolled-up tube of paper.
• 1858: Henry Gray publishes Gray’s Anatomy, still printed in new editions today.
• 1895: Wilhelm Roentgen discovers X-rays and makes a picture of the bones in his wife’s hand.
• 1901: Karl Landsteiner discovers the main blood groups, which makes blood transfusions safer.
• 1928: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
• 1953: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Francis Crick’s work reveals the double helix shape of DNA.
• 1954: Doctors in Boston perform the first successful kidney transplant.
• 1967: Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant in South Africa.
• 1994: The Visible Human Project releases detailed images of a whole human body for students and scientists.
• 2003: The Human Genome Project finishes mapping human DNA.

Vocabulary

Word	Meaning
Anatomy	The study of the parts of the body and where they are
Physiology	The study of how the parts of the body work
Cell	The smallest living unit of the body
Tissue	A group of similar cells working together, like muscle tissue
Organ	A body part made of tissues that does a special job, like the heart or stomach
System	A group of organs that work together, like the digestive system
Skeleton	The frame of bones that supports and protects the body
Cartilage	Firm, bendable tissue found in your nose, ears, and the ends of bones
Tendon	A tough cord that connects a muscle to a bone
Ligament	A strong band that connects one bone to another at a joint
Artery	A blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart
Vein	A blood vessel that carries blood back to the heart
Pulse	The beat you feel in your wrist or neck each time your heart pumps
Neuron	A nerve cell that carries messages to and from the brain
Digestion	Breaking food down so the body can use it
Germ	A tiny living thing, like a bacterium or virus, that can cause sickness
Immune system	The body’s defense team against germs
Vaccine	A shot or drop that teaches the immune system to fight a certain germ
Hormone	A chemical message carried in the blood that tells parts of the body what to do

Memory tricks help with long lists of body words. Carpals are in the hand and tarsals are in the foot, so try “carpenters use their hands.” Make up your own sayings for the parts that give you trouble.

Book Resources

Picture Books and Early Readers

• The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole: Ms. Frizzle’s class rides through Arnold’s body after he swallows the bus.
• Your Insides by Joanna Cole: A simple first look at the organs inside a child’s body.
• I’m Growing! by Aliki: A Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out book about how bodies grow.
• My Five Senses by Aliki: A gentle introduction to seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.
• Parts by Tedd Arnold: A rhyming, silly story about a boy who worries he is falling apart.
• The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell: Bright pictures show what the body does when kids run, jump, and play.
• Germs Make Me Sick! by Melvin Berger: How germs spread and how the body fights back.

Nonfiction for Elementary and Middle School

• The Human Body by Seymour Simon: Large photos and clear writing on every system.
• Blood and Guts by Linda Allison: A Brown Paper School book full of hands-on body experiments.
• Eyewitness Human Body by Steve Parker: Photo-packed pages for browsing and reports.
• The Way We Work by David Macaulay: Detailed drawings of how every part of the body works, for older children.
• Outside and Inside You by Sandra Markle: Photos and X-rays show what’s under your skin.
• The Skeletal System by Helen Frost: Part of a short, simple series on each body system. Look for the others too.
• Brain Lab for Kids by Eric Chudler: Fifty-two hands-on activities about the brain and senses.
• Mysterious You: Burp! by Diane Swanson: Fun facts about eating and digestion.

For High School and Parents

• Gray’s Anatomy by Henry Gray: The classic anatomy reference with hundreds of labeled drawings.
• The Anatomy Coloring Book by Wynn Kapit: Color each structure as you learn it. A favorite for high school biology.
• Leonardo da Vinci Anatomical Drawings: Compare his notebook sketches with modern diagrams.

Poetry and Music

• Sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” faster each time through.
• Sing “The Hokey Pokey” to practice left and right body parts.
• Neuroscience for Kids: Brain Songs: Silly songs about the brain and nerves set to familiar tunes.
• Schoolhouse Rock Science Rock: Watch “The Body Machine,” about turning food into energy.
• Write a cinquain or acrostic poem about one organ, such as HEART or LUNGS.

Videos

• Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie: The class travels inside a sick classmate to see how the body fights germs.
• Magic School Bus For Lunch: A ride through the digestive system.
• Magic School Bus Explores the Senses: How eyes, ears, and noses gather information.
• Once Upon a Time Life DVD: A classic cartoon series that follows cells and blood through the body.
• Eyewitness Human Machine DVD: The Eyewitness video on how the body works.

Activities

• Body outline: Ask your child to stretch out on a long sheet of butcher paper, newsprint, or taped-together paper bags while you trace around them. Add organs cut from construction paper or scrap paper as you study each system.
• Pulse check: Find your pulse at your wrist or neck and count the beats for 15 seconds, then multiply by 4. Do 30 jumping jacks and count again. Graph the results for everyone in the family.
• Bottle lung: Cut the bottom off a plastic bottle. Put a small balloon inside the neck and stretch a cut balloon or plastic wrap over the open bottom. Pull down on the bottom sheet and watch the inside balloon fill with air, just like your diaphragm and lungs.
• Digestion in a bag: Put a slice of bread and some water in a zip-top bag and squish it to show how the stomach churns food. Then squeeze it through the leg of an old pair of tights to show the intestines.
• Measure the intestines: The small intestine of an adult is about 20 feet long. Measure out 20 feet of yarn or string and stretch it across the yard.
• Glitter germs: Rub a little glitter or flour on your hands, then shake hands or touch a doorknob. See how far it spreads, then test which washes it off best: water alone or soap and water.
• Five senses stations: Set up a smell test with spices in cups, a touch bag with mystery objects, and a taste test of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter foods.
• Blind spot test: Draw an X and a dot about 3 inches apart on an index card. Close one eye, stare at the X, and slowly move the card toward your face until the dot disappears.
• Reaction time: Drop a ruler between a child’s fingers and see how many inches it falls before they catch it. Try it with each hand.
• Bone strength: Soak a clean chicken bone in vinegar for a few days to see what happens when the hard minerals are removed.
• Healthy habits chart: Track sleep, outdoor play, and brushing teeth for one week.

Writing Prompts

• You are a red blood cell. Describe your trip around the body.
• Which body system do you think works the hardest? Explain why.
• Older students: Write a short biography of one scientist from the timeline.

Recipes

Gluten-Free Pretzel Bones

• Stir 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) of yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar into 1 1/4 cups of warm water. Let it sit for 5 minutes until foamy.
• In a large bowl, whisk 3 1/2 cups of gluten-free 1-to-1 flour blend (one that already has xanthan gum in it), 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the yeast water and 2 tablespoons of oil or melted butter and stir until a soft, sticky dough forms. Gluten-free dough doesn’t need kneading.
• With oiled hands, roll pieces of dough into short ropes on parchment paper. Shape each into a bone by pressing both ends into knobs, or name a bone (femur, rib, finger bone) and try to copy it. If the dough cracks, just press it back together. Let them rise for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 425°F. A grown-up should simmer 6 cups of water with 1/4 cup of baking soda, then use a slotted spatula to gently lower each bone in for 20 seconds.
• Set the bones on a parchment-lined baking sheet, sprinkle with coarse salt, and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown.

More Recipe Ideas

• Veggie skeleton tray: Arrange celery and carrot sticks, cauliflower, and cucumber slices into a skeleton on a platter, with a bowl of dip for the head.
• Five senses snack: Make a plate with something crunchy, something smooth, something sweet, something sour, and something with a strong smell.
• Smoothie blood model: Blend red berries and juice, then add a few banana slices for white blood cells and a sprinkle of chia seeds or tiny pieces of fruit for platelets.

Field Trips

• Doctor or dentist visit: Have your child make a list of questions before the next checkup.
• Science museum: Many science centers have exhibits on the heart, brain, or senses.
• Hospital or fire station tour: Ask about the equipment used to check breathing and heartbeat.
• Eye doctor or hearing center: Ask how eyes and ears are tested.
• Gym, pool, or park: Talk about which muscles you use for each activity.

Art and Craft Ideas

• Pipe cleaner skeleton: Bend and twist pipe cleaners into bones and glue them to dark paper. Twist ties or cotton swabs work too.
• Ear model: Cover one end of a toilet paper tube with wax paper and a rubber band for the eardrum. Hang three beads on threads inside to stand for the three tiny ear bones.
• Paper bag lungs: Tape two small paper lunch bags to the ends of a straw and blow gently to fill them.
• Brain hat: Cover a balloon with papier-mache, let it dry, then cut it in half to make a cap. Paint on the wrinkles and label the parts of the brain with small flags.
• Hand X-ray: Trace your hand on black paper and glue on cotton swab pieces for the finger bones.
• Clay heart: Shape a heart from play dough or salt dough and use red and blue yarn for the blood vessels.
• Body systems book: Make a flip book with one page for each system.

Information Web Resources

• KidsHealth: Your Body: Short, kid-friendly articles and movies on every part of the body.
• Neuroscience for Kids: Experiments, games, and worksheets about the brain and nervous system.
• Innerbody: Human Anatomy Explorer: Labeled diagrams of every body system for older students.
• The Visible Human Project: The National Library of Medicine project that photographed a whole human body in thin slices.
• Enchanted Learning: Human Anatomy: Diagrams and fact pages. Some pages need a membership.

• Simon Says, Body Edition: Use real names: “Simon says touch your clavicle.”
• Organ toss: Draw a large body outline on the driveway with chalk. Name an organ and have children toss a beanbag onto the right spot.
• Bone puzzle race: Cut a paper skeleton into pieces and race to put it back together.
• Germ tag: The child who is It is a germ. Players are safe while “washing their hands” at a base for a count of 20.

Human Body Card Game: Body Systems Rummy

Make 24 cards from index cards or old cereal boxes, one body part per card, with a quick drawing. There are six systems, with four cards in each:

• Skeletal: skull, ribs, spine, femur
• Muscular: biceps, quadriceps, diaphragm, tendon
• Nervous: brain, spinal cord, nerve, neuron
• Circulatory: heart, artery, vein, capillary
• Respiratory: nose, trachea, lungs, alveoli
• Digestive: esophagus, stomach, small intestine, liver

How to play:

• Deal 6 cards to each player. Stack the rest face down and turn one card face up for a discard pile.
• On your turn, draw from either pile, then discard one card.
• When you collect all four cards in one system, lay them down and tell what that system does.
• The first player to lay down two systems wins.

Little ones can play Go Fish by asking for systems, or Memory with the cards face down. These cards also work with the homemade board games for this unit. Draw a card and name the system before you move.

GeoSafari Card Ideas

• Label the major bones of the skeleton.
• Match each organ to its body system.
• Label the parts of the eye or ear.
• Trace the path of blood through the heart.
• Match each scientist on the timeline to a discovery.

Worksheets

• Enchanted Learning: Label Human Anatomy: Printable label-the-diagram pages. Some need a membership.
• KidsHealth: How the Body Works Articles: Read an article, then write three facts in your notebook.

Lapbook Ideas

• A flap book with one flap for each body system and its main organs underneath.
• Five senses pocket with a card for each sense.
• Path of food: an accordion fold from mouth to large intestine.
• Pulse graph from the jumping jacks activity.
• Timeline strip of famous discoveries.
• Healthy habits wheel.
• My Body Systems Science Booklet: A free printable booklet from Totschooling for younger children.

Evaluation Ideas

• Have younger students point to and name organs on their life-size body outline.
• Have students explain one body system to a family member using their lapbook.
• Older students can write a report on one system, with a labeled diagram and a list of sources.
• Include the pulse graph and the bottle lung write-up in the binder.

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