1. What writing skills did you improve while working on your Human Body Research Paper? Explain. 2. What are some concepts that you learned about the human body during this unit that you think are important (not just interesting)? 3. What was the most challenging part of writing your Human Body Research Paper? Why? 4. What aspect of the Human Body Research Paper are you most proud of? Why? | 1. I improved my expository skills by writing this paper. I had to get all the information out without talking to the reader and it was a real challenge. 2. Some important concepts are that muscles pull not push, The job of the digestive system is not to eat and drink food but to digest food and drinks and deliver to the circulatory |
Human Body Research Paper
By: Charlie
March, 2015
The human body has six main systems and is a complex machine that is constantly working to keep us alive. Although each system has its own unique jobs to do, they synergize to keep us healthy and active.
The skeletal system is responsible for giving us support, structure, and protection and works together with the muscular system to move our body. Our muscles pull our bones, which allows us to move, jump, and run! The muscular system actually plays an important role in delivering oxygen to our body’s cells. Without the heart, one of our most important muscles, blood wouldn’t be able to travel around our body! Luckily for us, the blood travels through our lungs, where it drops off carbon dioxide and picks up oxygen that our cells are craving. Speaking of craving, did you ever know that the main purpose of our digestive system isn’t just to digest food? It’s job is actually to take nutrients and water out of what we eat and drink and then deliver it to the circulatory system where it gets delivered to the cells in our body. But none of these systems would work without the direction of our nervous system!
Now let’s get right into it with the skeletal system, where you’ll learn how our bones help us move and protect our organs.
The skeletal system has several important jobs to do in our body. It is responsible for creating blood cells, providing our body with support and structure, and enabling us to move. We have several bones that are responsible for protecting our organs like the ribs protect our heart and lungs, and the skull protects our brain! Bones cannot move unless joined together at joints. Ligaments connect our bones together and cartilage prevents them from rubbing together which would be painful! We are so lucky to have strong, powerful, yet moveable bones in our body!
The bones in our body are made up of four distinct layers. Each of these layers has important responsibilities and are vital to our day-to-day life. The outer layer of bone is called compact bone. Compact bone is solid throughout and enables our body to be supported. Compact bone is so dense that surgeon’s need to use a saw to cut through it. The next layer of bone is called spongy bone and it is lightweight and porous, which prevents our bones from getting too heavy, but still be strong. It makes up about 20% of our skeleton, and it’s found mostly in long bones, joints, and in our spine. The center of many bones are filled with a gelatinous substance called bone marrow. Bone marrow is responsible for creating red blood cells and some of our white blood cells. Bone marrow also makes platelets for our circulatory system. In addition, bone marrow stores iron for when our body needs it. We have two different types of bone marrow: yellow and red. We are born with red marrow, but it slowly changes to yellow over time. Finally, the outermost part of bone is covered in periosteum, a thin, fibrous membrane that covers all bones. The membrane is responsible for helping to create new bone in children and does the same when adults sustain an injury. The periosteum is the site at which ligaments, tendons, and muscles attach to bone! It also contains the blood vessels that allow nutrients and oxygen to the get to the bones! Knowing the four layers of bones can help us to understand just how complex our human body really is!
There are more than just bones in our skeletal system, this paragraph is all about joints. Cartilage is the first joint in our body. It is a type of connective tissue that is tough. It also can hold up other tissues without being as hard as bone. Cartilage can’t contain blood vessels in it. The cells that it is made of are called Chondrocytes. The main type of cartilage is called Hyaline cartilage, it lines some bones. There is another type of cartilage called Elastic cartilage, it is more stretchy and flexible than Hyaline cartilage because it has elastin fibers. This type of cartilage is found in the outer ear. The next type of joint is called Ligaments. They are a key part in what helps our joints move. They also help keep the joints and bones in proper alignment and control the range of motion. Ligaments are made of proteins called collagen makeup tissue in the ligaments groups of them look like fibrous strands. The next type of joint is the Gliding joint. It is also known as the sliding joint. Gliding joints allow bones to glide past each other. Many gliding joints are formed in the carpal bones or the wrist. They are also formed throughout the neck in the axial skeleton. The next kind of joint is the hinge joint. It only allows backward or forward motion. Hinge joints are named that because they are like a hinge. Hinge joints are found in the elbow, the knee, and other places. They can only move forward or backward and not side to side like a door. The next type of joint is called the pivot joint. It is where a circular bone rotates on the axis of a different bone. There is a pivot joint in your neck and it lets you move your head rotate back and forth and lets it go up and down. The final type of joint is called the ball and socket joint. It is where one bone has a circular knob on one side and a bone that has a crevice on one end and the first bone rests in the crevice. Each shoulder has a ball and socket joint where the upper arm meets the shoulder blade. As you can see our joints are all for different purpose and everyone is just fascinating!
As you can see, the skeletal system has many important jobs to do! it allows us to stand straight up, move our body around, and protects our most important organs. However the skeletal system can’t move our body by itself. It needs the help of our muscular system as well!
The muscular system has three very important jobs to do in our body. It helps proper organ function, Help circulate blood, and allow us to move. The Biceps and Triceps help us move our arm. The cardiac muscle is the muscle that pumps blood around the body. The smooth muscle in our esophagus gets food to our stomach which is then used to make energy for our body.
One type of muscle in our body are Voluntary Muscles. They are the muscles that you can control with your brain. There is only one type of Muscle in the Voluntary Muscle category, and that kind of muscle are called Skeletal Muscles. A skeletal muscle is a strained muscle that is attached to bones. Skeletal muscles can vary in sizes and muscle fibers. Also a single skeletal muscle in the Human Body is considered an organ. Skeletal muscles work by relaxing and contracting. They are held onto the bone with tendons. When the muscle contracts it pulls the joint so that the body part can move. then the muscle relaxes and another muscle pulls the bone back down. At one end the muscle is attached by tendons and at the other end the tendons are linked to another bone. These muscles need tendons also. Both the muscle and the tendon can work together to make a pulling force. The tendon’s role is to withstand a pulling force without getting detached from the bone or the muscle. A tendon is kind of like a rubber band because it can withstand stretching without breaking for a long time. An example of this is, the Biceps and Triceps located in your arms by the elbow. Their job is to pull your elbow up and down. The biceps cross both the elbow and the shoulder. They also go all the way to the Ulna and the Radius. The Ulna and the Radius are the two bones that are in your forearm. That was only one part of the muscles though, there is still the Involuntary Muscles!
There are two very fascinating types of muscles in the involuntary muscle category, They are the cardiac muscles and the smooth muscles. Involuntary means that you can not control them with your conscious mind. The cardiac muscle has a very important job to do, it is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. It is found in the heart. The cardiac muscles can still pump blood if the nerves around it are cut. That is in case of a heart transplant. The average heart beats about 70 times per minute. Cardiac muscle is very unique because it is strained muscle like skeletal muscle but can’t be controlled like smooth muscle. The heart is also very strong because it has to protect the organ. Smooth muscle is a type of muscle that can contract so it is good for organs that pump blood around the body. They can be found in the digestive system. The esophagus is a smooth muscle that goes from your mouth to your stomach. You can swallow food while hanging upside down because your esophagus pushes the food up. It pushes the food up by making the esophagus smaller and smaller. It can also be found in the trachea and the bladder. That was the involuntary muscles in the muscular system!
That was the muscular system! It has many important functions and abilities. Without them we couldn’t live, but they also need help from the circulatory system as well to pump oxygen, energy, and water!
Intro: The circulatory system has some very important jobs to do, it needs to pump blood, deliver nutrients to all the cells, heal wounds, and take carbon dioxide to the lungs. The heart is responsible for pumping the blood all around our body. The blood vessels carry the blood. And the blood delivers things like oxygen and nutrition.
Blood is very important in our body, It carries nutrients and waste, helps make scabs, and fights of bacteria. One of the easiest ways to think of blood is as a never ending series of railroad cars. White Blood Cells are responsible for killing Bacteria. They serve as the “BackBone” to the Immune system. There are three types of White Blood Cells all with subtly varying functions. Red Blood Cells are responsible for carrying oxygen and nutrients around the body to our cells. Then they come back to the lungs to pick up oxygen and to drop off carbon dioxide. The Red Blood Cells are kind of like the mailmen in our body. Adult Humans have about 20 to 30 trillion blood cells in the body. Each blood cell lives for about 120 days before being broken down. Platelets are specialized cells, the main function is to cover up a scrape. They provide temporary cover for the wound. When you have a scab that scab is made of platelets and dried blood. Compared to red and white blood cells platelets are very light. Plasma is kind of like the milkman delivering things around the body. The plasma drops of things to the cells and then takes back waste to the lungs. Blood plasma is the liquid part of blood. It is about 90% water with the other 10% being nutrients and waste. Blood is a very important part of our body, but we need blood vessels to carry the blood around.
Blood vessels are responsible for transporting blood throughout your body. there are three different kinds of blood vessels. They are the arteries, veins, and capillaries. Arteries are one type of blood vessel. All arteries carry blood away from the heart and out to the rest of the body. Arterial tissue is designed for a quick and efficient delivering blood system. All arteries carry oxygenated blood so the blood can drop off nutrients. Another type of blood vessel is called a vein. they are kind of like the opposite of arteries. They take the blood to the heart from outlying areas and they mostly carry deoxygenated blood. There are also capillaries. They are tiny blood vessels with the largest one being ten millimeters across. They carry blood from veins to arteries and from arteries to veins. There are many kinds of capillaries but most carry blood to the cells to exchange oxygen, nutrients, and waste. The blood vessels transport the blood but they still need a little help from the heart to push the blood!
The heart is responsible for pumping blood around our body. Without our heart we could not live. There are four chambers of the heart. The right side is responsible for pumping blood to the lungs to get oxygen and to drop off carbon dioxide. The left side however is responsible for pumping the blood to the rest of the body. The top half of the heart has the left and right atrium and the lower half has the left and right ventricle. The left atrium is actually on the right side of the heart if someone is looking at it. But for you it is on the left side of the heart. It is responsible for receiving oxygenated blood from the lungs and sending the blood down the the left ventricle to get sent out to the rest of the body. The left ventricle is below the left atrium. The left atrium is kind of like a waiting room. The Left Ventricle is responsible for pumping the oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. The oxygenated blood comes through the mitral valve. Lots of people think that the ventricles are the top section of the heart but actually they are the bottom part. The right atrium is responsible for getting the deoxygenated blood and then sending it down to the right ventricle. It is kind of like a waiting room and it can hold up to 60 milliliters of blood. The right ventricle is responsible for pumping blood to the lungs to drop off carbon dioxide and to pick up oxygen. The ventricles have to pump with more force than the atriums because they have to send blood outside of the heart. The heart is one of the most important parts of our body. It is able to pump blood with enough force to get it all around our body!
That was the circulatory system! The circulatory system is able to do a lot of things, but it needs the help of the respiratory system to get the air in and the carbon dioxide out!
It is very important for the air into our body to get to our lungs. The respiratory system gets oxygen in and carbon dioxide out.
It is very important to get air to the lungs. Without it we could not live. Air enters the body by coming in the mouth or nose, it then goes to the Throat, when it is in the Throat it goes in the Larynx, also known as the voice box which is responsible for speech, the oxygen then goes down the Trachea, also known as the wind pipe which goes down to the lungs. The mouth or lungs first inhales the air. They are responsible for taking in the oxygen. When the air is breathed in through the nose, the air is humidified and the particles go airborne and get stuck so none gets to your lungs. The Nasal Cavity has nerves that can sense temperature, pain, or pressure. The Epiglottis is kind of like a flap or lid that covers the Trachea. It creates a seal that only air can get through. It is to make it so people don’t inhale food or liquid when they are eating. The Larynx is a funnel shaped organ that is responsible for protecting the Trachea when you swallow. The vocal cords make sound by having air vibrate it. They are located inside the Larynx. They also protect the lungs from the accidental inhalation of food, saliva, or mucus. The voice box is responsible for protecting the Trachea. It is also called the Larynx. The Trachea is responsible for taking the oxygen down to the lungs. It is also called the windpipe. If you think of the lungs as a tree you can say the Trachea is the trunk of the tree. That is how the oxygen gets in the lungs, but it still has to be processed in the lungs!
It is very important to get the air into the lungs so we can survive. Air moves into the lungs by going through the Trachea. It then goes into the Bronchial tubes. The air then goes into the Bronchi tubes. Then the air goes into the Bronchioles at the end of the Bronchioles is the Alveolus. They are tiny pouches. The lungs are responsible for making air into oxygen. They provide the body with oxygen which is converted into energy. Over the course of a lifetime, a person may use their lungs to breathe over a billion times. The Bronchial tubes are part of a huge respiratory tree. They are located in the lungs. They are responsible for getting air in the lungs and out of the lungs. A bronchus is one of the big tubes in the lungs. They carry air to the bronchioles which then carry air to the avoli. Avoli is responsible for doing the exchange of gases. That is where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. The exchange of gases is really important to our body, it takes carbon dioxide out, and oxygen in.
It is very important to have our respiratory system, it gets air to our body, gets carbon dioxide out and helps you talk. But it still needs the Digestive system to get energy!
The Digestive System is a really important system in our body. The primary purpose is to digest food and get minerals and vitamins to the cells in our body. It is also responsible for getting the waste out of our body.
It is very important to get food down to our stomach. The mouth is a hollow cavity that allows air and food to get in the body. It is made up of multiple organs like the teeth, tongue, and the ducts of the salivary glands. These all work together towards getting the food to your esophagus. The Teeth are responsible for doing some mechanical digestion. Mechanical digestion is where the food gets mashed together. The opposite of mechanical digestion is chemical digestion. Saliva is responsible for doing chemical digestion. Chemical digestion is where the food gets broke down with chemical reactions. Chemical and mechanical digestion is very important to our body, Then the tongue goes into action. The tongue is responsible for making the food into a bolus and helping us speak. The tongue is actually a group of organs that help to swallow. The tongue makes a food bolus by mashing and squeezing it together. A food bolus is kind of like a little round pill that goes down your Esophagus all the way to your stomach. The tongue makes the bolus and once the tongue senses that the bolus is ready to go it swallows the bolus. Then the Bolus goes down the Esophagus. The Esophagus is responsible for taking the bolus all the way down to the stomach using peristalsis. The Esophagus is kind of like a long tube that runs from your mouth to the stomach. Peristalsis is a series of tiny contractions and relaxations that push the Bolus down to the stomach. Reverse peristalsis is where the contents of the stomach are pushed up to get out of the body. One valve in the stomach opens and then the contents come rushing up out of the mouth. The stomach is responsible for digesting the food. The stomach has a lot of chemical digestion going on. When the brain thinks about, smells, or tastes food your stomach starts to prepare for getting food. The acid in the stomach is made up of hydrochloric acid. This acid helps to break down food. It starts to break it down and then it releases enzymes. The result of the acids is a substance called Chyme. Chyme is a partly digested mass which is forced into the small intestine. Chyme is part liquid and part mass so it does not resemble food. That is because the stomach has already taken out the fats and proteins.
The small intestine is responsible for digesting food. It is actually a long twisted tube but it is super skinny. Most of the food that is eaten is digested in the small intestine. Villi are responsible for helping absorb the digested food from the Small Intestine. Amino acids and nutrients found in food are absorbed by villus capillaries. All of the digested food is snatched through the wall of the small intestine. The waste products are called fibers. The Pancreas is responsible for creating acids that help the blood stream. These acids are crucial to the blood stream. Pancreatic Enzymes help digest the fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. The average pancreas pumps about 8 cups of pancreatic juice into the duodenum, daily. The liver is responsible for creating unprocessed sugar into energy the cells need. In the Liver glucagon breaks down the glycogen variety of sugar and releases its components into the blood. The Gallbladder is responsible for storing bile and contributes to making bile. This organ is not needed for life but lots of people have to get it removed because it could be life threatening. Bile plays a vital role in the digestion of fats, it is made in the liver. Most of the salts in this liquid are reabsorbed back into the body, and are necessary electrolytes. When you throw up you can sometimes throw up a yellow liquid, that is called bile. The Large Intestine is responsible for digesting the food not digested in the small intestine. When the Large intestine is stretched out it is about 5 feet long, it is also about 1.5 inches thick. The large intestine also digests water and vitamins left from the small intestine. The leftover food is converted into feces. The Anus is at the very end of the digestive system. it is responsible for dumping out the waste, it is about 5 inches long.
The Digestive system is very important to our body, it is responsible for doing lots of things like digesting food and getting waste out of our body. But it also needs the nervous system to tell it when to chew.
Our nervous system is very important to our body, it is responsible for telling our body what to do, and passing messages around the body.
The brain is very important to our body. It is responsible for processing information from sensory organs and from the body’s nerve cells, which in vertebrates are linked to it through the spinal cord. The human brain also has creativity in it. The Cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. It is responsible for storing the majority of neurological machinery implementing our sensory functions and complex learned behaviors. The Cerebellum is responsible for providing feedback and fine tuning to motor output. The brain stem or medulla is responsible for controlling blood pressure and other things so it is very important. The brain is one of the most important parts but it still needs nerves!
Nerves are very important to our body. Their primary function is to send messages back and forth. Sensory nerves are responsible for the transportation of sensory neural impulses from receptors or sensory organs throughout the body. A motor nerve is responsible for directly or indirectly controls the contraction or relaxation of muscles, which in most cases leads to movement. The spinal cord is very important to our body, it is responsible for taking information from the bottom of the body to the brain. A neuron is responsible for conducting messages to the body. Synapses are responsible for giving information to the muscle cells. Dendrites are responsible for picking up and sending messages from other nerve cells. Axons are the main part of the nerve cells, they are unique to animals and humans. nerves are very important to our body, they send and receive info from all over the body.
The nervous system is very important to our body, it sends messages, creates messages, and tells our body what to do.
As you can see, the human body is a complicated, unique machine that does so many important things. Not only does it help you live, but it also helps you move, think, breathe, feel, and communicate! Can you possibly imagine what life would be like if we were missing even one of these important systems? If not, maybe a few of these valuable concepts will help you understand better:
Now you have read all about our human body and how it works 24/7 for us. I hope that you learned a lot and that you can apply some of this information to your everyday life.
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By: Charlie
March, 2015
The human body has six main systems and is a complex machine that is constantly working to keep us alive. Although each system has its own unique jobs to do, they synergize to keep us healthy and active.
The skeletal system is responsible for giving us support, structure, and protection and works together with the muscular system to move our body. Our muscles pull our bones, which allows us to move, jump, and run! The muscular system actually plays an important role in delivering oxygen to our body’s cells. Without the heart, one of our most important muscles, blood wouldn’t be able to travel around our body! Luckily for us, the blood travels through our lungs, where it drops off carbon dioxide and picks up oxygen that our cells are craving. Speaking of craving, did you ever know that the main purpose of our digestive system isn’t just to digest food? It’s job is actually to take nutrients and water out of what we eat and drink and then deliver it to the circulatory system where it gets delivered to the cells in our body. But none of these systems would work without the direction of our nervous system!
Now let’s get right into it with the skeletal system, where you’ll learn how our bones help us move and protect our organs.
The skeletal system has several important jobs to do in our body. It is responsible for creating blood cells, providing our body with support and structure, and enabling us to move. We have several bones that are responsible for protecting our organs like the ribs protect our heart and lungs, and the skull protects our brain! Bones cannot move unless joined together at joints. Ligaments connect our bones together and cartilage prevents them from rubbing together which would be painful! We are so lucky to have strong, powerful, yet moveable bones in our body!
The bones in our body are made up of four distinct layers. Each of these layers has important responsibilities and are vital to our day-to-day life. The outer layer of bone is called compact bone. Compact bone is solid throughout and enables our body to be supported. Compact bone is so dense that surgeon’s need to use a saw to cut through it. The next layer of bone is called spongy bone and it is lightweight and porous, which prevents our bones from getting too heavy, but still be strong. It makes up about 20% of our skeleton, and it’s found mostly in long bones, joints, and in our spine. The center of many bones are filled with a gelatinous substance called bone marrow. Bone marrow is responsible for creating red blood cells and some of our white blood cells. Bone marrow also makes platelets for our circulatory system. In addition, bone marrow stores iron for when our body needs it. We have two different types of bone marrow: yellow and red. We are born with red marrow, but it slowly changes to yellow over time. Finally, the outermost part of bone is covered in periosteum, a thin, fibrous membrane that covers all bones. The membrane is responsible for helping to create new bone in children and does the same when adults sustain an injury. The periosteum is the site at which ligaments, tendons, and muscles attach to bone! It also contains the blood vessels that allow nutrients and oxygen to the get to the bones! Knowing the four layers of bones can help us to understand just how complex our human body really is!
There are more than just bones in our skeletal system, this paragraph is all about joints. Cartilage is the first joint in our body. It is a type of connective tissue that is tough. It also can hold up other tissues without being as hard as bone. Cartilage can’t contain blood vessels in it. The cells that it is made of are called Chondrocytes. The main type of cartilage is called Hyaline cartilage, it lines some bones. There is another type of cartilage called Elastic cartilage, it is more stretchy and flexible than Hyaline cartilage because it has elastin fibers. This type of cartilage is found in the outer ear. The next type of joint is called Ligaments. They are a key part in what helps our joints move. They also help keep the joints and bones in proper alignment and control the range of motion. Ligaments are made of proteins called collagen makeup tissue in the ligaments groups of them look like fibrous strands. The next type of joint is the Gliding joint. It is also known as the sliding joint. Gliding joints allow bones to glide past each other. Many gliding joints are formed in the carpal bones or the wrist. They are also formed throughout the neck in the axial skeleton. The next kind of joint is the hinge joint. It only allows backward or forward motion. Hinge joints are named that because they are like a hinge. Hinge joints are found in the elbow, the knee, and other places. They can only move forward or backward and not side to side like a door. The next type of joint is called the pivot joint. It is where a circular bone rotates on the axis of a different bone. There is a pivot joint in your neck and it lets you move your head rotate back and forth and lets it go up and down. The final type of joint is called the ball and socket joint. It is where one bone has a circular knob on one side and a bone that has a crevice on one end and the first bone rests in the crevice. Each shoulder has a ball and socket joint where the upper arm meets the shoulder blade. As you can see our joints are all for different purpose and everyone is just fascinating!
As you can see, the skeletal system has many important jobs to do! it allows us to stand straight up, move our body around, and protects our most important organs. However the skeletal system can’t move our body by itself. It needs the help of our muscular system as well!
The muscular system has three very important jobs to do in our body. It helps proper organ function, Help circulate blood, and allow us to move. The Biceps and Triceps help us move our arm. The cardiac muscle is the muscle that pumps blood around the body. The smooth muscle in our esophagus gets food to our stomach which is then used to make energy for our body.
One type of muscle in our body are Voluntary Muscles. They are the muscles that you can control with your brain. There is only one type of Muscle in the Voluntary Muscle category, and that kind of muscle are called Skeletal Muscles. A skeletal muscle is a strained muscle that is attached to bones. Skeletal muscles can vary in sizes and muscle fibers. Also a single skeletal muscle in the Human Body is considered an organ. Skeletal muscles work by relaxing and contracting. They are held onto the bone with tendons. When the muscle contracts it pulls the joint so that the body part can move. then the muscle relaxes and another muscle pulls the bone back down. At one end the muscle is attached by tendons and at the other end the tendons are linked to another bone. These muscles need tendons also. Both the muscle and the tendon can work together to make a pulling force. The tendon’s role is to withstand a pulling force without getting detached from the bone or the muscle. A tendon is kind of like a rubber band because it can withstand stretching without breaking for a long time. An example of this is, the Biceps and Triceps located in your arms by the elbow. Their job is to pull your elbow up and down. The biceps cross both the elbow and the shoulder. They also go all the way to the Ulna and the Radius. The Ulna and the Radius are the two bones that are in your forearm. That was only one part of the muscles though, there is still the Involuntary Muscles!
There are two very fascinating types of muscles in the involuntary muscle category, They are the cardiac muscles and the smooth muscles. Involuntary means that you can not control them with your conscious mind. The cardiac muscle has a very important job to do, it is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. It is found in the heart. The cardiac muscles can still pump blood if the nerves around it are cut. That is in case of a heart transplant. The average heart beats about 70 times per minute. Cardiac muscle is very unique because it is strained muscle like skeletal muscle but can’t be controlled like smooth muscle. The heart is also very strong because it has to protect the organ. Smooth muscle is a type of muscle that can contract so it is good for organs that pump blood around the body. They can be found in the digestive system. The esophagus is a smooth muscle that goes from your mouth to your stomach. You can swallow food while hanging upside down because your esophagus pushes the food up. It pushes the food up by making the esophagus smaller and smaller. It can also be found in the trachea and the bladder. That was the involuntary muscles in the muscular system!
That was the muscular system! It has many important functions and abilities. Without them we couldn’t live, but they also need help from the circulatory system as well to pump oxygen, energy, and water!
Intro: The circulatory system has some very important jobs to do, it needs to pump blood, deliver nutrients to all the cells, heal wounds, and take carbon dioxide to the lungs. The heart is responsible for pumping the blood all around our body. The blood vessels carry the blood. And the blood delivers things like oxygen and nutrition.
Blood is very important in our body, It carries nutrients and waste, helps make scabs, and fights of bacteria. One of the easiest ways to think of blood is as a never ending series of railroad cars. White Blood Cells are responsible for killing Bacteria. They serve as the “BackBone” to the Immune system. There are three types of White Blood Cells all with subtly varying functions. Red Blood Cells are responsible for carrying oxygen and nutrients around the body to our cells. Then they come back to the lungs to pick up oxygen and to drop off carbon dioxide. The Red Blood Cells are kind of like the mailmen in our body. Adult Humans have about 20 to 30 trillion blood cells in the body. Each blood cell lives for about 120 days before being broken down. Platelets are specialized cells, the main function is to cover up a scrape. They provide temporary cover for the wound. When you have a scab that scab is made of platelets and dried blood. Compared to red and white blood cells platelets are very light. Plasma is kind of like the milkman delivering things around the body. The plasma drops of things to the cells and then takes back waste to the lungs. Blood plasma is the liquid part of blood. It is about 90% water with the other 10% being nutrients and waste. Blood is a very important part of our body, but we need blood vessels to carry the blood around.
Blood vessels are responsible for transporting blood throughout your body. there are three different kinds of blood vessels. They are the arteries, veins, and capillaries. Arteries are one type of blood vessel. All arteries carry blood away from the heart and out to the rest of the body. Arterial tissue is designed for a quick and efficient delivering blood system. All arteries carry oxygenated blood so the blood can drop off nutrients. Another type of blood vessel is called a vein. they are kind of like the opposite of arteries. They take the blood to the heart from outlying areas and they mostly carry deoxygenated blood. There are also capillaries. They are tiny blood vessels with the largest one being ten millimeters across. They carry blood from veins to arteries and from arteries to veins. There are many kinds of capillaries but most carry blood to the cells to exchange oxygen, nutrients, and waste. The blood vessels transport the blood but they still need a little help from the heart to push the blood!
The heart is responsible for pumping blood around our body. Without our heart we could not live. There are four chambers of the heart. The right side is responsible for pumping blood to the lungs to get oxygen and to drop off carbon dioxide. The left side however is responsible for pumping the blood to the rest of the body. The top half of the heart has the left and right atrium and the lower half has the left and right ventricle. The left atrium is actually on the right side of the heart if someone is looking at it. But for you it is on the left side of the heart. It is responsible for receiving oxygenated blood from the lungs and sending the blood down the the left ventricle to get sent out to the rest of the body. The left ventricle is below the left atrium. The left atrium is kind of like a waiting room. The Left Ventricle is responsible for pumping the oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. The oxygenated blood comes through the mitral valve. Lots of people think that the ventricles are the top section of the heart but actually they are the bottom part. The right atrium is responsible for getting the deoxygenated blood and then sending it down to the right ventricle. It is kind of like a waiting room and it can hold up to 60 milliliters of blood. The right ventricle is responsible for pumping blood to the lungs to drop off carbon dioxide and to pick up oxygen. The ventricles have to pump with more force than the atriums because they have to send blood outside of the heart. The heart is one of the most important parts of our body. It is able to pump blood with enough force to get it all around our body!
That was the circulatory system! The circulatory system is able to do a lot of things, but it needs the help of the respiratory system to get the air in and the carbon dioxide out!
It is very important for the air into our body to get to our lungs. The respiratory system gets oxygen in and carbon dioxide out.
It is very important to get air to the lungs. Without it we could not live. Air enters the body by coming in the mouth or nose, it then goes to the Throat, when it is in the Throat it goes in the Larynx, also known as the voice box which is responsible for speech, the oxygen then goes down the Trachea, also known as the wind pipe which goes down to the lungs. The mouth or lungs first inhales the air. They are responsible for taking in the oxygen. When the air is breathed in through the nose, the air is humidified and the particles go airborne and get stuck so none gets to your lungs. The Nasal Cavity has nerves that can sense temperature, pain, or pressure. The Epiglottis is kind of like a flap or lid that covers the Trachea. It creates a seal that only air can get through. It is to make it so people don’t inhale food or liquid when they are eating. The Larynx is a funnel shaped organ that is responsible for protecting the Trachea when you swallow. The vocal cords make sound by having air vibrate it. They are located inside the Larynx. They also protect the lungs from the accidental inhalation of food, saliva, or mucus. The voice box is responsible for protecting the Trachea. It is also called the Larynx. The Trachea is responsible for taking the oxygen down to the lungs. It is also called the windpipe. If you think of the lungs as a tree you can say the Trachea is the trunk of the tree. That is how the oxygen gets in the lungs, but it still has to be processed in the lungs!
It is very important to get the air into the lungs so we can survive. Air moves into the lungs by going through the Trachea. It then goes into the Bronchial tubes. The air then goes into the Bronchi tubes. Then the air goes into the Bronchioles at the end of the Bronchioles is the Alveolus. They are tiny pouches. The lungs are responsible for making air into oxygen. They provide the body with oxygen which is converted into energy. Over the course of a lifetime, a person may use their lungs to breathe over a billion times. The Bronchial tubes are part of a huge respiratory tree. They are located in the lungs. They are responsible for getting air in the lungs and out of the lungs. A bronchus is one of the big tubes in the lungs. They carry air to the bronchioles which then carry air to the avoli. Avoli is responsible for doing the exchange of gases. That is where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. The exchange of gases is really important to our body, it takes carbon dioxide out, and oxygen in.
It is very important to have our respiratory system, it gets air to our body, gets carbon dioxide out and helps you talk. But it still needs the Digestive system to get energy!
The Digestive System is a really important system in our body. The primary purpose is to digest food and get minerals and vitamins to the cells in our body. It is also responsible for getting the waste out of our body.
It is very important to get food down to our stomach. The mouth is a hollow cavity that allows air and food to get in the body. It is made up of multiple organs like the teeth, tongue, and the ducts of the salivary glands. These all work together towards getting the food to your esophagus. The Teeth are responsible for doing some mechanical digestion. Mechanical digestion is where the food gets mashed together. The opposite of mechanical digestion is chemical digestion. Saliva is responsible for doing chemical digestion. Chemical digestion is where the food gets broke down with chemical reactions. Chemical and mechanical digestion is very important to our body, Then the tongue goes into action. The tongue is responsible for making the food into a bolus and helping us speak. The tongue is actually a group of organs that help to swallow. The tongue makes a food bolus by mashing and squeezing it together. A food bolus is kind of like a little round pill that goes down your Esophagus all the way to your stomach. The tongue makes the bolus and once the tongue senses that the bolus is ready to go it swallows the bolus. Then the Bolus goes down the Esophagus. The Esophagus is responsible for taking the bolus all the way down to the stomach using peristalsis. The Esophagus is kind of like a long tube that runs from your mouth to the stomach. Peristalsis is a series of tiny contractions and relaxations that push the Bolus down to the stomach. Reverse peristalsis is where the contents of the stomach are pushed up to get out of the body. One valve in the stomach opens and then the contents come rushing up out of the mouth. The stomach is responsible for digesting the food. The stomach has a lot of chemical digestion going on. When the brain thinks about, smells, or tastes food your stomach starts to prepare for getting food. The acid in the stomach is made up of hydrochloric acid. This acid helps to break down food. It starts to break it down and then it releases enzymes. The result of the acids is a substance called Chyme. Chyme is a partly digested mass which is forced into the small intestine. Chyme is part liquid and part mass so it does not resemble food. That is because the stomach has already taken out the fats and proteins.
The small intestine is responsible for digesting food. It is actually a long twisted tube but it is super skinny. Most of the food that is eaten is digested in the small intestine. Villi are responsible for helping absorb the digested food from the Small Intestine. Amino acids and nutrients found in food are absorbed by villus capillaries. All of the digested food is snatched through the wall of the small intestine. The waste products are called fibers. The Pancreas is responsible for creating acids that help the blood stream. These acids are crucial to the blood stream. Pancreatic Enzymes help digest the fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. The average pancreas pumps about 8 cups of pancreatic juice into the duodenum, daily. The liver is responsible for creating unprocessed sugar into energy the cells need. In the Liver glucagon breaks down the glycogen variety of sugar and releases its components into the blood. The Gallbladder is responsible for storing bile and contributes to making bile. This organ is not needed for life but lots of people have to get it removed because it could be life threatening. Bile plays a vital role in the digestion of fats, it is made in the liver. Most of the salts in this liquid are reabsorbed back into the body, and are necessary electrolytes. When you throw up you can sometimes throw up a yellow liquid, that is called bile. The Large Intestine is responsible for digesting the food not digested in the small intestine. When the Large intestine is stretched out it is about 5 feet long, it is also about 1.5 inches thick. The large intestine also digests water and vitamins left from the small intestine. The leftover food is converted into feces. The Anus is at the very end of the digestive system. it is responsible for dumping out the waste, it is about 5 inches long.
The Digestive system is very important to our body, it is responsible for doing lots of things like digesting food and getting waste out of our body. But it also needs the nervous system to tell it when to chew.
Our nervous system is very important to our body, it is responsible for telling our body what to do, and passing messages around the body.
The brain is very important to our body. It is responsible for processing information from sensory organs and from the body’s nerve cells, which in vertebrates are linked to it through the spinal cord. The human brain also has creativity in it. The Cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. It is responsible for storing the majority of neurological machinery implementing our sensory functions and complex learned behaviors. The Cerebellum is responsible for providing feedback and fine tuning to motor output. The brain stem or medulla is responsible for controlling blood pressure and other things so it is very important. The brain is one of the most important parts but it still needs nerves!
Nerves are very important to our body. Their primary function is to send messages back and forth. Sensory nerves are responsible for the transportation of sensory neural impulses from receptors or sensory organs throughout the body. A motor nerve is responsible for directly or indirectly controls the contraction or relaxation of muscles, which in most cases leads to movement. The spinal cord is very important to our body, it is responsible for taking information from the bottom of the body to the brain. A neuron is responsible for conducting messages to the body. Synapses are responsible for giving information to the muscle cells. Dendrites are responsible for picking up and sending messages from other nerve cells. Axons are the main part of the nerve cells, they are unique to animals and humans. nerves are very important to our body, they send and receive info from all over the body.
The nervous system is very important to our body, it sends messages, creates messages, and tells our body what to do.
As you can see, the human body is a complicated, unique machine that does so many important things. Not only does it help you live, but it also helps you move, think, breathe, feel, and communicate! Can you possibly imagine what life would be like if we were missing even one of these important systems? If not, maybe a few of these valuable concepts will help you understand better:
- The bones in our body support and protect, while our muscles pull but never push!
- In addition, our blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to our cells, while the alveoli in our lungs exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen.
- Finally, our digestive system is responsible for extracting important nutrients and water from what we eat and drink, but we’d never be able to do any of these things without our amazing nervous system!
Now you have read all about our human body and how it works 24/7 for us. I hope that you learned a lot and that you can apply some of this information to your everyday life.
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