Professional Documents
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BODY
YOUR
USBORNEHOTSHOTS
CONTENTS
4 What is your body made of? 6 Where does your food go to? 8 Why do you breathe? 10 What is blood for? 12 Your skin 14 Messages from outside you 18 Inside your head 20 What makes you move? 22 How are babies made? 24 What makes you ill? 26 Looking after your body 29 Amazing facts about your body 32 Index
BODY
Written by Susan Meredith Designed by Fiona Johnson Illustrated by Kuo Kang Chen, Colin King and Sue Stitt Series editor: Judy Tatchell Series designer: Ruth Russell
Additional illustrations by Chris Lyon, Guy Smith, Annabel Spenceley and Peter Wingham
YOUR
Nucleus Chromosome
Muscle cells are long and thin. They can shorten their length (contract) and then relax, which makes you move.
Nucleus Cells lining nose
Cells lining your nose and windpipe have tiny hairs on them. These waft germs and dust away from your lungs.
The nucleus divides and the cell starts to narrow in the middle. The cell splits in two.
The rungs on the DNA "ladder" are arranged in a different order in different people. This makes the instructions different, and makes everybody unique.
Digestion
Digestion takes place as your food travels through a long tube winding from your mouth to your bottom. Your teeth bite and chew your food into small pieces. Saliva (spit) moistens it and makes it easier to swallow. Saliva has a digestive juice in it which starts breaking up the food. When you swallow the food, it goes down your oesophagus into your stomach. Look on the opposite page to find out what different parts of the digestive tube do.
Small intestine
Teeth
Stomach In your stomach the food is churned up and mixed with stomach juice. It becomes rather like soup. Small intestine Your stomach releases food into your small intestine. Juices finish digesting it. The digested food seeps through the thin walls of your small intestine into your blood. Large intestine Water and any food which cannot be digested move into your large intestine. Most of the water goes into your blood through the walls of your large intestine. Rectum Solid waste is stored at the end of your large intestine in your rectum. It is pushed out through your anus when you go to the toilet.
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The hardest substance in your body is the enamel coating on your teeth. There are 32 teeth in a full adult set and 20 in a set of first or "milk" teeth. Your teeth are anchored in your jawbone by long roots.
Waste water
Any water that your body does not need is turned into urine (pee) in your kidneys. These are in your back. Urine is stored in your bladder until you go to the toilet.
Large intestine
Rectum
Anus
Your lungs
Carbon dioxide and water go out. Blood vessel Ribs move down and in, squeezing air out. Diaphragm relaxes Your lungs are in your chest.
upward.
The air you breathe is sucked through your nose or mouth, down your windpipe and into the branching tubes in your lungs. At the ends of the tiniest tubes are bunches of air sacs. These fill up with air, like balloons. You have about 300 million air sacs in each lung. The air sac walls are only one cell thick. Oxygen seeps through them into your blood. Your blood carries it to all your body cells and brings back carbon dioxide.
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from air sac.
Voice box
Air in
and out
The lumpy part at the front of your Your voice neck is your
box is here. voice box.
Vocal cord
Blood vessel
You have some stretchy cords, called vocal cords, in your voice box. When you speak, you breathe out and air passes between the cords. It makes them vibrate and produce sounds.
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High sounds
Low sounds
Muscles in your voice box alter the shape of your vocal cords to produce high or low sounds.
Blood
Blood consists of a mixture of cells floating in a pale yellow liquid called plasma. Digested food and waste products are carried in your plasma.
Red blood cells pick up oxygen as your blood passes through your lungs. This turns them bright red.
Circulation
White blood cell help to fight off illnesses. They Platelets help cuts to surround and stop bleeding. They destroy germs. plug up the wound by making a clot.
Your blood always goes in the same direction around your body, as shown here.
Heartbeat
Your heartbeat is the sound made by two pairs of valves, like gates, in your heart. They slam shut after each surge of blood has gone through. This stops the blood from flowing back. You have valves in your veins,
Pulse
Every time your heart pumps, your arteries throb as blood surges through them. You can feel this throbbing, or pulse, at your wrist.
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Your skin
Your skin is not just a bag to hold your body together. It also protects you from the outside world. It is about 2mm (0.08in) thick over most of your body and is arranged in two main layers: the outer epidermis and the inner dermis. Your surface skin is dead. This strong protective covering gradually gets worn away but new cells from the bottom of the epidermis are growing up all the time to take its place.
Hot or cold?
When you are hot, your blood vessels widen so that more blood can flow near the skin's surface and be cooled by the air. This makes you look red. When you are cold, the blood vessels narrow to prevent heat loss and you look paler.
Goose pimples
You get goose pimples when you are cold because tiny muscles attached to your hairs contract. This makes the hair on your body stand on end. This is not much use to humans but in furry animals the hairs trap air. This helps to keep the animal warm.
Dark or fair?
Hair
Your skin produces Your hair grows out of pits called follicles. Cells at the a dye called melanin. The more root of the hair divide and push it upward. As your hair melanin you have, the darker grows, the ends your skin. get so far away In strong sunlight extra melanin from your blood is produced as protection that they die. against the sun's rays. This is Having a hair cut is why peoples who originated painless, because in hot, sunny climates the hair is dead. have dark skin.
Waterproofing
Your skin is coated with oil made in groups of cells called sebaceous glands. The oil helps to keep your skin and hair waterproof and supple.
Sweat
Sweat is mainly water and salt, which pass into your sweat glands from nearby blood vessels. The sweat comes out through holes called pores. The air cools you as it dries the sweat on your skin.
Tears
Every time you blink, tears wash over your eyes and clean them.
Right eye Tears are made under your top eyelids.
Muscles in the iris Tears drain into your change the size of nose through the inside your pupils. corner of your eye.
You can watch your pupils changing size. Try looking at them in a mirror, first in a bright place, then in a dim one.
If you get something in your eye, extra tears are made to wash it away. Nobody knows why people cry when they are upset.
Taste
The "whites" of your eyes protect the parts behind. Your eyelashes help to keep dust and dirt out of your eyes. Lower eyelid
Your tongue has tiny spots called taste buds on it. Receptor cells in the taste buds sense four different tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Different parts of your tongue pick up the different tastes.
As this eye looks at the rocket, the light rays that come from the rocket cross each other behind the lens, so that the picture on the retina is upside down. The brain turns the picture back the right way up.
Smell
Receptor cells high in your nose are sensitive to smells. They sense subtle tastes too. This is why you can't taste much if your nose is blocked up.
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Loud noises
This chart shows the approximate loudness of certain sounds. Loudness is measured in decibels (dB). Repeated exposure to loud noise, say through headphones, can damage the receptors in your ears and make you deaf.
You have pain receptor cells deep inside you as well as in your skin. Pain helps to protect you by warning you when something is wrong.
Balancing
When you move your head, fluid in the semi-circular canals swirls around and pulls on receptor hair cells. These send impulses to your brain, which tell it about your position. If you spin around and then stop, you may feel dizzy. This is because the fluid in the canals continues to swirl for a while, even though your body is still. This confuses your brain.
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Receptor cells in your skin respond to different sensations such as heat, cold, light touch, pressure, itch or pain. You have lots and lots of receptor cells in your mouth, fingers and the soles of your feet. A tiny hurt in one of these places can feel much worse than a hurt in a place with fewer nerve endings.
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A mouth ulcer can be very painful because you have so many receptor cells in your mouth.
Follow the numbered labels to see how a message travels to and from your brain.
Funny bone
4. Message goes from brain to hand: "Scratch itch."
Sleeping
Dreaming may be a way of making sense of what has happened to you
You can't normally feel the impulses as they travel along your nerves. However, your funny bone is very close to a nerve and the shooting pain you get when you bang it is an electrical impulse.
Your brain works even when you are asleep. It makes sure your heart keeps beating and that you breathe and digest your food.
Rapid reflexes
If you prick your finger, you pull your hand away immediately. This automatic reaction is called a reflex. It helps to protect you from danger. To do this as fast as possible, the impulses bypass your brain and go from your spine to your muscles.
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Your muscles
Many of your muscles are arranged in layers over your skeleton. They are attached to your bones by strong cords called tendons. You can see and feel your biggest tendon, just above your heel. You can also see tendons on the inside of your wrist when you clench your fist and at the inside of your elbow when you bend your arm
Raising your eyebrows uses over 30 muscles.
You are able to move the different parts of your body because of the way your muscles, bones, brain and nerves all work together.
Your skeleton
Besides helping you to move, your skeleton gives your body shape and stops it from collapsing. It also protects parts of your body.
What's in a bone?
The outside of your bones is very hard but the inside is softer and spongy. It is arranged in a meshwork, which makes it light but strong. Some bones contain a substance called marrow. Blood cells are made in the marrow.
Joints
The place where two bones meet is called a joint. Most joints are movable. Here are just two types.
Ball and socket joint at hips and shoulders. Hinge joint at knees and elbows.
They are cushioned by pads of a rubbery substance called cartilage and oiled by a special fluid. Without the cartilage and fluid, your bones would grind together. 20
Cartilage
Fluid Ligament 21
A baby develops
Together, the egg and sperm make one new cell. This cell divides to make two cells exactly the same. These two cells then divide to make four. The cells continue dividing until a whole ball of cells is made. The ball of cells settles down in the lining of the woman's womb. There, it gradually develops into a baby until, after nine months, it is ready to be born. A baby is born through its mother's vagina.
Penis Testicle The cell divides.
Sperm cells
Sperm cells are made in a man's two testicles. These are inside a bag of skin, which hangs behind his penis. Sperm can travel from the testicles along two tubes and out of the end of the penis.
Tube
A ball of cells
Egg cells
A woman's egg cells are stored in her two ovaries. Once a month, an egg cell travels from one of the ovaries down one of the tubes leading to her womb.
Eye
A baby after one month in the womb.
Growing up
When you are around I I years old (girls) and 13 (boys), changes start taking place in your body as you grow into an adult. This time is called puberty. The main purpose of the changes is to enable you to have children when you are grown up.
When a man and woman have sex, the man's penis gets stiffer and fits inside the woman's vagina. Sperm come out of the penis and swim up into the woman's womb and tubes. If the sperm meet an egg, one of them may join with it. This moment is called conception or fertilization.
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Having a period
Every month, the lining of a woman's womb gets thick and soft with blood, in case a baby starts to grow there. If this does not happen, the lining and the egg cell, which has come from the ovary, break up and trickle out of the woman's vagina with some blood. This is called having a period.
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Bacteria
Bacteria are so tiny that over a million could fit on a pinhead. Some cause illnesses such as ear and skin infections.
Viruses
Viruses are over a million times smaller than bacteria. They cause many common infections such as colds, sore throats and stomach upsets.
Viruses have strange shapes.
Fighting back
When germs damage your cells, more blood flows to the infected place. Some of your white blood cells then devour the germs (see page I I). Other white blood cells kill germs using chemicals known as antibodies. Antibodies can recognize germs that have attacked you before. They stay in your body to stop the same germs from attacking again. This means you only catch most infections once. Being protected like this is called being immune.
Some bacteria attack your cells by giving off poisons. They can also spread infection around your body in your blood.
Viruses attack by getting inside a cell. The cell then becomes a kind of factory for making new viruses.
What is an allergy?
Allergies are not caused by germs. An allergy is when white blood cells send out antibodies to fight ordinary things as if they were germs. An allergy to pet hairs or feathers can cause the wheezing and coughing of asthma, or the sneezing and itchy eyes of hay fever.
Medicines called antibiotics can be used to kill bacteria that cause illness.
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No medicines can get rid of viruses. Your body has to fight them off by itself.
Eating well
Different foods do different jobs in your body, so you need to eat a good balance of all the different types. Eating the right amount is important too: neither too much nor too little. Protein foods make you grow and help repair your body. Meat, fish, eggs and nuts contain protein. Carbohydrates give you energy. Bread, cereals, rice, pasta and potatoes are good energy foods.
Too much fat can make you overweight. Animal fat, which is found in foods such as meat and butter, contains a substance called cholesterol. Over time, this can cause your arteries to get blocked and lead to heart disease.
Some foods, for example milk shakes, ice cream and biscuits are mostly fat and sugar. Some people are allergic to additives, such as food dyes and preservatives, which are put into many foods.
Keeping clean
You need to wash every day to get rid of dirt, dead skin, oil and sweat. This helps to prevent germs from growing and spreading on your skin. Your hair needs to be washed regularly for the same reasons. Brushing your hair helps to keep headlice away. Always wash your hands after going to the toilet, and before eating or handling food. This helps to stop many germs from spreading, especially those that cause stomach upsets. Your mouth contains bacteria which feed on any tiny pieces of food and drink left on your teeth. As they feed, they produce acids which make holes in your teeth. Cutting down on sugary foods and drinks, and brushing your teeth regularly help to prevent tooth decay.
Food
Milk, cheese and yogurt contain calcium, which makes your bones and teeth strong. They also contain protein.
Fruit and vegetables contain vitamins and minerals. You need these to keep your body working efficiently.
Fibre is a carbohydrate that your body cannot digest. It is good for your digestive system, though. It prevents constipation and may protect against some serious illnesses. Fibre is found in wholemeal bread and pasta, wholegrain cereals, brown rice, fruit and vegetables.
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Exercise
Exercise is good for you in lots of ways. 1. It makes you strong by making your muscles bigger and stronger. Without exercise, muscles waste away and turn to fat. 2. It strengthens your bones and keeps your joints supple, so they do not stiffen up and give you aches and pains. 3. It makes your heart and lungs more efficient so that they can do more work with less strain. 4. It makes you less likely to pick up infections and to develop illnesses, such as heart disease, later on in your life. 5. It helps to keep you slim. 6. It helps you to relax and makes you feel good.
Hic! Hic! You get hiccups when the diaphragm muscle in your chest gets out of control, making your in-breaths come in short gasps. The noise is caused by your vocal cords snapping shut. Voice breaking The longer your vocal cords, the deeper your voice. In their early teens, boys' voices get much deeper or "break". This is because their vocal cords grow twice as fast as girls'. Pumping blood At rest, a child's heart beats about 80 to 100 times a minute. An adult's heart beats about 70 times. When you exercise, your heart beats harder and faster. An average adult has about 5 litres (8.5 pints) of blood in their body. Red blooded You have about 30 million million red blood cells, more than any other type of cell. Red cells are made in your large bones, at a rate of about three million a second. These cells have no nucleus.
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Average lifespan
2-3 days 7 days 3 weeks 4 months 25-30 years Most last a lifetime Some last a lifetime
You need to exercise regularly to get fit, so it is important to do a sport you enjoy. The best are those which have as many of the benefits listed on the left as possible. These include swimming, soccer, energetic dancing and cycling.
Small intestine? Your small intestine is "small" only because of its width: just 4cm (1.5in). It is actually very long: about 4m (13ft) if it were uncoiled. Long slow journey A meal stays in your stomach for about three hours and can take three days to travel all the way through your digestive tube.
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Thin skinned? Although your skin is about 2mm (0.08in) thick in most places, it is only 0.5mm (0.02in) thick on your eyelids and 6mm (0.2in) thick on the soles of your feet. A rhino's skin is about ten times thicker than your skin. Colour blind Some people have faulty receptor cells in their eyes and cannot see colours correctly. About one in 20 people cannot tell the difference between red and green. Colour blind view
Brainbox The average human brain weighs about 1.4kg (3lb). It is thought that the brain can store about as much information as a 20-volume encyclopedia.
How much muscle? You have over 600 muscles. The largest are in your bottom but the strongest are the ones you use for biting at each side of your mouth. Biggest and smallest cells The biggest cells in the human body are female egg cells. Each is about the size of the dot over this letter " i " . The smallest cells are in your brain. They are 100 times smaller than egg cells. Bacteria invasion Your body is a warm damp place with plenty of food, so bacteria grow and spread quickly inside you. Within hours there can be millions in one small part of your body. Atchoo! Sneezing sprays millions of germs into the air. Some of them may shoot out over 3m (I0ft) away.
C o m m o n complaints The two mo$t common infections are colds and gum disease. Scientists estimate that about four out of five people suffer from gum disease at some time in their lives.
Water of life
You could live for several weeks without food but only for a few days without water. There is water not only in drinks but in food too. Lettuce and carrots, for example, are both nine-tenths water How much energy? The energy you get from food is measured in kilojoules (kj) or kilocalories (kcal). Different foods have different a m o u n t s of kilocalories. Between the ages of ten and fourteen you need around 2,000 to 3,000 kilocalories a day: about the same as an adult. Apple 50kcal
Lightning reactions When you are awake, about three million nervous impulses flash around your body every second. Some of these travel at over 400kmph (250mph), which is faster than a high-speed train. Nervous tension An adult has some 75km (45 miles) of nerves in their body, enough to stretch over 185 times around an Olympic running track. How many bones? You have over 200 bones. Around half of them are in your hands and feet. Your thigh bone is both the longest and strongest bone in your body.
A good sniff Your smell receptor cells cover an area about the size of a postage stamp but they allow you to detect over 3,000 smells. Some dogs, however, can smell about a million times better than that.
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Index
antibodies 25 arteries 10, I I, 27 balancing 16, 19 bladder 7 bones 20, 21,30 brain 18-19, 30 capillaries 10 cartilage 20 cells 4-5, 29, 31 cholesterol 27 chromosomes 5 circulation I I conception 22 diaphragm 9, 29 digestion 6-7, 26, 29 DNA 5 dreaming 19 ears 16, 17 egg cells 22, 23, 31 energy 4, 8, 26, 27, 31 exercise 28, 29 eyes 14-15, 30 fat 12, 27, 28 fertilization 22 food 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, I I , 26-27, 3 I germs 11, 24-25, 27 growing 5, 26 hair 4, 12, 13, 27 receptors 14, 15, 16, hearing 16, 17, 19 17, 18, 30 heart 10, 11,20,28,29 reflexes 19 hiccups 29 retina 14, 15 ribs 9, 20 intestines 6, 7, 29 saliva 6 joints 20, 28 sight 14-15, 19, 30 kidneys 7 skeleton 20, 21 skin 12-13, 17,29, 30 ligaments 20 sleeping 19 lungs 8-9, I I , 20,28 smell 15, 19, 30 sperm 22, 23 marrow 20 stomach 6, 7, 29 melanin 12 muscles 4, 21, 28, 31 sweat 13, 27 nerves 4, 14, 18, 19, 21,30 nose 4, 15, 16 oesophagus 6 ovaries 22, 23 ovum 22 oxygen 8, 9, 10, I I penis 22 periods 23 plasma I I platelets I I pores 13 puberty 22 pulse I I pupil 14, 15 taste 15, 19, 29 teeth 6, 7, 26, 27 tendons 21 testicles 22 thinking 18, 19 touching 17, 19 urine 7 vagina 22, 23 veins 10, I I vocal cords 9, 29 waste 7, 8, 10, I I water 4, 7, 9, I 3, 31 windpipe 4, 8, 9 womb 22, 23
This book is based on material previously published in Usborne Starting Point Science: What's Inside You?, Where do Babies Come From?, What Makes You IIP, Young Scientist: Human Body. Facts and Lists: Body Facts. First published in 1996 by Usborne Publishing Ltd, Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London E C I N 8RT, England. Copyright 1996, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1983 Usborne Publishing Ltd. The name Usborne and the device are Trade Marks of Usborne Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in Italy.
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