Monday, May 9, 2011

My Knowledge on the Human Body

In 5th grade we learned about the human body, and all of it's different systems. However, I unfortunately do not remember much from that course, which I took about four years a go. There are a few things that still stand out in my mind though. One of the major systems I remember is the journey food goes on when it is broken down. Better known as the digestive system.  The food starts in the stomach where it is broken down by bile. It then travels to the either the large intestine or the small intestine (i'm not sure which comes first) and it is broken down further. In these two places more of the nutritional things that are on the food are taken out and absorbed into cells to travel throughout the body. After it has been completely broken down, and nothing is left but waste, it makes it to the rectum where it waits to be excreted through the anus. The liver, gal bladder, and pancreas do something during that process but I can't remember what they do. I think the gal bladder might release some sort of acid that helps break down the food.



Another system I remember is how the heart works. The heart has two main arteries, which pump oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to their specific places in the body. Deoxygenated blood enters (I think) the left artery and is pumped through to the lungs to be oxygenated. Oxygenated blood is pumped through the right artery and is circulated through the body. There are more parts in each artery, but I can't remember what they are. The heart is the most important muscle in our body, it keeps us alive and moving. It circulates blood that comes in from our lungs all over our body. The lungs are another important part of our bodies. We suck in air through our mouth or nose, it goes through a tube that is behind the tube that brings food to the stomach, and hits the alveoli in the lungs, which send it through to the blood behind waiting to be oxygenated.

Another piece of information I know about the Human Body is that nerves send signals to the brain telling it where to send blood or what to do. When we feel pain a nerve in the distressed area calls up to the brain saying we got hurt. The brain also does many other things like controlling every muscle, artery, and thing that makes up our body. If our brain doesn't work we can't live.

Sadly this is all I can remember about the human body, and what I learned in 5th grade. I am very excited to relearn things about the human body, and learn knew things I didn't know before.