TEACHER GUIDE Humans: Our Germy, Smelly, Strange Species! 60-Minute Health Lesson Interactive Video Conferencing Grades: 4-8 Humans: Our Germy, Smelly, Strange Species! Description How might an alien race view the humans they find on Earth? We re smelly, leaky, come in a million different varieties, and have no idea how many microorganisms call our bodies home! Join us for this analysis of amazing and (possibly) shocking facts about the realities of being a human. This investigation of our insides is a must for fans of the smells and sounds of human gross anatomy! Objectives List the hierarchy of organism organization: cells, tissues, organs and organ systems. Describe how the body uses oxygen and nutrients to make energy at the cellular level. Discuss major structures and functions of the skeletal, muscular, nervous, respiratory and circulatory systems of the human body. Recognize that there is tremendous physical diversity within the human species. National Health Education Standards Grades 3-8: Health Standard 1 Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health Grades 3-8: Health Standard 3 Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information and products and services to enhance health. Grade 6: Life Science: Cellular to Multicellular Before Your Program Please have students clear their desks before the program begins (unless they d like to take notes on all the human body facts we ll be discussing!). Introduce the vocabulary and additional resources provided below.
Vocabulary anatomy The structure of an organism or the science of the structure of animals or plants. bone marrow the living core of a bone, where bone cells exist and new blood cells are created. cell a microscopic living unit of protoplasm. Sometimes called a building block of living multicellular plants and animals; a bacteria is a single-cell organism. diaphragm a muscle between the chest and abdomen that moves up and down to push air in and out of the lungs. follicle - the sheath of cells and connective tissue that surrounds the root of a hair. involuntary muscle muscles that work automatically, with no conscious control from the organism (mostly the muscles on the inside of our body). neuron a nerve cell nutrients materials that provide living organisms with substances they require for life and growth. organ in animals and plants, a part that is adapted to perform a specific function. organism any living thing. organ system - several organs within an organism which must operate together to provide a specific function for life. physiology the science dealing with the functions and processes of living organisms. plaque - a soft thin film of food debris, mucin, and dead cells on the teeth, providing a medium for bacterial growth. tissue the substance of a living organism that is made of cells. A doctor might take a tissue sample of an organ that they suspect is diseased in order to look at its cells under a microscope. voluntary muscle muscles that the organism has conscious control over (mostly the muscles on the outside of our body).
Extension Activities See the two attached worksheets: The Great Germ Hunt & Formulas for Freaky Facts! Online Resources for Teachers and Students Click the link below to find additional online resources for teachers and students. These websites are recommended by our Museum Educators and provide additional content information and some fun, interactive activities to share with your class. CMNH Educators regularly review these links for quality. Web addresses often change so please notify us if any links have issues. Cleveland Museum of Natural History https://cmnh.org/edlinks
Formulas For Freaky Facts! How many cells make up the average human body? Around 75 trillion! That s the number 75, with twelve zeroes after it. Try writing it out on the board. How would you write it in exponential notation? How much of your body is made of water? Humans are around 60-70% water. Use 65% as your average. 1.) Write down your weight, in pounds. 2.) Multiply that number by.65 this shows how many pounds of you is made up of water. 3.) Water weighs about 8.3 pounds per gallon, so divide the number you got from Step 2 by 8.3 to find out how many gallons of water are in your body! How long could my hair grow, if I never cut it? Head hair grows about 1/2 millimeter per day, or about 1/2 an inch every month. 1.) The average human lifespan is 65 years. 2.) Hair growing at 1/2 inch per month would take how long to grow a foot of hair? (1 foot = 12 inches. 12 inches divided by.5 inch per month = 24 months) 3.) How many months in a 65 year lifetime? (65 x 12 = 780 months) 4.) Divide the whole lifetime in months by the time to grow a foot of hair: (780 divided by 24 = 32.5 feet of hair!) How many times does your heart beat in a year? A healthy human heart beats around 72 times per minute. 1.) How many minutes in an hour? (60) 2.) How many hours in a day? (24) 3.) How many days in a year? (365) 4.) 72 beats per minute x 60 minutes = 4,320 beats per hour. 5.) 4,320 x 24 hours in a day = 103,680 beats per day. 6.) 103,680 x 365 = 37,843,200 beats per year! How long are your guts? You ll need either a long rope, or a yardstick for this answer. 1.) Your stomach is about as long as your outstretched thumb to pinky on one hand. 2.) Your small intestine is about 3 times as long as you are tall. 3.) Your large intestine is about as long as your outstretched arms.
WHAT YOU NEED: Unflavored gelatin Beef bouillon cube Petri dishes or other small clean dishes Q-tip swabs water The Great Germ Hunt: How Clean is Your House? PREPARE YOUR MEDIA: Heat some water to almost boiling. Stir one tablespoon of plain, unflavored gelatin and one beef bouillon cube into one cup of very hot water. Stir constantly until the gelatin and cube dissolve completely. Pour a thin layer of the liquid in each Petri dish. Cover each Petri dish quickly to avoid contamination. Wait until gelatin sets before going on to the next step. If you don t have Petri dishes, you could use clean lids from old coffee cans or other containers, and use a bowl to cover them. This tasty beef-flavored protein goo is now delicious food for many kinds of bacteria, molds, and fungus that may be hiding in your home. FINDING YOUR RESIDENT MICROBES: Choose several different items that may have lots of germs on them. Gently brush them with a damp Q-tip in about a two-inch square area, open the Petri dish and make streaks on the surface of the gelatin. Use gentle pressure, do not dig into the gelatin, and do not retrace your previous streaks. Discard the Q-tip. Repeat the same procedure with the other item and swab on the other side of the Petri dish. Completely seal the Petri dish with four pieces of clear tape. (If you are using alternate dishes, make sure they are covered well enough to avoid dust, dirt, bugs or other debris getting into them.) Store the Petri dish in a dark, warm, and dry place. Each day for five days, take about 10 minutes to observe the dishes and record your findings. In general, if any growth looks fuzzy, it is yeast. If it is slimy, it s probably a mold. If it is a bunch of tiny circles, it s probably bacteria colonies. Smell the colonies! Every kind of microorganism will have its own distinct (and usually gross) odor. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR NEW PETS! The items that you swabbed with the Q-tips may have had a FEW bacteria on them, but now you have grown colonies of MILLIONS. That is enough bacteria to make you sick if they get into your body. Once you have admired your results, kill the colonies by misting them with Lysol or a solution of ¼ cup bleach to 1 gallon of water. Then your dishes can be thrown away in the trash.