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2 Introduction Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ Welcome to ‘Our Body: The Universe Within’ Dear Students, Have you ever thought about how your body works? Do you wonder how you are able to do simple activities like run, breathe and eat? We use our bodies every day, but we often take for granted how complex and special they are. Our bodies are made up of amazing systems, and it is important that we understand how they work. The more we learn about our bodies, the better we will be able to take care of them. And through science’s commitment to learning about bodies, many injuries and diseases are now treatable, and we are all able to live longer and healthier lives. Our Body: The Universe Within is an exhibit that teaches ordinary people about the extraordinary details of the body. The exhibit contains more than 200 real human bodies and specimens, and literally goes “under the skin” to show their inner makeup. Visitors can get an up-close, three-dimensional look of the human body as a whole and of each major system of the body. If you want to be a doctor, scientist, athlete or artist — or if you are just curious about how the body works — you will be amazed by The Universe Within exhibit. The activities inside this guide will help prepare you for a visit and will begin to answer your questions about the many mysteries of the human body. How Well Do You Know Your Body? What do you already know about the human body? Quiz yourself about some of the body’s major systems. Directions: Match each body part on this illustration with the paragraph at right that describes it. Draw a line connecting your answers. Musculoskeletal System — Body parts in the musculoskeletal system are responsible for moving and supporting the human body. Respiratory System — Body parts in the respiratory system help bring oxygen into the body and release carbon dioxide. Digestive System — Body parts in the digestive system help turn food into energy by breaking down larger molecules into smaller ones. Nervous System — Body parts in the nervous system transmit information from nerves and senses to the brain. Cardiovascular System — Body parts in the cardiovascular system move blood and other materials around the body. Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ t: body fancof the How it works 3 How Does Polymer tio to Preserva portant m i s i y d bo ltures. many cu ilizations, civ Ancient se of the o h t s a , such nd Incas a s n a i t Egyp mummi f o s e p y used t preserve o t n o i t a fic bodies. Impregnation Work? The human bodies featured in the Our Body: The Universe Within are preserved using a recently discovered technique called polymer impregnation. This method of preservation uses liquid plastics to keep everything from delicate tissues to organs to the body’s structure intact. This is a breakthrough in the way people are able to study human specimens. Studying Human Specimens While exhibits like Our Body: The Universe Within are relatively new, doctors and scientists have been studying human specimens for years. When working with real human bodies in the past, the first challenge was to prevent the body from decay. Decaying begins when certain cell enzymes are released after death. It is furthered when all normal body functions have shut down, and the body no longer has a way to fend off bacteria and other microorganisms. Slowly, the microorganisms feed off the body’s fats and liquids and eventually break the body down. In the last century, the preferred method of keeping bodies from decaying has been to embalm them. This involves injecting a chemical called formaldehyde into the body. Formaldehyde has many unique qualities, including the ability to kill most bacteria and to harden the body. However, there are many disadvantages in this method of preservation. First, formaldehyde is a toxic chemical, and high amounts are needed to preserve bodies for an extended length of time (1-2 years). Also, it has a strong odor, making it unpleasant to work with. Finally, in order for organs to maintain their normal shape, fluids cannot be drained from the body. However, these fluids cause the brain to decay more rapidly. Polymer impregnation was invented to resolve problems associated with embalming and has become an important tool for studying bodies. However, embalming is still used for funerals and medical study due to its low cost and fast processing time. The Power of Plastic Polymer impregnation begins with the lawful donation of bodies. All of the bodies in Our Body: The Universe Within have been donated by medical facilities and schools within China for the purpose of promoting medical and scientific knowledge. Donations are anonymous to protect the donors and their families. The bodies are embalmed using a diluted form of formaldehyde and dissected. Then an acetone solution is used to remove all the water and fatty tissues from the body. These fluids are replaced with a liquid plastic (also called a polymer solution). This basketball player in the exhibit reveals the structure of the body’s muscles. At first, the polymer solution is soft and malleable. It allows scientists to position the bodies in different life-like shapes and poses. Needles and pieces of foam rubber are used to keep all the parts (internal and external) in place. Scientists then encourage the liquid plastic to harden by introducing gas, light or heat. This process takes 1,500 hours, and results in specimens that are odorless, durable, safe to handle and resistant to decay. Science in the news Polymer impregnation is a breakthrough in science that has made it possible to study the human body in new ways. Breakthroughs occur almost every day in different fields of science. With the Detroit Free Press and Internet as resources, find a science breakthrough that interests you. Write a paragraph summarizing the breakthrough, why it is significant, whom it will benefit most and how soon. 4 Polymer Impregnation Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ Who Works on t: body fac ch of are in In 1 squ lie 4 yards re 00 skin the bers, 1,3 i f e v r e of n sweat 0 0 1 , s l l nerve ce 3 million f glands, so d 3 yard n a s l l e c ssels. blood ve Polymer Impregnation? Polymer impregnation is a new process that is revolutionizing science education. Doctors, scientists and educators have been invigorated by the possibilities that this new technology can offer. The impact of polymer impregnation is already being felt in schools and labs around the world. Some students are now learning the fundamentals of anatomy, not by staring at lifeless models, but by viewing real human bodies. University of Michigan Medical School Plastination Lab In 1989, Dr. Roy Glover brought polymer impregnation to the University of Michigan with the goal of promoting anatomy education. Caption informations should go here near this photo. Caption informations He began a research lab where students and professionals could learn the techniques of polymer impregnation. Learning how to work with the different chemicals involved in the process is rel- atively easy. The real challenge comes with dissection. Those who work in the lab have to learn how to best dissect and position specimens so that important body systems are visible. Before a specimen is dissected, a scientist has to think about what he or she wants the viewer to learn. If the goal is to highlight the musculoskeletal system, a scientist might want to keep the outer body intact and position the body so that some muscles are flexed and others are relaxed. However, if the aim is to show the digestive system, a scientists may choose to open up the abdomen so that internal organs can be viewed from various angles. Thus far, 50 students have done anatomy research in the lab using polymer impregnation. The high quality specimens are used as teaching tools in the anatomy department of the University of Michigan and sent to other medical schools and educational programs nationwide. Polymer Impregnation Researchers Dr. Armeed Raoof is a doctor and professor at the University Michigan. Never having feared working with dead bodies, he has been active in the projects that the lab is doing. Raoof first became interested in polymer impregnation when he realized how effective it was in preserving bodies. Since the specimens are safe, odorless and durable, he knew that he would be able to give students in his courses hands-on experience in dealing with human organs and tissues. After using the specimens in the classroom, he has found them an invaluable educational tool. However, he recognizes that widespread use is still years away. Due to the expense of preserving the bodies, specimens are not readily available for general public observation. Yet, new innovations may give future scientists more affordable methods for preserving bodies. Currently, a thin-sheet plastination process is in development. This would allow scientists to use polymer impregnation on thin layers of organ tissue. Science in the news Polymer Impregnation is used primarily to further science education. Look through today’s Free Press or the Internet for articles about other projects or policies designed to improve science education. Write a short paragraph suggesting ways that your science teacher could use new technology to make class more exciting or interactive. Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ The Nervous System 5 How do we think and feel? The nervous system The nervous system is responsible for controlling your thoughts, emotions and body movements. It is made of two main parts, the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. Brain Power The central nervous system (CNS) is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. They work together to control your body. The brain is in charge, but the spinal cord carries messages from the brain to the rest of the body. While the brain weighs less than 3 pounds, it’s made of more than 10 billion nerve cells and more than 50 billion other cells. It has three main parts: the forebrain, the midbrain and the hindbrain. The forebrain is where most of the action happens. The biggest part of the forebrain is the cerebrum, and it holds all of the information that makes us individuals. It controls our intelligence, memory, personality, speech and voluntary muscles, which are the muscles that we can control. The hypothalamus and pituitary gland, which are also located in the forebrain, control some of our involuntary muscles, such as breathing and heartbeat. The hypothalamus controls our pulse, temperature, hunger and thirst, while the pituitary gland, makes and releases hormones that allow us to grow, digest food and deal with stress. Also in the forebrain is the cortex. It is responsible for processing the infor- mation that we see, hear, feel, taste and touch. The hindbrain is located at the back of the cerebrum and is made up of the cerebellum, pons and medulla. The cerebellum is very small, but it has a big function – it controls our balance, movement and coordination. Without it, we would not be able to stand, walk or move around. The pons and the medulla work with the midbrain to transmit information from the brain to the spinal cord. The threesome is also referred to as the brainstem, and they take in, send and organize the brain’s messages. They also control some automatic body functions that keep us alive, like breathing, blood pressure and blinking. t: c a f y d o b impulses to Pathways to the body The spinal cord is a bundle of nerve tissues that is 18 inches long and ? inch thick. It runs from the brain to the lumbar (located at the lower back). Radiating from the spinal cord are nerves, which make up the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Caption informations should go here near this photo. Caption informations Nerve he brain t m o r f and t as 170 s a f s a l trave r hour. e p s e l i m 6 The Musculoskeletal System Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ How do we move? The musculoskeletal system The musculoskeletal system is actually two systems in one: the muscular system and the skeleton system. Together they shape and support the body, and make it possible for people to move. The human body contains more than 650 individual muscles attached to the skeleton. The primary function of the muscular system is to provide movement. The muscular system consists of three different types of muscle tissues: skeletal, cardiac and smooth. Skeletal muscles attach to bones and move them, cardiac muscles control heartbeat and smooth muscles control contractions of hollow organs to move blood through blood vessels, food through the digestive tract and air through the lungs. The body has two types of muscles: involuntary muscles and voluntary muscles. Involuntary muscles are those people cannot control, such as those that control the beating of the heart, breathing of the lungs or contractions of the digestive tract. Voluntary muscles are those people can control, such as biceps, leg muscles or stomach muscles. The skeletal system determines the shape of the body and protects its organs. The skeletal system is made up of all the body’s bones, tendons and ligaments. It provides a firm base for attaching muscles and protects important organs. The chest and rib cage, for example, protect the heart, lungs and other organs that could be damaged by blows to the body. Bones are mostly made of the element calcium, which is found in milk. That is why it is important for kids to drink plenty of milk when growing up—calcium is the material that “builds strong bones.” Bones and muscles are attached by tendons. When a muscle contracts, it pulls on the tendon, which pulls on the bone and moves it. Bones, such as those that connect at the knee or elbow, are held together by ligaments. Inside bones is a spongy material called bone marrow. This makes the bones lightweight yet strong enough to support the body. Bone marrow also produces red and white blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. White cells produce antibodies that help the body fight off bacteria, infections and diseases. Fast-twitch, slow-twitch Some muscles are richly supplied by blood pumped from your heart. Others receive less blood from the heart. You have probably observed this at holiday dinners. If you eat turkey, you know that some of the meat is dark meat and some is white meat. The dark meat is the muscle rich in blood. The white meat is the muscle that gets less blood. The same is true for people. There is another difference between these muscles. The “dark-meat” muscles are called slow-twitch muscles, which means they contract and move more slowly. The “white meat” muscles are called fast-twitch muscles, which means they contract very quickly and yield a short burst of energy. Everyone has a mix of fast- and slow-twitch fibers in their muscles. You may have 70 percent slow-twitch and 30 percent fast-twitch. Your friend might have 40 percent slow-twitch and 60 percent fast-twitch. That would help determine what kind of athlete you are. Endurance sports like cross-country skiing or marathon running are slow-twitch events. Speed sports like a 100-yard dash, basketball or figure skating would be fast-twitch events. Caption informations should go here near this photo. Caption informations Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ The Musculoskeletal System 7 Word Find The parts of the system Biceps Bones Tendons Ligaments Ribs Marrow Heart Muscles Skeleton Movement Cardiac Smooth Voluntary Involuntary Directions: The musculoskeletal system has many parts. Find the following words hidden in the letters below. Then write a sentence for each describing what each part does. Caption informations should go here near this photo. Caption informations G P W S L O B I C E P S I V R Q U A P I N W F B L J O D S N M E S V V G A Y X L R I B S T R O S V S S Z U I T D P N U L P B M N N N J F R C E P U D X O O O T L I G A M E N T S O D T A S P K C E X T R A T N E R F E N E V H A L L H E L Y G L E F O N R I J N T E W O R R A M X Y R E N A K D L M N C A I D R A C S S S E N O B P S E L C S U M Science in the news Bones get stronger by a person eating a healthy diet rich in calcium. Muscles get stronger with good nutrition and use. Everyone uses muscles in their daily lives. Some people, like athletes, use their muscles in extreme ways. Other people use their muscles in moderate ways, such as walking to class or carrying school books. In the stories, photos or ads of today’s Detroit Free Press, find a job that interests you. Write down what muscles a person would use in that job. Then brainstorm three ways that person could exercise to strengthen those muscles and become physically stronger at what they do. 8 The Digestive System Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ How do we create energy? The digestive system The digestive system contains organs that change the food we eat into materials and energy the body can use. It uses natural chemicals and enzymes to process foods and breaks them down into usable proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and other substances that can be absorbed by body tissues. The digestion process begins in your mouth when you start eating. The teeth tear and grind food, and the salivary glands produce secretions of saliva that mix with the food. This saliva, or spit, starts the process that breaks down starches and carbohydrates. After your teeth have chewed your food, your tongue pushes it down your throat into your throat and esophagus. There it is moved by muscle contractions called peristaltic waves to the stomach. This movement is completed in only a matter of seconds. The stomach mixes the food with gastric juice, which contains chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and enzymes like pepsin, rennin and lipase. Pepsin breaks down proteins, rennin separates milk into liquid and solid portions and lipase acts on fat. From the stomach, food moves into the upper small intestine, where digestion is completed. The small intestine really isn’t that small. It’s folded up in your body, but if it were stretched out, it would be 22 feet long. That’s more than twice as tall as a basketball hoop! After the solid food has been digested, the fluid that remains is called chyme. In the small intestine all the nutrients are absorbed from the chyme into the bloodstream. This process is aided by the way the walls of the small intestine are constructed. The inside sur- : t c a f y d bo omach has Your st ce a new to produ layer ve protecti s every u c u m f o ks— two wee t would se i otherwi self! digest it face of the small intestine is covered with tiny structures called villi, which look a lot like very short hairs. The presence of villi gives the small intestine a much greater surface through which to absorb nutrients from food than if the surface were smooth. Through the walls of the villi, nutrients from food pass into the bloodstream and are distributed to cells throughout the body. The unusable residue left from the food passes through colon or large intestine to the rectum. The solid waste, called feces, is then passed out of the body. Digestion Helpers The pancreas, liver and gallbladder are organs that do important things that help the digestive system. The pancreas makes enzymes that help digest proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The liver makes bile, which helps the body absorb fat. Bile is stored in the gallbladder until it is needed. Interestingly, people don’t really need a gallbladder. If it is removed, the bile just flows right from the liver into the small intestine and does its job. Caption informations should go here near this photo. Caption informations Science in the news Food is fuel for the body. The digestive system breaks down the food, removes the energy and nutrients the body needs and discards the waste materials. Many other fuels are used by people and machines in daily life. In the Detroit Free Press find a story or photo of something that uses fuel to run. On a sheet of paper, write out what the fuel is, where it comes from, how it is broken down to provide energy and what waste materials are left at the end. Compare use of this fuel with the way food is used as fuel for the body. Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ The Circulatory System 9 How do we move nutrients throughout the body? The circulatory system The body’s circulatory system is a transportation system. It carries nutrients, water and oxygen to cells all over the body and takes away wastes such as the gas carbon dioxide that body cells produce by using oxygen. through the circulatory system by the heart (a child has about a liter less). The average person’s heart will beat 3 BILLION times in a lifetime and pump 48 million gallons of blood through the body! The circulatory system connects all parts of the body — and it is huge! The lungs, the heart and the blood vessels work together in the system. The lungs bring oxygen from the air into the blood, the heart pumps the blood through the body and the vessels and capillaries deliver the blood to all parts of the body. The human body contains more than 60,000 MILES of arteries, veins and capillaries—enough to circle twice around the Earth’s equator if stretched out end to end! The circulatory system is responsible for three distinct functions that are essential for life. These are: pulmonary circulation (through the lungs), coronary circulation (the heart) and systemic circulation (the body’s blood vessels system of arteries, veins and capillaries). On average, an adult human body has approximately five liters of blood continually pumped The Heart The heart is a muscle that works as a kind of pump. It is about the size of your fist and is located just to the left of the middle of your chest. The right side of the heart receives blood from the body and pushes it into the lungs where it can receive oxygen and discharge carbon dioxide gas that body cells have produced. The left side of the heart receives blood that has gotten oxygen from the lungs and pushes it through the circulatory system to cells throughout the body. Blood vessels that take blood away from the heart are called arteries. Vessels that carry blood back to the heart are called veins. The Blood : t c a f y d bo erson’s p a , r a e In a y out 40 b a s t a e heart b times. MILLION The blood is an amazing substance. It is made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and liquid called plasma. Red blood cells play an enormously important role in the body. They carry oxygen breathed in by the lungs to all the cells in the body and pick up the waste gas carbon dioxide that the cells have produced. The carbon dioxide is taken back to the lungs, which expel it when people breathe out, or exhale. White blood cells play an equally important role in the body. In fact, they are vital to keeping the body healthy. White blood cells attack bacteria and germs when they enter the body and fight off infection and sickness. Most of the time, there are enough white blood cells to keep a person’s body healthy. If someone gets really sick, however, a doctor might prescribe antibiotic drugs to help fight an infection. Caption informations should go here near this photo. Caption informations hould go here near this photo. Platelets are another special kind of blood cell. Their job is to help stop bleeding when people cut themselves and more platelets stick together, they seal off the cut and stop the bleeding. Plasma is the liquid part of the blood. Plasma carries the blood cells and other materials through the body. Plasma makes up about half the blood. 10 The Respiratory System Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ How do we breathe? The respiratory system The main job of the respiratory system is to supply the body’s cells with the oxygen they need to survive. The respiratory system does this through breathing and the circulation of blood. When people breathe, they inhale the gas oxygen from the air and exhale the gas carbon dioxide. This exchange of gases is the respiratory system’s means of getting oxygen to the blood. Respiration is achieved through the mouth, nose, trachea, lungs and diaphragm. Oxygen enters the respiratory system through the mouth and the nose. The oxygen then passes into the trachea, which is the tube that enters the chest area from the throat (also known as the “windpipe”). In the chest area, the trachea splits into two smaller tubes called the bronchi. Each of these then divides again, forming the bronchial tubes. These tubes connect with the lungs, where they divide into smaller tubes and connect to tiny sacs called alveoli. The alveoli play a crucial role in respiration: They are the point at which inhaled oxygen passes into the blood through tiny vessels called capillaries. At the same time, the waste gas carbon dioxide produced by the body’s cells passes from blood into the alveoli to be expelled from the body by the lungs. Breathing is made possible by the action of the body’s diaphragm. The diaphragm is a sheet of muscle that lies across the bottom of the chest cavity. These muscles are involuntary muscles, contracting and relaxing on their own. When the diaphragm contracts, it moves down in the body, leaving room for the lungs to expand and take in oxygen from the air. When the diaphragm relaxes, carbon dioxide is pumped out of the lungs. Speak Up The lungs make it possible for people to breathe. They also make it possible for people to talk. Air coming out of the lungs is essential for making sounds. How does this work? At the top of the trachea is the body’s larynx, sometimes called the “voice box.” The larynx has two tiny ridges of tissue across the top called vocal cords. When air passes out of the body from the lungs, it travels through the trachea and larynx to the vocal cords. If the vocal cords are closed and the air flows between them, the cords vibrate and sound is created. How loud the sound will be depends on how much air is expelled. The more air, the louder the sound. The less air, the softer the sound. The amount of air also determines how long you can make a sound. Don’t Smoke Every student has heard adults say “Don’t smoke.” t: c a f y d o b left lung Your er than is small t lung you righ om ro to make art. he for your Here’s why. The lungs and trachea have little structures called cilia that look like short little hairs. The job of the cilia is to filter out things that enter the lungs in the air that you breathe. Smoking damages or even kills the body’s cilia, making it impossible to filter out particles and chemicals in air that can damage the lungs. Smoking also can damage the alveoli that are so important to breathing. When people smoke, chemicals and tar from cigarette smoke build up in the lungs, causing the alveoli to become thick, swollen and unable to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood. This condition leads to emphysema. The tar and chemicals of cigarette smoke also can cause lung cancer, which is usually fatal. Caption informations should go here near this photo. Caption informations Science in the news Smoking is a health risk for both teens and adults. The nicotine in cigarettes is addictive, making it difficult to stop smoking once a person starts. Many efforts have been made to persuade teens and younger students not to smoke. In teams look through ads in the Detroit Free Press to see which ones are most effective for young people. Then design an ad seeking to persuade students not to smoke. Use health information from newspaper stories or the Internet in your ad if you wish. Pick celebrities to be spokespeople in your ads. Display ads and discuss ideas as a class. Our body: ‘The Universe Within’ Ethics 11 Would you donate your body to science? The ethics of polymer impregnation Our Body: The Universe Within provides exhibit visitors the opportunity to study human anatomy by going “under the skin.” In this exhibit, the public gets to see what only doctors and scientists got to see in earlier times. The exhibit’s human specimens have been displayed in an artful, compelling and dignified environment to give the public a deeper understanding of the body’s form and function, and a stronger appreciation of the uniqueness of each individual body. All of the bodies in the Universe Within exhibit have been donated by medical facilities and schools in China for the purpose of promoting medical and scientific knowledge. The anatomical specimens come from voluntary body donors or individuals who agreed that upon their death, their bodies could be used for medical science and the study of anatomy. Donations are anonymous to protect the donors and their families. All of the specimens have been provided for the exhibit in keeping with the laws of China. The specimens are not owned by the exhibitors, but by a Chinese foundation that has agreed to their display to promote education, science and medical research. Specimens in the exhibit come from voluntary donors. What do you think? As a class, discuss whether you would want to donate your body, or the body of a relative, for polymer impregnation and display for education or research. Then discuss whether you think it is a good idea to exhibit polymer impregnation specimens for the general public. In your discussion: • Consider what motivates a person to donate his/her body for Polymer Impregnation for education or an exhibit. • Consider how the friends and relatives of a donor might feel. • Imagine that a member of your immediate family wanted to donate his/her body for polymer impregnation. Caption informations should go here near this photo. Caption informations • Consider what you might learn—or did learn— about your own body from viewing Our Body: The Universe Within. Credits The student supplement “Our Body: The Universe Within” was created by Detroit Newspapers In Education for the Detroit Free Press. Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved. The writers were Cynthia Leger, Peter Landry and Sara Shahriari of Hollister Kids with resource materials from the traveling exhibit “Our Body: The Universe Within.” The graphic designer was Breonna Rodriguez of Hollister Kids. The manager of Detroit Newspapers In Education is Sharon Martin. For more information about Detroit Newspapers In Education, visit the Web site www.dnie.com