Download Carol-Ane Caballeros  The Way our Body Works Have you ever

Carol-Ane Caballeros
The Way our Body Works
Have you ever wondered how our body functions? Well our body works in five
different systems. The Circulatory System, Digestive system, Excretory System, the Respiratory
system and the Nervous System.
The Circulatory system is a network that is made up of organs, the heart, arteries,
veins, capillaries and blood cells. Some components of this system are the blood system and the
Lymphatic System. The Lymphatic system has several functions in the human body. What
happens is that the system returns excess fluid (also known as lymph) from the tissue from the
heart. Fat is also taken from the digestive tract. The lymph system also works with the immune
system. Lymphatic vessels are like an extensive network of ducts and vessels that move
throughout the body network. Another part of the circulatory system is the blood system. The
blood system contains of the heart, blood, and different blood vessels. Blood is a fluid that
circulates in the principal vascular of humans, carrying nourishment to all parts of the body and
takes away waste that must be excreted. Blood also consists of red and white blood cells. Red
blood cells are circular biconcave shape and have a diameter of 0.01 mm. Red blood cells have
no nucleus and are produced by bone marrow. These types of cells contain a protein called
hemoglobin, which is a red pigment that contains iron. Hemoglobin is responsible for
transporting oxygen which explains the color of the blood. White blood cells are colorless, larger
than red blood cells and there are fewer white cells than red ones. A white blood cell DOES have
a nucleus and has a short life span. Its main job is to protect our body against diseases. One main
part of this system is the heart. The heart is between the lungs behind the chest bone and it is
slanted to the left. The heart is the size of a clenched fist, and is made up of four chambers. The
small upper chambers are the atria (singular atrium) and the larger lower chambers are the
ventricle. The left and right side of the heart is separated by the medium septum. What this organ
does is pump blood to all parts of the body and during the process it transfers materials to the
intended locations. Also, humans and mammals have a double circulation system which
effectively performs this system.
The Digestive system is the system in which ingested food is acted upon by physical and
chemical means to provide nutrients for the body that it can absorb and to excrete waste
products. There are seven parts to the digestive system: the mouth, the esophagus, the stomach,
the small intestine, the large intestine, the rectum and the anus. Some other organs that are
involved with the digestive system are the salivary glands, the liver the pancreas, and the gall
bladder. Our nutrition plays a big role in the system. Ingestion (which is the intake of food),
digestion which breaks down large portions of food into soluble and diffusible forms.
Absorption, egesting and eliminating. The first step of the digestive system takes place in the
mouth. Mechanical and enzymatic digestion of carbohydrate (carobs) begins in the mouth. Food
is mixed with saliva (produced by 3 pairs of salivary glands) which helps soften it. Salivary
amylase (a type of enzyme) acts on starch and converts it to maltose and a shorter chain of
polysaccharide. The digestion of starch is only a partial digestion. During the process our teeth
cut and break up food into smaller pieces. This process is called mastication. The tongue also
rolls food into small spherical bolus before it is pushed into the pharynx. After the food passes
the mouth it enters the esophagus. This is a narrow muscular tube that leads to the pharynx of the
stomach. The muscle contacts to bring peristalsis. Peristalsis is the rhythmic, wave like
contractions of the walls from your gut. This pushes food along the gut. After the food particles
are done going down the esophagus, it reaches the stomach. The stomach has thick muscular
walls, and temporarily retains food for protein digestion. The inner walls are lined with the
gastric glands in which they secrete gastric acid. Gastric juices are a mixture of hydrochloric acid
and enzymes (proteases) that partially digest proteins. Food is mechanically digested by
peristalsis in our stomach that vigorously mixes food while using the gastric juice. Our food
remains in our stomachs for about 3-4 hours. Once the food is processed it goes down to the
small intestine. The small intestine consists of duodenum, jejunum, and coiled ileum. The
digestion takes place in both the duodenum and the jejunum. Chyme, also known as partially
digested food, is mixed with intestinal juices which are produced by the intestinal glands. It is
also mixed with pancreas juice and bile which is released from the gall bladder. The intestinal
juices contain two types of enzymes: protease (digested proteins) and lipase (digested fat). After
all of the digestion process is done you end up with carbohydrates; simple sugars like glucose,
fructose, and GA lactose. Proteins (amino acids) and fats (fatty acids and glycerol). The small
intestine is also included in the absorption process. Absorption is the movement of the digested
products from the gastric intestinal tract in the blood stream. Absorption takes place because of
the process of diffusion and active transport. The small intestine is well adapted because of its
length (6 meters long), the inner walls are folded into traverse folds and furrows, and it has
numerous minute finger-like projections called villi, and is richly supplied with blood and
lymphatic vessels to absorb food substances. After, the large intestine comes to play. Water and
mineral salts are absorbed in the colon. All of the undigested and unabsorbed matter is
temporarily stored in the rectum before it is discharged as faeces through the anus; also known as
poop.
Another, system of the body that is important is the Excretory System. The Excretory
system is a biological system that removes excess, unnecessary, or dangerous materials from an
organism, so as to help homeostasis within the organism and prevent damage to the body. When
the body has many chemical reactions (ex. Cell respiration, and breakdown of amino acids)
metabolic waste products are produced. The toxic waste must be removed from the body, or else
they will threaten the health and survival of the organism. The organism is called the excretory
organ. The meaning of excretory is; a process by which the metabolic waste products and the
waste materials are removed from the body of an organism. The metabolic wastes are gases
(carbon dioxide), liquids (water), solids (products of breaking down of amino acids,
haemoglobin, etc.) and heat. The excretory organs are the lungs which help remove carbon
dioxide, the liver which removes the bile through the intestines, skin which removes salt and
small amount of urea through sweat, and kidneys which removes the urea. A part of the
excretory is the nephron. The nephrons clean the blood in a three step process: 1. Water and
other materials move out of the capillaries and into the nephron. 2. Some of the materials are
reabsorbed and returned into the blood, and 3. Whatever remains is excreted into urine. The
kidney also cleans the blood in 3 steps: step 1. Filtration; when the blood enters the kidneys, the
blood flows into the arterioles and then moves into the glomerulus of each nephron. When the
blood is under pressure, small molecules such as water, amino acids, etc. are pushed out of the
capillaries and into the Bowman’s capsule. Step 2.Reabsorption; the material in Bowman’s
capsule are filtrated. Nephrons process approximately 180 liters of filtrate everyday with only
1% of excrete urine. The other 99% of the filtrate is reabsorbed into the capillaries and then is
returned to the blood. Last but not least step 3.Excretion; all of the waste products that were not
reabsorbed are excreted into the urine. Urine is made up of four materials: water, urea, excess
salts, and the other materials that are in the filtrate. The filtrate is moved out of the Bowman’s
capsule and is then concentrated to the loop of Henel. The loop of Henel is where water is
removed one final time to reduce the volume of urine. The urine goes from the collecting ducts
and flows through the ureter and to the urinary bladder. Some problems you can receive if this
system does not work properly are kidney failure. Kidney failure is when the kidneys are
damaged in an accident or damaged by an infection. For example, diabetes and high blood
pressure are usually the causes of damage to the nephrons. The only solution to kidney is to get a
kidney transplant.
The Respiratory system is one of the major systems from our body. In the respiratory
system, gas exchanges through all parts of the body. Our body takes in oxygen and gives off
carbon dioxide. The air we breathe contains many different types of gas: nitrogen, oxygen,
carbon dioxide and several others. We breathe more gases than others, for example the major gas
we inhale is nitrogen. One function from this system is when oxygen from the air and the glucose
from digested food are both carried into the cells by the blood. During our respiration, oxygen
reacts with glucose to release energy. This system has fifteen parts to function. The epiglottis, the
larynx, the incomplete ring of cartilage, the trachea, the bronchus, the external intercostal
muscle, the internal intercostal muscle, the lung, the cut end of rib, the pleural membranes, the
alveoli, pleural fluid, bronchiole, the heart and the diaphragm. Our air travels from the outside
environment to the lungs, it passes through the following, nose, pharynx, trachea and bronchi.
Once the air enters the body, oxygen passes through the wall of alveolus and then through the
capillary wall into the blood. Although, it may not seem like it, our nose plays an important role.
Nostrils have hair to trap dust, foreign particles, and bacteria. The mucous membrane has a type
of sensor that can detect harmful chemicals. Our trachea (the windpipe) is supported by cartilage
to ensure that it always opens. Both of the trachea and bronchi have walls with gland cells that
secrete mucus. Also, they are lined by hair-like structures called cilia. The mucus traps both
bacteria and dust. The cilium sweeps these particles and sends them upwards to the pharynx. Our
lungs have various parts. The bronchus which goes into the thinner branch (the bronchioles) and
the bronchioles end as a cluster of air sacs called alveoli. Each branch of bronchioles has about a
thousand alveoli. That is thousands in each lung. The alveolar walls are thin and moist to
facilitate gaseous exchange. These are well supplied with blood. People get gaseous exchange
because of diffusion. Air that is inspired has a higher concentrate of oxygen and deoxygenated
blood. The oxygen diffuses from the alveolar cavity to blood and then combines with
haemoglobin. Deoxygenated air has a higher concentration of carbon dioxide than alveolar air.
Did you know that when you breathe the actions of your rib muscles and diaphragm expand or
contrast your chest? So your air has no choice of either going in or out.
The last system is the nervous system. This system controls all the activities we do. The
nervous system is made up of the brain, the spinal cord, the nerves and our five senses. Our
nervous system is what allows us to react to stimulus. Stimulus is a change in the environment.
Most of our reactions are automatic. The brain is what controls our emotions, our thoughts and
every single thing we do. The central nervous system is made of the brain and the spinal cord;
this also controls everything in our body. The outer nervous system is made up of nerves and the
five senses. Nerve impulses are important; they carry messages throughout the body. Did you
know we have one nerve along our arm? It is the “funny bone”; the “funny bone” is the only
place in the arm that is not protected. The “funny bone” is located on our elbow. The spinal cords
job is to send messages to the brain. The spinal cord connects everything to the brain. The brain
is made up of more than ten million nerves. The brain is divided into three parts: the cerebrum,
the cerebellum and the brain stem. The cerebrum is the largest portion of the brain; it controls
our thinking, controls our memory, controls our speaking, controls our movement and identifies
the information that is gathered found by our senses. The cerebellum is located to the lower back
of the brain. It controls not only our balance but posture. Now, the brain stem is what connects
the brain to the spinal cord. The stem controls our heart beat, blood pressure and breathing. The
spinal cord is made up of many vertebrates. Vertebrates are the many bones that protect the
nerves. The outer nervous system’s job is to carry messages between the central nervous system
and the rest of the body. This system connects the central nervous system to the rest of the body.
The system is made up of the nerves, ear, skin, eye, and tongue. The outer nervous system
controls activities in your smaller intestine, your breathing and your heartbeat. The whole
nervous system affects our reflexes. Reflexes are an automatic reaction that happens without us
thinking. A reflection happens so quickly, less than a second. Our senses come from what is
called sense organs. The sense organs carry out messages about the environment to the central
nervous system. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin are examples of sense organs. Sense
organs gather information using light, sound, heat, and pressure from the environment. When I
say environment I mean everything outside of the body. One sense is sight; sight is what allows
us to see everything around us using the eye (a sense organ). Another sense is hearing; hearing is
what allows us to listen to everything around us. Touch is what allows us to feel textures, heat,
pressure, etc. Also smell; our nose can smell up to 80 different scents. The last sense is taste.
Taste comes from taste buds; taste buds let us know if something is sour, sweet, salty or bitter.
Finally, as you can see the body is made up of different systems but they all come in
as one and function for us to be able to do everything we do today. That includes play, read,
write, walk, etc. Although, our bodies may not seem complicated on the outside, in the inside
everything is functioning in such a way that we don’t even imagine. If one of these systems were
to fail, well we would not be able to do so much. You could lose your sight, your hearing, you
capability to remember things, and much more. So we must take care of ourselves so nothing can
stop us.