Archives for November 2006
How Our Glands Work
All people, and animals, too, have glands that influence or control how their organs function. These glands are called endocrine glands, and they are located in many different places throughout the body.
An endocrine gland makes a chemical substance called a hormone, which it supplies directly into the bloodstream. The hormone travels through the blood vessels [...]
The Navel
Everyone has a navel. Some are large, some small, some are shallow, some deep. The size and shape make no difference, however, because the navel actually serves no purpose at all. Lots of parents have a nickname for the navel-the belly button. But I’ll bet you don’t know the name your doctor gives it. He [...]
How Our Kidneys and Bladder Work
The kidneys are two brownish-red structures, one on each side of the body, located in the back of the abdomen below the ribs. They have the shape of a lime bean, but each kidney is about the size of your fist. The kidneys are connected to long, hollow tubes called ureters, which connect with the [...]
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How Our Pancreas Works
The pancreas is a gland lying crosswise in the abdomen, just below the liver. It is an important organ because it makes the juices, or enzymes, that help to digest the foods we eat. The pancreas also has special cells that manufacture insulin, a substance that allows the body to use the sugar we have [...]
How Our Liver Works
The liver is the largest organ in the body. It stretches across the whole per part of the abdomen and is protected by the lower ribs, so that when something hits the area, the liver usually escapes injury. Most everybody seen slices of calf’s liver. Our livers is much the same-soft, reddish and meaty. Of [...]
How our intestine works
Food in the Small Intestines
The small intestines, which connect with the stomach, are long, hollow tubes all curled up. They, too, have millions of tiny glands that make juices like saliva. They, too, have muscle walls that help to churn the food and pass it on. The small intestines, if they weren’t all curled up, [...]
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How our stomach works
Some children don’t like ice cream, but love spinach. Some children like bananas, but not peanut butter. Animals, too, have their own special likes and dislikes when it comes to what they eat. Why do we like some foods and not others? Well, we all have little sputa on our tongues that we call taste [...]
How Our Lungs Work
Our lungs work for us clay and night, clay after day, month after month, year after year, throughout our lives. About every three or four seconds, they take in air containing the oxygen we need, and breathe out air containing the carbon dioxide and excess water that our bodies must get rid of. Like the [...]