Did you know that your body has a “sixth sense”? It’s called proprioception, and it helps you know where your body parts are without looking. Thanks to this, you can walk up stairs or touch your nose with your eyes closed!
Your vocal cords only make a buzzing sound, but your nose, mouth, and throat shape your voice. If you have a deep voice, your vocal cords are thicker, and your cavities are larger, allowing the sound to resonate more.
By the time you wake up, you’ll forget half of your latest dream, and after 10 minutes, 90% of it will be gone. When you blush, your stomach lining turns red too, due to increased blood flow from your sympathetic nervous system.
Your hair follicles can detect scents, just like your nose. Out of 5 million hair follicles on your body, only 100,000 are on your head. One human hair is strong enough to hold up to three and a half ounces!
Did you know you can’t tickle yourself? Your brain prepares your body for tickling, so you don’t have the usual laughing reaction. Also, your eye has 256 unique characteristics, making retinal scanning more reliable than fingerprint scanning.
Fifty percent of your hand strength is in your little finger, but the thumb is the most important for gripping. If you stretch your arms out, the distance from fingertip to fingertip is equal to your height!
Your body produces enough saliva to fill two swimming pools over a lifetime. Your spine remembers your posture, making it hard to change. Goosebumps are inherited from ancestors who needed to look bigger to scare off foes.
Your left lung is smaller than your right to make room for your heart. If you get hiccups, try bending over in a chair or drinking from the far side of a glass to get rid of them.
Humans can glow in the dark, especially in the late afternoon, but it’s too dim to see. The sound of your heartbeat is the clap of valves opening and closing, making a “lub dub” sound.
You can’t breathe and swallow at the same time. You blink 15 to 20 times per minute, but only five times when looking at a computer screen. Your eyes have the fastest muscles in your body!
Your eye color comes from melanin. Brown eyes have more melanin than green, and blue eyes have none, scattering light to appear blue. The first known person with blue eyes lived 7,000 years ago.
Your body has 3 million sweat glands, and a sneeze can travel at 100 miles per hour. Earwax, made of fat, skin cells, sweat, and dirt, protects your ears from bacteria and dryness.
Your brain can hold up to 25 million gigabytes of data. You swallow 600 times a day, and your fingerprints will always grow back with their unique pattern.
Your sense of smell helps you taste 80% of food flavors. Women are better at remembering faces and future tasks, while men remember past actions better.
Your body creates 300 billion new cells daily. Your fingers have no muscles; they move thanks to muscles in your palm and forearm. Fingernails grow faster than toenails because they get more sunlight and air.
Your brain has more nerve cells than stars in the Milky Way. If you counted them all, it would take 3,000 years! Your brain uses 20% of your body’s energy, even when resting.
You’re taller in the morning because gravity compresses cartilage during the day. Your skeleton renews itself every 10 years, but this slows down with age.
Your heart beats over 2.5 billion times in a lifetime. Your skin is thickest on your palms and soles and thinnest on your eyelids. Your taste buds renew every 10 to 14 days, making everything taste fresh.
In space, you can grow up to two inches taller due to zero gravity. Your body is made of atoms billions of years old, many from stars, making you a chunk of stardust!
Isn’t the human body amazing? From glowing in the dark to having a sixth sense, there’s so much to learn and appreciate about ourselves!
Test your “sixth sense” by creating an obstacle course in your classroom. Blindfolded, try to navigate through it using only your sense of proprioception. Reflect on how your body knows where it is in space without seeing.
Record your voice and then try altering the shape of your mouth and nose while speaking. Notice how the sound changes. Discuss with your classmates how different shapes affect the resonance and tone of your voice.
Keep a dream journal for a week. Each morning, write down everything you remember about your dreams. At the end of the week, compare notes with your classmates to see how much you remember and discuss why dreams fade so quickly.
Pair up with a classmate and try to tickle each other. Then, try to tickle yourself. Discuss why it’s difficult to tickle yourself and what this reveals about how your brain processes sensations.
Measure your height and your arm span. Compare the two measurements and see if they are equal. Discuss why this might be the case and what it tells us about human body proportions.
Body – The physical structure of a person or an animal, including bones, muscles, and organs. – The human body has many systems that work together to keep us healthy.
Brain – The organ inside the skull that controls thoughts, memory, feelings, and activity. – The brain is responsible for processing information from our senses.
Cells – The smallest structural and functional units of an organism, typically microscopic. – All living things are made up of cells, which carry out various functions necessary for life.
Senses – The physiological capacities of organisms that provide data for perception, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. – Our senses help us understand and interact with the world around us.
Strength – The quality or state of being physically strong or having power. – Regular exercise can increase the strength of your muscles and bones.
Dreams – Thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep. – Scientists study dreams to understand more about how the brain works during sleep.
Voice – The sound produced by humans using the vocal cords, often used for speaking or singing. – The voice is an important tool for communication and expressing emotions.
Height – The measurement of how tall a person or structure is. – A person’s height can be influenced by genetics and nutrition.
Organs – Parts of the body that perform specific functions, such as the heart, lungs, and liver. – The organs in our body work together to keep us alive and healthy.
Sweat – The moisture excreted through the pores of the skin, often in response to heat or stress. – When we exercise, our body produces sweat to help cool us down.
