The human body is an amazing machine which can do several different jobs at the same time. No machine has ever been invented that is half so efficient.


As well as helping you to hear, ears control balance (and keep glasses in place!). Ears catch sound as it travels through the air. The eardrum vibrates, as do the tiny bones, sending sound to the inner ear and then to the brain. The liquid in the inner ear warns the brain about movement. When you travel up or down quickly your ears pop because of changes in air pressure in the Eustachian tube.


Most of your body is made up of water. 99% is oxygen, carbon (enough to fill 900 pencils), hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus (enough to make 220 matches). There’s also enough iron to make a medium sized nail and enough fat (in a normal adult) to make 75 candles.


There are 50 trillion cells in your body and 3 billion die every minute. Most are replaced without you even noticing.


If the surface of your brain was spread out, it would cover 2,090 cm2


. We each have


100 billion brain cells and lose 100,000 every day, without any problem.


Eyes blink 20,000 times every day. You need two eyes to help your brain sort out distance. Light is focused on the retina at the back of the eye, and each eye sees a slightly different image, which your brain puts together to make one picture.


Teeth help you to speak as well as to chop up and mash your food for digestion.


As well as helping to Lungs Heart Lungs


speak, the tongue picks up different tastes and helps you to swallow. You taste sweet things on the tip of the tongue and salty or sour tastes on the sides. Bitter tastes are identified at the back of the tongue, when it’s usually too late to spit out!


Liver Stomach


Skin is soft, pliable, strong, waterproof, and self-repairing. Without it you would be a mess. It is the largest organ of your body and works like a protective wrapper. With the layer of fat underneath, it insulates and protects, keeps germs out and fluids in.


Skin colours are made by a pigment called melanin; more melanin in skin cells makes skin


The bladder is where waste water is stored. Between a half and two litres of urine are produced every day.


Kidneys Kidneys


Your stomach can produce up to two litres of gases a day, which are released as burps or ‘bottom burps’. The small intestine is longer than the large intestine, at about five metres.


Intestines


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