We look inside and out at the human body this week, focusing on our skeleton and skin. At the center of our bodies is the skeleton which gives us shape and holds us erect. We will look at x-rays of bones and also create a paper plate skeleton to bring home which represents the major bones out of the 206 total bones in our bodies. (And it's fun to dance with, too!) We will have a "bones and marrow" snack (white bread with strawberry jam)--yum!

We discuss some of the functions of our skin, the largest organ of our bodies, which holds in our body parts, serves as a germ barrier, and assists in our sense of touch. To demonstrate the "super hero" property of skin, the children will touch objects around the room and then touch agar (gelatin mixture) set up in a petri dish. We will seal the dish and let it rest in the closet until next week when we will again observe the dish. We will see what grew in the dish from the germs transferred from our touch, and make observations and conclusions about the importance of bathing our bodies and washing our hands to remove unseen germs. The kids are usually "grossed out" and fascinated at the same time with this experiment :).

"Dem bones, dem bones are gonna walk around" this week!

Books we read: The Skeleton Inside You (Philip Balestrino); Germs Make Me Sick (Melvin Berger)

Next Week: The Digestive System