Human Body Flashcards
What are the main functions of the human skeleton?
Support, protect, and help the body to move.
What is a joint?
Where two bones meet to produce movement.
What are muscles attached to?
Muscles are attached to bones by tendons.
How do muscles produce movement?
Contractions shorten the muscle and pulls the bone it is attached to into a new position.
Why do muscles have to work in pairs?
Because they can only pull on bone, they cannot push.
This means one muscle can pull a bone in one direction, but another muscle is required to pull it into the other direction.
What is the digestive system?
A series of organs that breaks down food into other substances that can be absorbed into our bloodstream.
Where does food enter the digestive system?
The mouth.
What happens to food in the mouth?
It is broken down into smaller pieces by chewing whilst being mixed with saliva.
This makes the food easier to swallow and digest.
What are the three types of teeth and what do they do?
- Incisors - bite and chew food
- Canines - tear and rip food
- Molars - crush and grind food
How does food go from your mouth to your stomach?
Through the oesophagus.
Why is stomach acid so important?
It kills many harmful microorganisms that may be in the food.
It produces enzymes which break the food down so it can be absorbed.
Where does food go after leaving the stomach?
The intestines.
What are the two types of intestine?
Small and Large.
What happens in the small intestine?
Food that has been digested is absorbed by passing through the wall of the intestine and into the bloodstream.
What happens in the large intestine?
Food that reaches the large intestine is often unable to be absorbed by the body making it waste.
This waste is known as faeces (or poo) which we get rid of when we use the toilet.
What are the three parts of the circulatory system?
- Heart
- Blood vessels
- Blood
What does the circulatory system do?
The heart pumps blood around the body through blood vessels.
The blood carries useful materials like oxygen, water, and nutrients and it removes waste such as carbon dioxide.
What are the components of your blood?
- Plasma - liquid that carries the other cells around the body
- Red blood cells - carries oxygen
- White blood cells - protect you from disease
- Platelets - clot the blood and help to repair cuts
What are blood vessels?
A network of tubes that carry blood around the body.
Arteries carry blood away from the heart towards other parts of the body.
Veins carry blood towards the heart back from other parts of the body.
How does the circulatory system work?
- Heart pumps blood to lungs where it picks up oxygen and drops off carbon dioxide
- Blood travels back to the heart with oxygen
- Heart pumps blood with oxygen around the body where oxygen is needed and picks up carbon dioxide
- Blood with carbon dioxide travels back to the heart ready to be pumped back to the lungs again
What are the four main food groups?
- Carbohydrates - good source of energy
- Proteins - help the body to repair itself
- Fats - store energy in our bodies for later use
- Fibre - helps us to digest our food
What is medicine?
Drugs that can help you get better if you are ill.
Some medicines and drugs can be harmful and/or addictive which means it is difficult to stop taking them even if it is causing your body damage.
What makes up a healthy lifestyle?
- Balanced diet
- Exercise
- Enough sleep
