SKIN is your biggest organ!
Materials: Newsprint, scissors, and tape
Instructions: With parent permission, work with a friend to wrap yourself in newspaper. Try to use as little paper as it takes to cover every inch of your skin! After you are all wrapped up, carefully take all the paper off, spread it out, and calculate the area of all the paper that you used to cover your body. Use the following formulae to calculate the area of each piece of paper:
Area of a rectangle = base x height
Area of a triangle = ½ (base x height)
Area of a circle = pi(radius)²
The total surface area is a rough estimate of the surface of your skin! On average, adults have about 1.5 square meters of skin!
The SCIENCE of Skin
Skin is divided into the EPIDERMIS and the DERMIS. The epidermis contains keratinocytes, melanocytes, and Langerhans cells. It has many layers and is constantly shedding. The DERMIS contains oil glands, sweat glands, hair follicles, and sensory receptors. The deepest layer, the HYPODERMIS, is mostly fat tissue, which helps keep our body temperature constant and cushions our muscles and bones.
Skin PROTECTION
Can you think of ten ways that skin protects you? Watch the video if you need a hint!
