Students examine the function of the digestive, skeletal, and muscular systems, identify what the systems need in order to work, and consider how technology has affected human health. Students construct models of the systems, perform tests and experiments, and think about how they keep their bodies healthy and functioning properly. Students make models using plasticine, play dough, etc., to illustrate the digestive and skeletal systems. Students test foods for carbohydrates, fats, and starch, and record and compare their findings. Students examine a variety of food labels, organize the contents into the food categories, and assess their nutritional value.
Students make a collage of foods and determine the nutritional value of each.
Students examine chicken bones before and after they have been soaked in vinegar and explain that vinegar is a weak acid that has acted on the calcium in the bone. They infer why it is important to eat foods containing calcium. Students use sight and touch to observe their muscles contracting to produce body movements, and they infer that muscles work in opposing pairs. They compare their findings to diagrams of the muscular system. Students collect a variety of animal bones to compare and contrast them, and infer their origin.