pter
Like all living things, you need energy to stay alive. You need
energy to move, grow, and do all the things you do every
dayfrom sleeping and reading to running and catching.
Where does this energy come from? Where does your body
get the energy it needs to keep working 24 hours a day?
In this chapter, you will learn how your body takes in
the water, food, and oxygen it needs through its digestive
[die-JES-tihv] and respiratory [RES-puhr-uh-TOR-ee] systems.
You will learn why you need these things to grow and be active.
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Muscle cell
2. Tissues
Most cells form groups. These groups are called
tissues. All the cells in a tissue are similar in shape
and do a similar job in your body. Muscle cells
form muscle tissue.
Muscle tissue
3. Organs
Different groups of tissues form the organs in your
body. An organ carries out one or more jobs in your
body. Your stomach is an organ. Muscle tissue is one
of the tissues in your stomach.
Stomach
4. Systems
Your organs work together in body systems. Each
body system has one main job to do to help you
stay alive and healthy. Your stomach is one of the
organs in your digestive system.
Digestive system
1. How are cells, tissues, organs, and systems related to each other?
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Digestion changes
the food you eat into
nutrients that your body
cells can use.
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Digesting an Apple
How does each organ in your digestive system help your
body get the nutrients it needs from food? Lets follow an
apple on its path through the digestive system to find out.
1. The mouth is the beginning of
the digestive system. Its job is
to break down food so it can be
swallowed. Your teeth bite and
chew food until it is mushy.
Your tongue moves the food
around and mixes it with
saliva [suh-LIE-vuh] to make
it easier to swallow.
Mouth
Liver
Large intestine
Colon
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Job
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The air you breathe provides you with the oxygen you need.
Your body needs nutrients and water to stay alive and healthy.
You also need one more thingoxygen. Without oxygen, you
could only survive for a few minutes. Oxygen is a gas that is
found in the air you breathe. Just as a fire cannot burn without
oxygen, your cells cannot burn the fuel from the food you
eat without oxygen. Your body needs oxygen to release the
energy from the nutrients in your cells. Without oxygen, these
nutrients would not release energy, and all the systems in your
body would shut down.
How does your body get oxygen? This is the job of the
respiratory system. The main organs of the respiratory
system are the mouth, nose, trachea [TRAY-kee-uh], and
lungs. Lets see how these organs work to bring oxygen to
your cells.
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Nose
Mouth
Trachea
Rib cage
Lungs
Diaphragm
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Cells use oxygen and nutrients to produce energy. Water and carbon dioxide are also produced.
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Breathing in
Breathing out
Rib cage
expands
Rib cage
gets smaller
Inhaling
Exhaling
1. Why does your body need oxygen? How does your body get
this oxygen?
2. List two ways in which the air you breathe in is different from
the air you breathe out.
3. Describe how air gets into and out of your body.
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Cell
Tissue
Organ
System
Digestive system
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Vocabulary
cells p. 87
organs p. 87
Vocabulary
digestion p. 88
nutrients p. 88
esophagus p. 89
stomach p. 89
small intestine
p. 89
liver p. 89
large intestine
p. 89
colon p. 89
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Vocabulary
oxygen p. 92
trachea p. 93
lung p. 93
carbon dioxide
p. 94
Respiratory system
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