3-4

C4: Describe the functions of the major human organ systems.

Curriculum Organizing Questions	What does your circulatory system do? What does your digestive system do? What does your respiratory system do? What does your skeleton do? What do your muscles do? What does your skin do?
Elaboration	Familiar body systems can be useful in getting students to start thinking about systems generally. The detailed parts of the systems are not stressed here; students should focus on the function of the system as a whole.
Specific Ideas	The circulatory system helps transport materials and provide energy. The digestive system helps break food down into useable parts and eliminates material that can not be digested. The respiratory system exhanges gases in the body. By breathing, people take in the oxygen that they need to live and get rid of waste gases. The muscular system provides movement. The nervous system sends signals to all parts of the body and controls functions. The skeletal system protects and gives shape. Skin protects the body from harmful sustances and other organisms, and from drying out. Benchmark 6C3 See NSES: C1e and SFAA pp. 76-77
Developmental &Instructional Implications	Research indicates that it may be easier for students to understand that the cell is the basic unit of structure (which they can observe) than it is to understand that it is the basic unit of function (which has to be inferred from experiments). Benchmarks p. 342 Students can often list a large number of organs, but have little knowledge of internal organs or of their location. Benchmarks p. 344-345 Fourth graders may know that the brain helps the body, but not that the body helps the brain. Benchmarks p. 344-345 Upper elementary students may realize that the heart is a pump, but not that blood returns to the heart. Students of all ages hold wrong ideas about the structure and function of blood, the heart, the circulatory pattern, circulatory/respiratory relationships, and the closed system of circulation. This misconceptions are difficult to change. Benchmarks pg. 344-345 Some students may not know what happens to air after it is inhaled, some may think that it remains in the head. Benchmarks p. 344-345 Coordinate this study with the health curriculum which often covers body systems. Body systems are covered again in more sophistication in the 5-8 grade span.
Examples

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