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🫀 My body and food 🫀 Body organs

Skin

Human skin is made of three layers of tissue: the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis has four layers of cells: horny, granular, spiny and basal. Skin also has hairs and two kinds of glands, sebaceous glands and sweat glands.
Human skin is made of three layers of tissue: the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis has four layers of cells: horny, granular, spiny and basal. Skin also has hairs and two kinds of glands, sebaceous glands and sweat glands.

📖 In short

Skin is the covering over your whole body, and it's the biggest organ in the body! It protects you from germs, sun and water, keeps your body at the right temperature, and lets you feel touch, heat, cold and pain.

🤩 Did you know?

  • If we spread out an adult's skin, it would cover about two square meters.
  • Every minute thousands of dead cells fall off your skin, and new ones grow in their place.
  • The dermis is about 15 to 40 times thicker than the epidermis.
  • Skin color comes from a substance called melanin, which protects it from the sun.

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🌟 Layers of skin

Skin has layers: the epidermis on the outside, which is always renewing itself; under it the dermis, with nerves, blood vessels and hair roots; and under that a layer of fat that keeps the body warm.

🔍 A natural air conditioner

When you're hot, your skin makes sweat, which evaporates and cools your body. When you're cold, the hairs on your skin stand up and little bumps appear, called “goosebumps”.

💡 A one-of-a-kind print

On your fingertips are little curvy lines called fingerprints, and nobody in the world has the same ones as you, not even a twin!

🎯 Protect your skin

Wash your skin and keep it clean, wear sunscreen and a hat in strong sun, drink water, and clean and cover small cuts.

📸 More pictures

Fingernails and toenails are made of particular skin cells. A nail has three parts: the bed, the root and the plate. The matrix makes the cells of the bed and the plate.
Fingernails and toenails are made of particular skin cells. A nail has three parts: the bed, the root and the plate. The matrix makes the cells of the bed and the plate.
Skin color depends mainly on how much of the brown pigment called melanin it contains. In light skin (“bottom right”) the pigment-making cells produce little melanin, and in dark skin (“bottom left”) these cells produce more.
Skin color depends mainly on how much of the brown pigment called melanin it contains. In light skin (“bottom right”) the pigment-making cells produce little melanin, and in dark skin (“bottom left”) these cells produce more.

🧩 Test yourself

1 What is the biggest organ in the human body?

2 How does skin cool the body?

3 Which picture shows “Skin”?

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