My Science Journal
What’s Covering You?
Name: _______________________________________________
The Science of the
Skin for Kids
What is it?
We all have skin. It covers our entire body and keeps the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. But
what exactly is skin? We'll get into the details below, but for starters the skin is an organ. Just
like the heart or the brain. It's an important organ that performs many functions to enable us to
live.
Functions of the skin
The skin is multipurpose, meaning it has a lot of functions. It's our first line of protection against
the outside environment, it houses one of our five senses, it absorbs sunlight for vitamin D and
heat, and regulates our internal temperature.
Protection
One of the basic functions of the skin is protection. Over the majority of your body the skin is
around 2mm thick. In some areas, like your eyelids, it's thinner, while in other areas, like the
soles of your feet, it's much thicker. The skin helps to keep bad stuff out of our body, like germs
and dirt that can cause infection. It also keeps good stuff in, like fluids such as water and blood.
Sense of Touch
The skin also houses one of our five senses: touch. In our skin are thousands and thousands of
sensors or receptor cells. These sensors send information to the brain about things we touch.
They can tell the brain if it's hot, cold, rough, smooth, or painful. Different areas of our body
have more receptor cells than others. Our hands, feet, and lips all have extra receptors making
those areas even more sensitive. There are actually different types of receptor cells for each
type of sensation.
Temperature Control:
The skin plays a large role in regulating our body's temperature. When we get too hot it sweats
to help cool us off. It can also widen the skin's blood vessels to get more blood near the skin
where it can cool off. At the same time the skin can narrow the blood vessels to help us warm
up. By controlling blood flow and sweat, the skin regulates our body temperature.
Layers of the skin
The skin has three primary layers. Each one has its function.
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Epidermis - The epidermis is the outer layer of skin. Its main function is protection. The cells on
the very outer layer of the epidermis are constantly dying and getting replaced by new cells.
Dermis - The dermis is thicker than the epidermis. The dermis houses blood cells, hair follicles,
and sweat glands.
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Hypodermis - The hypodermis lies under the dermis and connects the skin to muscles and
bone.
See the picture below for more detailed parts of the skin:
A. Epidermis
B. Dermis
C. Hypodermis
D. Blood Vessels
E. Stratum
Germinativum
1.Hair Shaft
2.Stratum Corneum
3.Pigment Layer
4.Stratum Spinosum
(touch)
5.Stratum Basale
6.Arrector Pili Muscle
7.Sebaceous Gland
8.Hair Follicle
9.Papilla of Hair
10.Nerve Fiber
11.Sweat Gland
12.Pacinian Corpuscle
13.Artery
14.Vein
15.Sensory Nerve ending
16.Dermal Papillary
17.Sweat Pore
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Science Experiment:
Skin Functions
Purpose: To understand the various functions of the skin.
Background: Your skin has many important functions that are associated with it being the largest
organ of your body:
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The skin is your body's first defense against disease and infection, protecting you from bacteria,
dirt and other foreign objects

It protects your internal organs from injuries

It regulates body temperature and plays an important role in regulating your body’s fluids –
preventing fluid loss as well as helping your body remove excess water and salt

Your skin protects you from the ultraviolet rays of the sun

It contains the nerve endings that sense temperature and texture
Materials
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Paper cup
Pepper
Water
Toothpick
Plastic glove
Ice cube
Cotton ball
Procedure
1. Collect all of the material required.
2. Fill the cup with water and sprinkle with pepper.
3. Have both partners put on “skin” (the plastic glove)
4. Have 1 partner put their hand with the glove (this will represent skin) into the cup of
water for a few seconds.
5. Then have the 1 parent who had their hand in the cup of water take their hand out of
the water, and take the “skin” (glove) off. While the other partner keeps their glove
on. Complete questions 1 & 2.
6. Take the tooth pick and gently rub it on your hand. Then take the ice cube and rub it
on your hand. Complete question 3.
7. After a few minutes, have the partner with remaining with the glove on to take it off.
Complete questions 4 & 5.
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Conclusion and Questions
1. How does the glove represent your skin?
2. What did you notice about your hand once the glove was off? Did the “skin” protect
everything inside from the elements?
3. Discuss what you feel from the tooth pick and the ice cube. What function of the
skin does this represent?
4. What do you notice about your hand once the glove came off?
5. Discuss skin functions as maintaining body temperature and excretion (perspiration).
6. List one thing that you learned from the Prezi presentation that you didn’t already
know.
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What’s Covering You?
Name: _________________________________
Date: _______________
1. Name the 3 layers of skin.
2. Besides covering and protecting the inside of your body, what is another important purpose of
the skin?
3. In which layer of the skin are nerves located?
4. Fat makes up most of the subcutaneous layer of the skin. What is the purpose of this fat?
5. Which layer of the skin is the thinnest layer?
6. Do you have the same skin as you did a year ago? Explain your answer.
7. What 2 glands are located in the dermis layer of the skin? Explain the purpose of each gland.
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Name: ______________________________
Date: _________________
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Get the Skinny
Learn some fun skin facts:
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The skin of both humans and other animals can be much more than just a physical line of defense.
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Your skin performs important functions that allow you to live a normal life, you might not notice it
happening but you can be sure your skin is doing its part to keep your body healthy. Read on and
enjoy the following interesting facts about skin.
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Skin is the human body’s largest organ (an organ is a group of tissues that work together to perform
functions in your body, others include your brain, heart and lungs).
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Your skin performs a range of different functions which include physically protecting your bones,
muscles and internal organs, protecting your body from outside diseases, allowing you to feel and
react to heat and cold and using blood to regulate your body heat.
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The layers of mammal skin include the epidermis, dermis and subcutis.
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The outer layer of your skin is the epidermis, it is found thickest on the palms of your hands and
soles of your feet (around 1.5mm thick).
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The subcutis (or hypodermis) is the deepest layer of your skin, as well as storing fat, it also contains
blood vessels, hair follicle roots and nerves.
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If skin is severely damaged then it may try to heal by forming scar tissue. Scar tissue is not the same
as normal skin tissue, it often appears discolored and lacks sweat glands and hair.
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The color of human skin depends on the amount of pigment melanin that the body produces. Small
amounts of melanin result in light skin while large amounts result in dark skin.
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Areas that experience repeated friction or pressure can form tough, thick skin known as a callus.
Common examples of calluses can be seen on the hands of tennis players and the fingertips of
guitarists.
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A large amount of the dust in you home is actually dead skin.
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All mammals have some hair on their skin, even if it isn’t easy for you to see.
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Rhinoceros’s are protected by thick skin which can be between 1.5cm and 5cm deep.
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Although polar bears have both white and transparent (see through) fur, their skin is actually black.
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Amphibians such as frogs have unique skin. Rather than drinking water, frogs actually soak it into
their body through their skin. They also use their skin to absorb around half the air they need.
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Snakes have smooth, dry skin.
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A number of different sea creatures, such as sea lice and barnacles, attach themselves to the skin
of whales, making it their home.
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Some fruits and vegetables are known to have ‘skins’, these include bananas, oranges, apples and
potatoes.
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Name: ___________________________
Date: _____
1. Your __________________ protects you from cold, the sun, rain etc.
2. Your skin weighs ____________________ as much as you brain.
3. The skin helps ______________________ body temperature.
4. Moisture on the skin keeps it ________________.
5. The pigment in our skin is called __________________________.
6. Our pigment protects us from the ____________________.
9. Name one thing our skin does. ______________________________________.
10. We shed ___________________ cells every day.
11. Where is your skin the thickest? ___________________________.
12. When you skin gets wet, it ________________________ and wrinkles.
13. Your skin can tell about things because it is ___________________________.
14. Your ______________________ grows out of your skin.
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