Angelica Torres
Biology 115
May 17, 2012
Anatomy Applications Portfolio:
http://antatomyapplicationsat.wikispaces.com/
Annotated Bibliography
Hooks
1. Schmoll, Nicole. "Kids' Activities on the Digestive System." EHow. Demand Media, 11 Apr. 2011.
Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/info_8204914_kids-activities-digestive-system.html>.
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The activity being used from the article is the one titled “Not So Small Intestine.” For this
activity, children are to measure out a length of string the same length as the small intestine in
their bodies. The teacher can then take children outside or have them spread out their length of
string inside the classroom without disturbing others. The children are able to see visually that
the small intestine is actually a lot longer than it appears in pictures. The teacher can instruct
them to bundle it all up to see how it is able to pack itself tightly to fit into the human body. It
also helps them to see why food takes hours to travel through there. This quick activity is great
for children because they can get out of their seats and take part in a prediction and experiment.
The teacher can introduce the small intestine by showing a diagram or drawing and have them
predict the length. Then they can discover for themselves the true length. It will definitely
fascinate them that such a long organ (longer than they are tall!) is able to fit inside their bodies.
2. Lemon, Kylie. "Excretory System Science Project Ideas." EHow. Demand Media, 10 Feb. 2011.
Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/info_7921096_excretory-system-science-projectideas.html>.
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This activity is the first one listed in the article titled “Excretory System Model.” Using various
craft items, children are instructed to create their own model of the excretory system. They will
include the kidneys, bladder, ureters, urethra, and the veins and arteries associated with the
kidneys. In my opinion, one of the best things to do when learning new systems is to have
children make their own model. By using different craft items and allowing them to be creative
with it, it allows them to make their model in a way that will help them remember best the
material. It is a good introduction to the rest of the lesson, as children will be making their
model based on some sort of example and will probably not be very familiar with the different
organs. They will become curious as they draw out the different parts. Another good reason to
do this project early on is that children will be able to refer and study from their models
throughout the unit.
3. King, Susan. "Lesson Plans on the Excretory System." EHow. Demand Media, 28 Sept. 2009. Web.
14 May 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/way_5470766_lesson-plans-excretory-system.html>.
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As mentioned in the article section “Sing About It” songs are helpful to children in learning and
retaining information. Purchasing the songbook mentioned by Lyrical Life Science, teachers
will have a myriad of songs about the human body—including one on the excretory system.
Most teachers will not have time to come up with a good song relating to each subject they have
to teach. This book is great in that it has lyrics and provides a tune for them to be sung to. I
think this would work with any elementary age children, though would likely do better with
children under age 8. For the older students, a teacher can play or sing the song and maybe have
students come up with their own lyrics to explain what they understand the excretory system to
be about. This way, they are reviewing material and the teacher has a chance to assess what they
have learned.
4. King, Susan. "Lesson Plans on the Excretory System." EHow. Demand Media, 28 Sept. 2009. Web.
14 May 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/way_5470766_lesson-plans-excretory-system.html>.
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The Magic School Bus series of books and movies are often used in classrooms for a variety of
science lessons. The film version of Magic School Bus for Lunch has the bus traveling inside
the body of one of the children. The film goes through the digestive system processes and ends
with the digestive and excretory systems working together to get rid of waste. The book version
contains more organs and processes of the body. These books and movies are so entertaining
and provide good information. It's a perfect way to get children familiar with the different
systems of the body and does not take very long to read/show. It is a good opening activity to do
before a lab activity or lecture and gets children thinking about the excretory system and its
processes.
5. "Student Science Experiments." Student Experiment 7- Why Does Alka-Seltzer Make Your Upset
Stomach Better? Bayer Corporation. Web. 10 May 2012.
<http://alkaseltzer.com/as/student_experiment7.html>.
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This website page offers a simple experiment that can be used in the classroom to simulate an
upset stomach. Materials that are needed are Bromphenol blue indicator, water, vinegar, and one
Alka-Seltzer tablet. The acidic vinegar will be added to the water to explain to students that an
upset stomach occurs when there is too much acid buildup there. The blue indicator will turn
yellow in the presence of too much acid as it does when added to the water/vinegar mixture.
Once the Alka-Seltzer tablet is added, the yellow will turn back to blue, neutralizing the
mixture—making an upset stomach better. While this is a shorter experiment, I think it would
work better as a quick demonstration done by the teacher to introduce information, rather than
having all the children in the class conduct their own experiments. This way they can observe
what is happening and not much time is being used. This demonstration also seems to be better
suited for the end or closing of material for the digestive system as a fun way to see a process in
action. By this point, children will already be aware of stomach processes and not much
explanation will be needed.
Videos
1. Brodywds. "Digestive System for Kids Made Easy." YouTube. YouTube, 11 June 2010. Web. 12 May
2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pI7yKs3w7s>.
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This is a short clip that highlights the important organs and processes associated with the
digestive system. It goes through each organ and gives a short sentence for each, explaining
what that organ does. Then there is a quick demonstration of how food passes through the
whole system. The only problem with the video is the irrelevant music playing throughout. The
instructor can choose to mute the music and pause the video throughout to explain or emphasize
points or can use the opportunity to have the children make up their own lyrics to the video.
This video works to get the basic point across before delving deeper into the topic.
2. "WatchKnowLearn - Free Educational Videos for K-12 Students." WatchKnowLearn - Free
Educational Videos for K-12 Students. 09 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.
<http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=43858>.
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This video explains simply the organs and process of the excretory system. An animation
introduces children to the structure of the urinary system. It explains how the kidneys work to
filter out waste and how that waste is turned into urine and released from the body. I really liked
how simple this video was. Younger children can get something out of it and it can also be used
for older children to introduce them to the topic of the excretory system or to do a quick review.
3. "WatchKnowLearn - Free Educational Videos for K-12 Students." WatchKnowLearn - Free
Educational Videos for K-12 Students. 25 Apr. 2010. Web. 14 May 2012.
<http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=19653>.

While this video is just a simulation of what happens to the food as it travels throughout the
digestive system, the video looks quite realistic. The camera follows a pasta meal inside a
woman's body where it drops into the stomach and travels through the intestines. It's great that
the video looks a little more life-like, as it can get children to visualize what the digestive
system actually looks like inside their bodies. They will probably be more accustomed to
colored diagrams, and this video gives them a different look at the digestive system. Because it
is a little more realistic, it is probably more appropriate for older children.
4. Worldswonders. "The Digestive System - an Animation." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Feb. 2010. Web. 14
May 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5lyQUtq1KQ>.
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This video travels through the digestive system using a combination of real footage and
demonstrations of the digestive system and animation. There are diagrams accompanied by
explanation, x-rays that follow a specially dyed liquid so that its path can be seen, and some
footage of the esophagus as taken by a medical camera. This video covers a lot of more
complicated material and goes a little deeper into the system so that they are not just explaining
the pathway of food inside and out of the body. It is best suited for older children and I think
that it is a very useful video to show in the classroom. It is short and gives enough information
without being overcomplicated.
5. "MovieSource: Urinary System." MovieSource: Urinary System. The Nemours
Foundation/KidsHealth, 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.
<http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/_bfs_USmoviesource.html>.
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This is a very simple video that explains that the kidneys produce urine that that the urine is
transported to the bladder by the ureters and released from the bladder by the urethra. It's a short
clip that just highlights those important parts and does not go into much detail otherwise. While
it is a simple clip, I think that it's better suited to children who are going to be going deeper into
the topic. At one point, nephrons are introduced and this concept might not be at a level that
younger children can understand as it is a deeper process than just the organ. It's a good review
or introduction video to the material, but students will not get much out of it and teachers will
have to provide more material to make the system make more sense.
Lab Activities
1. Schindly, Bonnie Swain. "Digestive System Experiments for Kids." EHow. Demand Media, 07 Feb.
2011. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/info_7906821_digestive-system-experimentskids.html>.

The section titled “Saliva” describes the activity that the children are going to be engaging in.
From this experiment, they will become familiar with the roles that the tongue and saliva play
in digestion. After drying their tongues of saliva, they will discover that when eating dry foods
(the article suggests pretzels or crackers) they will be unable to taste them. After a drink of
water, their taste will have returned and they will find that chewing and swallowing becomes
easier. This experiment is great because children are able to observe first hand what is
happening to their body as they create these changes. It's a great activity to show them how
important the tongue and saliva are to digestion.
2. Schindly, Bonnie Swain. "Digestive System Experiments for Kids." EHow. Demand Media, 07 Feb.
2011. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/info_7906821_digestive-system-experimentskids.html>.

Under the section “Chewing” children will be exploring a simulation of how food is broken
down in the body by our teeth and stomach. Hard candy is being used in the experiment.
Smashing candies with a hammer will demonstrate how the teeth work to make food small and
safe enough to swallow. Four small jars are required, two with water and two with vinegar
added. A whole candy will be added to one water and one vinegar jar. A smashed candy will be
added to the remaining two jars. Throughout class, children can observe which candies are
being broken down faster. This is a good lab to use when new material still needs to be covered.
Part of the activity needs some time to occur, so this is when teachers can do some lecture.
After, there is good discussion to be had as children observe what happened in each of their jars.
They can compare results and come to their own conclusions about what happened in each and
why.
3. Poarch, M. "Fast Food." Science-class.net. 2004. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.scienceclass.net/Lessons/Anatomy/Digestive/fast_food.pdf>.
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This lab activity poses the question “how fast does water travel from your mouth to your
stomach?” Having children take turns swallowing water and timing when the water hits the
stomach using a stethoscope, they will be able to figure out how long it takes for water (and
food) to make it down the esophagus to the stomach. This lab gets children aware of the fact
that the stomach is not as low in their body as most people believe. They will be able to track
the sound of water dropping down their esophagus until it hits the stomach. The activity calls
for several timings and to be using math to come up with some general answers. This is great to
use to integrate math into the lesson, and the formulas and mathematical concepts being used
can be altered to fit the needs of the children.
4. Hartley-Pinard, Darcy. "Science: Biology It May Be Yucky, but Someone Has to Teach It. . ."
Science.lotsoflessons.com. Web. 14 May 2012.
<http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/science/excretory002007.html>.
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This lab combines creating a model of the excretory system with using that model to
demonstrate the function. Using specific craft items, children will make their model. Once that
is done, the students can follow the different paths and processes that occur in the excretory
system, while explaining in each step what is happening. This model building is a little more
interactive than just drawing organs and labeling them. In this, children are going to be
following the path of food through their models and be able to explain what process occurs in
different parts. This model will be three dimensional, and teachers should probably see that it is
as “life-like” as possible by trying to make the organs and tubes the correct lengths and sizes.
5. Lemon, Kylie. "Excretory System Science Project Ideas." EHow. Demand Media, 10 Feb. 2011.
Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/info_7921096_excretory-system-science-projectideas.html>.

The second project listed in this article is the “Filter System Project.” In this activity, children
will create a working model of the kidney and observe how the kidneys work to filter out waste
from the blood. This activity is very hands on and engaging. It would be best to have children in
small groups so things do not get too messy or out of hand. The materials are easy to obtain
(filter paper, food coloring, fine grained sand, water, and a glass jar) and the set up does not take
long. Filter paper will go over the jar containing water. A colorful sand and water mixture
(prepared ahead of time) will be poured through the filter paper. Children will observe that the
colored water will pass through (“waste”) and the sand (“blood”) will be left behind—filtered
out by the “kidney.” I really love this activity. It's a first hand look at how the kidney works as a
filtration system, and children can actually observe it with this demonstration. The relation to
the actual urinary system is a little complex, and would probably be best suited for older
children.