Skin: More Than What You See!

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

That's right, your skin is your largest organ!

You may know that you have other organs in your body, like your liver and pancreas. Each organ serves a certain purpose in the body and each one depends on the other.

The skin covers and protects your whole body, including your other organs. So, in a sense, it's an organ that protects your other organs!

• What does an organ do?

Each organ has a specific function to help your body stay healthy and function properly.

The skin is the body's largest organ and acts as a coat for your body. It also protects you. Skin can help you stay warm when it's cold, and cool when it's hot. The skin keeps all your insides in, from your heart and lungs to your blood and muscles.

Sometimes, it can get cut or or damaged.

• Have you ever had a cut or scrape and watched it heal?
• Have you ever thought about how that happens?

Your skin reacts to invaders like germs and bacteria and immediately goes to work to form a protective barrier to keep the gross stuff out.

Discuss with a parent or teacher a time when you had a skin owie like a cut or scrape, or a skin rash, such as poison ivy. Talk with him or her about how your skin reacted and how you recovered.

Before moving on to the Got It? section, tell a parent or teacher three ways your skin helps keep you healthy.