Body Facts for Kids

There is so much that children can learn about the functioning of the human body. Kids are often fascinated by body facts, and they tend to absorb this better than any other science lesson. As they learn more, they likely will come to appreciate the complex nature of what makes them tick.

The Brain, A Super Computer

• The human brain is equipped with billions of nerve cells.

  The human brain is perhaps the world's best super computer. The seat of thought, action and life itself, it sends messages to every part of the body through a complex system of neural networks. The brain is equipped with billions of nerve cells that perform this function. The human brain is three times bigger than the brains of other mammals that have a similar body size. The right side of the human brain controls the movements of the left portion of the body, and vice versa. Your brain weighs only about 3 pounds (1.5 kg), which is only 2 percent of your total weight; however, the brain capacity is such that it uses up 20 percent of your body's energy, says Science Kids.

Breathing Easy With Lung Facts

• The left lung and right lung aren't the same size. The left lung is divided into two lobes, but the right lung has three lobes. The left lung is also smaller than its counterpart because it has to make room for the heart, which is situated above it. It is possible to live with a single lung. Of course, this would reduce your breathing capacity and would make physical exertion more difficult. It is estimated that the average person with a pair of healthy lungs inhales 11,000 liters of air daily, Science Kids says.

Heart Of the Matter

• If you are older than 30, your heart has beaten more than 1 billion times.

  The heart is a powerful muscle that never stops pumping blood, not even for a second, during your lifetime. It beats around 100,000 times a day, 36.5 million times a year. Your heart would have beaten more than 1 billion times if you live beyond 30. The heart has four chambers called the left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle and right ventricle. Of these, the left ventricle is the largest in size. The chambers of the heart grow in size and expand when filled with blood. Once this blood is purified, it is transported from the heart to all parts of the body through the arteries. The heart then contracts (the chambers shrink in size) when the purified blood is poured into the arteries. This rhythmic contraction and expansion is what causes your heart to beat and is called a cardiac cycle, according to Science Kids.

Other Body Facts

• The smallest bone in your body is 2.8 mm long and is located in the middle ear. It's called the stirrup bone.

  If you have a baby sister who is younger than 1 year old, she blinks her eyes much less than you do. An infant blinks only once or twice a minute, but the average adult blinks around 10 times every minute.

  In addition to having unique fingerprints, human beings also have unique tongue prints. No two tongues are alike.

  And we're all living Pinocchios because our noses and ears continue to grow throughout our lives.