We know that our little primary school students have very little information about the internal organs in our bodies. Rather, they think their bodies are just what they eat or take out. The blood that our little ones see as a result of minor accidents may create the thought that the blood fills the spaces under their skin. Slightly older children may be able to name the organs, but we cannot say that they also fully understand the functions of the organs. They may say that the heart is pumping blood, but then they may not think that this blood is returning to the heart.
Internal organs and their functions:
Brain: Our brain is at the center of our nervous system and is inside our skull. Its functions include controlling the muscles, providing coordination, perceiving and interpreting the data produced in our body, providing speech, storing memory, and forming thoughts and emotions.
Heart: The heart is a hollow, muscular organ that rhythmically pumps blood through all vessels.
Lungs: Our lungs are two funnel-shaped organs that fill our chest cavity like a sponge. Their most important task is to pass the oxygen from the air we breathe into our blood and to remove the carbon dioxide produced in our body from our body.
Liver: Our liver is located on the right side of our body in our abdominal cavity, just below our diaphragm. Its most important task is to control the substances in our blood and regulate them if necessary. These processes include burning fat, producing urea, filtering harmful substances, and maintaining a regular level of sugar in the blood.
Bladder: The bladder is a muscular organ located in our pelvis. It contracts and allows urine to be expelled.
Stomach: Our stomach is a pear-shaped, muscular, elastic organ. It rests diagonally in our abdominal cavity and is just below our diaphragm. Its main task is to digest food, produce gastric juices, and mix and break these fluids and nutrients.
Intestine: Our intestines are located in the region from the bottom of our stomach to our anus. Functionally, it is divided into two: small intestine and large intestine. The task of the small intestine is to absorb the digested food, while the large intestines absorb water and remove solid stool from the body.
It is a complex task to explain to children how the internal organs are interconnected and to make them understand. A good starting point is to understand what ideas children have had before. Teaching activities should begin in a way that prompts students to think about how organs work. For example, by discovering how the functions of one organ affect the function of the other organ. This idea will then guide children in understanding the interrelationships of body parts.
