Homeschool Science - Skin

We're still making our way slowly* through our book about the major organs of the body. Today's subject was skin - not something we normally think of when we consider the primary organs, but in fact, the skin is the largest organ of the body.

After reading about how we are constantly losing dead skin cells, and how our body produces a whole new layer of skin each month, we used the following as an illustration of washing our body to slough off dead skin cells.

Materials needed: sand paper, a bar of soap, and a plastic plate or a piece of colored paper.

Method: Use the sandpaper to scuff the side of the bar of soap while holding it over the plate.


Note the flakes of soap that land on the paper.

Explanation: The soap is the skin on our bodies; the sandpaper acts as a loofah or wash cloth or any other rough surface our skin comes in contact with. Upon rubbing, the soap (skin) is flaked off. But underneath that layer of flaked off soap is more soap - just like there's more skin under the layer that flakes off when we wash.

*Charlotte Mason was a big proponent of slowly and we've adopted her policy after seeing how well it works. Learning small bits at a time, instead of reading whole books or chapters in one sitting, allows the child to really digest the information and consider it before moving on. Many times after reading a small part of a school book, I'll find C playing it out later, or talking about the information with her toys. This is a good example of allowing that material to "settle in" before moving on to more facts. More info on quality over quantity can be found at simplycharlottemason.com and amblesideonline.org.