Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Skin - An essay collected from our Vikram's library


Dear Children,

Here is an essay collected from Vikram Naana's library.

Have a Nice Day!
With Love, Amma-Naana



The skin is the longest organ of the body. The most sensitive areas of our skin are our hands, lips, face, neck, tongue, finger tips, and feet. Our finger tips are the most sensitive parts of our body. The least sensitive part of our skin is the middle of our back. There are about 100 nerve endings in each of our finger tips.

Touch is a very important sense. Babies who are not touched, stoked, kissed, held and cuddled are less healthy than babies who are touched. Our sense of touch keeps us safe.

Our skin does not wear away because it is constantly renewing itself. The lowest layer of the skin is made up mostly of fat. This helps to keep us warm, and also acts as padding when we bump into something.

we can summarize 4 main functions of the skin:
1) It protects us from harmful aspects of the environment, keeping out things such as bacteria

2) It keeps the water in your body from drying up - The waterproof epidermis. The oil glands in the dermis produce oils that help keep the skin moist

3) It regulates the temperature of our body-Layers of fat help keep you warm. Sweat glands let the body give off moisture through the skin, which helps to cool you off.

4) The last function, which we will talk about next, is that skin is the sense organ of touch.

Skin also adapts to the demands made on it. Too much sun causes sunburn, which is harmful. Everyone's skin texture is unique. Some people have smoother or rougher skin than others.