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Body Lab 3-5 / Week 11 / Tuesday
2/6
Week 11 · Body Defenders

Tuesday

Mucus and tears
// Skin, tears, mucus and white blood cells
⏱ about 15 min

Tuesday: Mucus and Tears

Rocket blows a puff of chalk dust off his workbench. "Achoo!" he sneezes. "Sorry, dust!"

His eyes water too.

Raven hands him a tissue. "What do you notice? Your nose and eyes both reacted."

Nova blinks her lights. "Those are not mistakes," she says. "They are defenders at work."

Rocket wipes his eyes and grins. "My face has a security team?"

The nose team

The inside of your nose is lined with a moist layer.

This layer makes mucus. Some people call it snot.

Sticky mucus traps dust, germs and other tiny bits before they reach your lungs.

Hairs inside your nose trap bigger bits, like dirt or pollen.

Even tinier hairs called cilia sweep mucus along, out of the way.

Sneezes

A sneeze is your body's way to clear an itch or tickle in your nose.

A sneeze can send tiny bits flying out of your nose.

They can go up to 100 miles per hour!

That is why we cover sneezes. Use a tissue, or sneeze into your elbow.

The eye team

Each time you blink, a tiny bit of tear fluid spreads over your eye.

Tears help wash away germs and dust. They also keep your eyes from drying out.

Eyelashes and eyelids help keep dirt out too.

FACE DEFENDERS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
What does sticky mucus do?
What do tears wash away?
Where is the best place to sneeze if you have no tissue?
Try it
Practice an elbow sneeze: tuck your nose and mouth into the bend of your elbow.
Practice three times. Now you are ready for a real one!
HOW THE NOSE CLEANS AIR
  • ?Nose hairs trap the bigger bits.
  • ?You breathe in air with dust in it.
  • ?Sticky mucus traps the tiny bits.
  • ?Cleaner air goes on toward the lungs.
  • ?Tiny cilia sweep the mucus along.
WHY THIS EXERCISEHairs, mucus and cilia work together to clean the air you breathe.
StatementTrue or false?
Mucus traps germs before they reach the lungs.?
Blinking spreads tear fluid over your eye.?
A sneeze can send bits out very fast.?
Sneezing into your hands is the best choice.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEMucus and tears trap and wash germs. An elbow sneeze keeps germs off your hands.
Sticky stuff in the nose is called ____.
Tiny hairs that sweep mucus are called ____.
Each time you ____, tears spread over your eye.
Which body part do tears protect? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISETears wash germs and dust away from your eyes.

Great job, defender detective! Tomorrow we zoom inside the blood to meet the white blood cells.

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