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Lesson · Grade 6 · Science

Hormones: the Body's Chemical Messengers

  • Grade 6
  • Science
  • 1 min 21 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC6-SC-03

A labelled body diagram builds up step by step: glands such as the pancreas and the adrenal glands release hormones into the blood, which carries them all around the body to their target organs. Two examples follow: insulin makes the liver and muscles take in and store sugar so blood sugar returns to a healthy level, and adrenalin makes the heart beat faster and breathing speed up to get the body ready for action.

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

How can one part of your body send a message to a part far away?

Organs called glands make chemicals called hormones.

Transcript

What the lesson says

How can one part of your body send a message to a part far away?

Organs called glands make chemicals called hormones.

For example, the pancreas, and the adrenal glands on top of the kidneys.

A gland releases its hormones into the blood.

Your blood then carries the hormones all around your body.

So hormones are the body's chemical messengers.

After you eat, the amount of sugar in your blood goes up.

Your pancreas then releases a hormone called insulin.

The blood carries insulin to its target organs, such as the liver and muscles.

Insulin makes them take in sugar from the blood and store it.

So your blood sugar goes back down to a healthy level.

When you get a fright, your adrenal glands release adrenaline.

Adrenaline makes your heart beat faster and you breathe faster.

This gets your body ready for action.

Glands send hormones in the blood to their target organs.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 6

Science, Biology: the basic structures and functions of body systems: hormonalBC6-SC-03

Previous: The excretory system: how the kidneys clean the bloodNext: The Nervous System: How Your Brain Knows What You Touch

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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