We all have one! We use it every moment of every day-- your incredible human body! What a personal and relevant topic of study for any child!
For the younger students, your study may focus primarily on anatomy, so you will explore the body's organs and body's systems. For older students you may extend the study into physiology and add in the functioning of the human body, including its systems, tissues, and cells.
Browse the ideas and links here to plan your human body lapbook, notebook, or unit study.
Photo credit
Human Body Lapbook
These photos show the human body lapbook made by my daughter during her first grade year when we used Sonlight Science 1. I hope that they will give you inspiration to create your own lapbook! (Many of the graphics and ideas came from the Scholastic Easy Make and Learn Projects book linked below.)
For more human body lapbooks, visit
- WellybootsMum
- Just Some Stuff blog
- 1+1+1=1 blog
- Marine Corp Nomads If you're considering buying the Hands of a Child human body lapbook kit, be sure to visit this blog for a preview. Even if you want a DIY lapbook, you're sure to get some great ideas from these photos.
The Body Systems
There are eleven major body systems. By covering each of them, you will create a balanced unit study.
Clicking on the linked systems will take you to the part of this page where you can find free printables and other resources!
circulatory or cardiovascular- respiratory
- skeletal
- muscular
- nervous
- reproductive
- digestive
- urinary
- immunne or lymphatic
- endocrine
- integumentary system (Skin, hair, and nails)
Easy Make and Learn Projects Human Body
Easy Make & Learn Projects: Human Body (Grades 2-4)
Amazon Price: (as of 07/03/2009)
I own this fantastic book! I recommend it highly for the creative reproducibles it offers. Many of the crafts are very easily adapted to lapbooking. Here is a free exerpt -- a shape book covering several body systems.
A Big Human Body Lapbook
Here's a lapbook done by a 6 year old. You can see that they used a lot of things from Easy Make and Learn Projects Human Body.
Human Body Lapbook C...
JDBoy and Lapbook
JDboy and Lapbook
Lapbook Open
Lapbook Open 2
Lapbook Open 3
Lapbook Open 4
Bible 1
Bible Inside
Water 1
Water 2
No Drugs
Sleep 1
Sleep 2
Exercise Shape Book...
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise Mini Boo
Exercise 6
Sunshine 1
Sunshine 2
Bad Eating Habits 1
Bad Eating Habits 2
Bad Eating Habits 3
Nutrition 1
Nutrition 2
Cleanliness
Bones
Life Mini Book
Life Book 2
Drawing of Skeleton
Skin
Respiratory System
Brain/Head
Heart
Adorable Wearables
Adorable Wearables Human Body: Reproducible Patterns for "Hear" Muffs, Vision Goggles, and Other Easy-to-Make Paper Projects That Kids Can Wear
Amazon Price: $11.99 (as of 07/03/2009)
This book is so fun! Reproducible patterns for making learning styled costumes!
Amazon Spotlight
Nonfiction Read & Write Booklets: Human Body
Nonfiction Read & Write Booklets: Human Body: 10 Interactive Reproducible Booklets That Help Students Build Content Knowledge and Reading Comprehension Skills (Best Practices in Action)
Amazon Price: $10.99 (as of 07/03/2009)
This is a reading comprehension booster with a human body theme to each of the minibooks. This resource could draw in a language arts component to your unit study.
Free Coloring Pages, Notebooking Pages, Lesson Plans, and Games
- Drawings of Parts of the Human Body
- A nice drawing of the inner ear, the digestive system, a cross-section of the heart, and more.
- Crayola's Human Body Coloring Pages
- Pages include human eye, a cell, human organs, and human skeleton.
- Human Body Coloring Book Pages
- These are mostly outside body parts -- ear, nose, hands, etc. But there is also a diagram of the lungs and a boy with an x-ray over his torso, showing his bones.
- Anatomy Coloring Pages
- A handful of technical drawings like something out of a medical textbook.
- Homeschool Helper Online
- Free notebooking pages include Bones, Fetus, Heart, Skull, and Tooth & Toothbrush.
- Pasco Partners Human Body Unit Study
- This PDF unit study incorporates language, math, and science all around the theme of the human body. Not only will you find great lesson plan ideas and activities, but this PDF has some great reproducible one page outlines of organs.
- Science With Me Worksheets
- Although you'll have to sign up with this website (it's free), it's worth the hassle. Not only will you find quaility printables, you'll also have access to some great animations about the human body. Take the time to explore this fantastic website. You will find a lot to use.
- Science Project Room
- Two word puzzles (samples from a book by Teacher Created Resources) in PDF format.
- Make an Anatomy T-shirt
- This free pattern can be printed onto iron on transfer paper and then used to create your own very fun craft idea that teaches about the major organs!
- Body Bingo
- Print and play this classic game to learn the organs of the body.
Human Body Reference Books
Nervous System Free Resources
online goodies
- Neuroscience Coloring Book
- Nice line drawings of organs that are part of the nervous system as well as detailed diagrams of neurons.
- Brain Bottom View
- A realistic diagram of the brain from a bottom view.
- Brain Top View
- The complement to the above coloring page -- the brain viewed from the top.
- Neuroscience for Kids
- This site holds a wealth of information about the nervous system, all on a basic level that children can understand.
- Bodyology, Brain & Nervous System
- Coloring pages, activity ideas, online games, and articles can be found here. This is a great webpage!
- Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop
- This is so fun! You've got to print out and make this free cut-and-assemble brain hat that teaches the sections of the human brain. Adorable idea! Pair it with this printable brain game for extra fun!
Muscular System Free Resources
online goodies
- Muscles Mini Poster
- These images would make great graphics for a minibook of muscles of the body.
- Bodyology, Muscular & Skeletal Systems
- You will find some well made online games, interactive diagrams, activity ideas, and blackline masters here. (This site is also linked in the Skeletal System Resources due to subject overlap.) Printables (blackline masters) include a muscle chart, arm muscles with labels, and important muscle names.
Bones
X-rays are intriguing! Call your local hospital or orthopedic office to arrange a field trip to a radiology lab to see x-rays close up!
Skeletal System on Amazon
Skeletal System Free Resources
online goodies
- Human Skeleton
- Here is the link for the graphic in this module --a great JPG file of a realistic (not scary) skeleton. This could be a graphic or a coloring page.
- Bodyology, Muscular & Skeletal Systems
- Wow! This page offers some great online games, interactive diagrams, and printables! Look especially for the Arm Muscles and Bones Blackline Master for a great minibook printable!
- Skeleton Vocabulary Pages
- Four page, notebooking document with skeleton related words.
- EdHeads Virtual Hip Replacement Surgery
- No printables here, but a really fascinating online (not gory) virtual surgery. Look at the Choose an Activity menu at the top to find the virtual knee replacement.
- The eSkeletons Project
- Want a big project? Print out a life-sized model of the human skeleton! This site offers printables in adult and juvenile sizes. Look on the left side of the page. Scroll down to "Teaching resources." That's where you can find the printable skeltons. Just 21 pieces of paper can make a life-sized adult skeleton! There are also some printable skeleton jigsaw puzzles on this page.
- Human Skeleton Science Coloring Page
- Use this freebie from Home Training Tools to identify, cut out, and color the major bones that make up the skeleton.
Circulatory System Free Resources
also called cardiovascular system
- Bodyology, Heart and Circulatory System
- This is a must-visit page. You'll find not only great printable coloring pages, but also articles, interactive diagrams, and activity ideas.
- Cross-section of the Heart
- This coloring page would be great for studying the way blood is pumped through the chambers of the heart.
- Circulatory System Printable
- A lovely PDF from the American Heart Association showing the circulatory system and some facts.
- About the Heart Printable
- Another nice PDF, full color printable from the American Heart Association.
- Human Blood Notebooking Page
- This attractive page can be filled in and used as a notebooking page or adapted for a minibook.
Respiratory System Free Resources
online goodies
- Bodyology, Lungs and Respiratory System
- This page has links to two resources -- one is a great printable PDF diagram of the respiratory system. The other is a movie demonstrating what happens during an asthma attack.
- Inside the Human Body: The Respiratory System
- The Canadian Lung Association offers printable teacher resources at three levels: grades 1-3, 4-6, and 7-12. Especially look for the How We Breathe PDF in the 4-6 grade section. It shows how humans breathe and the different parts of our respiratory system.
Great Stuff on eBay
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Digestive System Free Resources
online goodies
- Black & White Digestive System Numbered Diagram
- An outline of the entire digestive system has lines for the student to label the body parts. Answers are included on the page.
- Full Color Digestive System Diagram
- This is a full color JPG image with the names of the parts labeled. For the unlabeled version, click on the graphic in this module.
- Human Digestive System Images
- Free black and white clip art images from old books that are free for educational use.
- Open Wide and Trek Inside
- A National Institute of Heath lesson plan for grades 1-2. Online activities and printables are both available for this unit study all about the mouth and teeth.
- Bodyology, Digestive System
- This is a treasure -- articles, activities and coloring pages!
- Break Down that Food!
- A color diagram and numbered steps explaining the process of digestion.
Reader Feedback
I welcome your thoughts.
Chris wrote
What WONDERFUL resources all brought together! THANK YOU!
Posted March 02, 2009
LilliputStation wrote...
Jimmie, I have an activity page on human blood at HSLaunch that you might be interested in adding. Melissa
Posted February 25, 2009
MorningLaurie wrote
Well done! We're just beginnign work on a group human body study and this will be a great resource. Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together and share it with everyone.
Posted January 27, 2009
marsha32 wrote...
I just ordered a human body book that comes with a dvd from Books Are Fun. I'm looking around at all your stuff now. Jasmine is so into the math mini office I think she can get in to this.
Posted January 26, 2009
enslavedbyfaeries wrote...
I'm embarrassed that I haven't taken more time to explore your wonderful lenses, especially the lapbooks. They are so awesome!! My daughter is on a constant quest for information and it's so hard to find trusted and age appropriate information for her to research online. I don't homeschool, but my girls attend an amazing Montessori that I am grateful for every single day. Thank you!!
Posted January 20, 2009
keptwoman wrote
Thanks so much! We are just heading into a body study and this page is invaluable.
Posted January 12, 2009
by Jimmie
Hello! I am a homeschooling mom who loves to teach and learn. I love the flexibility of Squidoo lenses for showing off our homeschool projects. Bloggi...
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