Why do we walk on two legs? How do our muscles know how to work together when we dance? How does our brain work with our hands to sink a basketball? In Human Movement: How the Body Walks, Runs, Jumps, and Kicks, readers ages 12 to 15 learn the basic anatomy and physiology of the human body and discover how bones, muscles, tendons, and nerves work together to make movement possible.
Bones give the body structure and the ability to stay upright. Muscles make possible the movement of the bones. The brain tells the muscles what to do and when to do it. And your heart, lungs, and other organs provide the fuel that powers movement. Human Movement takes a look at all of the components of the human body and examines how they allow you to move and interact with the world around you. Readers also learn what they can do to keep their bodies healthy and fit and moving well.
Combining hands-on activities with biology, chemistry, biomechanics, and nutrition, Human Movement offers entertaining graphic novel illustrations and fascinating sidebars to illuminate the topic and engage readers further. Human Movement integrates a digital learning component by providing links to primary sources, videos, and other relevant websites to deepen readers' experiences and strengthen practical connections to the material.
Projects include building a hand model with working muscles and tendons, testing what makes bones strong, examining how changing your center of gravity affects balance and motion, identifying how different types of joints work, and using yeast to investigate how the body metabolizes food into energy. Additional materials include a glossary, and a list of current reference works, websites, and Internet resources.
Industry Reviews
Booklist Issue March 15, 2017
The human machine is rife with lessons on physics, chemistry, and engineering far beyond basic anatomy. Almost every aspect of kinesiology is examined in this kid-friendly book, from skeletal foundations of movement to the complex chemistry of metabolism and the psychology of exercise addiction. The interconnectedness of bodily systems is a recurrent theme, and full-color illustrations show young peoples' bodies in motion in plenty of everyday scenarios. The science is relatively sophisticated, but by utilizing activities that range from simple observation to full-fledged experiments, young readers can see kinesthetic concepts at work and can make in-depth predictions and inquiries. Vocabulary activities in the sidebar invite readers to not just define the words they don't know, but to apply them to existing knowledge and to investigations at hand. QR codes can be scanned with a smartphone or tablet and connect readers to online videos, games, and interactive documents that further explain relevant ideas, making this book interactive and thorough.
