CHAPTER 14
LESSON 3
Key Concepts
• What does the skin do?
• How do the three layers of
skin differ?
• How does the skin interact
with other body systems?
Main Idea and Details As
you read, circle each heading
that contains the word skin.
Then, underline one sentence
from each paragraph that
follows that heading and its
subheadings and teaches
you something about skin.
Reading Check
1. Explain What would
happen to your body if you
had no skin?
236 Structure and Movement
Structure and Movement
The Skin
What do you think? Read the two statements below and decide
whether you agree or disagree with them. Place an A in the Before column
if you agree with the statement or a D if you disagree. After you’ve read
this lesson, reread the statements to see if you have changed your mind.
Before Statement After
5. Skin helps regulate body temperature.
6. Skin is made of two layers of tissue.
Functions of the Skin
When you touch your face or arm, you are touching the
outer layer of your skin. Skin is the largest organ of the body.
It is part of the integumentary (ihn teh gyuh MEN tuh ree)
system. The integumentary system is made up of all of the external
Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
coverings of the body, including the skin, nails, and hair. Like your
bones and muscles, skin has many different functions in
your body.
Protection
Skin covers your bones and muscles. Skin protects them
from the outside environment. It keeps your body from
drying out in sunlight and wind. Skin also protects the cells
and tissues under the skin from damage. Skin keeps dirt,
bacteria, viruses, and other substances from entering your
body.
Sensory Response
Imagine you closed your eyes and felt two objects—a
brick and a piece of paper. You would be able to feel the
difference. The brick would feel rough, and the paper would
feel smooth. Your skin has sensory receptors that detect
texture. Sensory receptors in the skin also detect temperature
and sense pain. The more sensory receptors there are in an
area of skin, the more sensitive the skin is.
Reading Essentials
 Temperature Regulation
Skin helps control body temperature. Skin has tiny holes,
or pores, on its outer surface. When you exercise, sweat
comes from these pores. Sweating is one way that skin
maintains normal body temperature. As sweat evaporates,
excess thermal energy leaves the body and the skin cools.
Another way the skin maintains body temperature is by
releasing thermal energy from blood vessels. When your
body temperature begins to increase, such as when you are
exercising, blood vessels near the skin’s surface dilate, or
enlarge. This increases the surface area of the blood vessels
and releases more thermal energy. Key Concept Check
2. Explain how the skin
Production of Vitamin D regulates body temperature.
If your skin is exposed to sunlight, it can make vitamin D.
Your body needs vitamin D to help it absorb calcium and
phosphorus. Vitamin D also helps bones grow.

Elimination
Normal cellular processes produce waste products. The
skin helps eliminate, or get rid of, some of these wastes.
Water, salts, and other waste products are removed through Visual Check
the pores of the skin. Elimination occurs all the time, but 3. Name three structures
you probably only notice it when you sweat. found in the dermis layer of
skin.
Structures of the Skin
The skin that you see and feel on your body is the outer-
Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

most layer of your skin. Below it are two other layers of skin.
Each layer, as shown in the figure below, has a different
structure and function.

You shed about 600,000 flakes of skin every hour.

Pore
You get an entirely new layer of skin about every
20–30 days.
Melanin

The fatty layer acts Epidermis

as a shock absorber, Sweat
gland Oil gland
protecting the body
from injury. Hair Muscle Dermis
Nerve
follicle
Your body’s dermis contains about
Blood three million sweat glands.
vessels Fatty layer

Reading Essentials Structure and Movement 237

 Math Skills
The ratios __51 and __
25
5
are
equivalent, so they can be
written as the proportion
5 25
__ = __ . When ratios form
1 5
a proportion, the cross
products are equal. In
the above proportion,
5 × 5 = 25 × 1. You can
use cross products to find
a missing term. For example,
if each 1 cm2 of skin contains
300 pores, how many pores
are there in 5 cm2 of skin?
1 cm2
________ 5 cm2
______
300 pores
= n pores
1 × n = 300 × 5
n = 1500 pores
4. Using Proportions
The palm of the hand has
about 500 sweat glands
per 1 cm2. How many sweat
glands would there be on
a palm measuring 7 cm by
8 cm?
Key Concept Check
5. Contrast How do the
skin’s three layers differ?
Make a half-book to record
information about the
different types of skin
injuries and how the body
repairs them.
Skin Injuries
and Repair
Epidermis
Dermis
Fat layer
238 Structure and Movement
Epidermis
The epidermis (eh puh DUR mus) is the outermost layer of skin
and the only layer in direct contact with the outside environment. The
epidermis is thin but tough. The epidermis on your eyelids
is thinner than a sheet of paper. Cells of the epidermis are
constantly shed, or gotten rid of, and replaced by new cells.
One important function of the epidermis is the production
of melanin (MEH luh nun). Melanin is a pigment that protects
the body by absorbing some of the Sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays.
Dermis
Below the epidermis is the dermis. The dermis is a thick layer
of tissue that gives skin strength, nourishment, and flexibility. The
dermis contains sweat glands, blood vessels, nerves, hair
follicles, and muscles. When the muscles in the dermis
contract, you get goose bumps.
Fatty Layer
The innermost layer of skin is sometimes called the fatty
layer. It insulates the body, keeping it warm. It also acts as a
protective padding and stores energy. This layer can be thin
or very thick, depending on where it is on the body.
Skin Injuries and Repair
Skin is often injured because it is exposed to the outside
environment. You might have injured your skin by falling
down or bruising it. Your body has different ways to repair
Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
skin. The type of repair depends on the type of injury and
how serious it is.
Bruises
A bruise is an injury where blood vessels in the skin are broken, but
the skin is not cut or opened. The broken blood vessels release
blood into the surrounding tissue, forming the bruise.
Bruises usually change color as they heal. This change in
color is due to chemical changes in the blood under the
skin’s surface.
Cuts
When you break one or more layers of skin, a cut results.
Cuts often cut blood vessels, too. Blood that flows from a cut
usually thickens and forms a scab over the cut. The scab
helps keep dirt and other substances from entering the body.
Skin heals by making new skin cells that repair the cut.
Some cuts are too large to heal naturally. If that happens,
stitches might be needed to close the cut while it heals.
Reading Essentials
 Burns
A burn is an injury to your skin or tissues that can be
caused by touching hot objects. Touching extremely cold
objects, chemicals, electricity, radiation (such as sunlight), or
friction (rubbing) can also cause burns. The three degrees, or
levels, of burns are described in the table below. Reading Check
6. Identify Name three
Burn Type Description Symptoms Healing Time causes of burns to the skin.
First-degree damages top pain, redness, 5–7 days
burn layer of skin swelling without
scarring
Second-degree damages top pain, redness, 2–6 weeks with
burn and lower swelling, some scarring
layers of skin blistering
Third-degree damages all black or white several months
Visual Check
burn three layers of charred skin, with scarring, 7. Explain If swelling
skin and some- might be numb might need and blisters appear on the
times the tissue as a result of surgery surface of a burned area of
below skin damaged skin, what degree of burn
nerves would it be?

Healthy Skin
One way to keep your skin healthy is to protect it from
sunlight. The ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight can cause
permanent damage to the skin. Damage to the skin can
include dry skin, wrinkles, and skin cancer. You can protect
Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

your skin from the UV rays in sunlight by using sunscreen.

You can also wear clothing, such as a hat or long-sleeved
shirt, to protect your skin.
Another way to keep your skin healthy is to eat a
balanced diet. You can also use gentle soaps to clean your
skin and lotion to keep your skin moist.

The Skin and Homeostasis

You have read that the skin can make vitamin D and that
it protects the body from outside substances. Both of these
functions help regulate the body’s internal environment. Key Concept Check
The skin also works with other body systems to maintain
8. State Give two
examples of how the skin
homeostasis. The skin and circulatory system help cool the interacts with other body
body when it becomes overheated. The skin also works with systems to help maintain
the nervous system and muscular system to help the body homeostasis.
react to stimuli. For example, if you touch a hot pan,
receptors in your skin sense pain. This triggers nerve cells to
send a message to your brain. Your brain then sends a
message to your muscles to move your hand away.

Reading Essentials Structure and Movement 239

Mini Glossary
bruise: an injury where blood vessels in the skin are broken, integumentary (ihn teh gyuh MEN tuh ree)
but the skin is not cut or opened system: made up of all of the external coverings of the
body, including the skin, nails, and hair
dermis: a thick layer of skin that gives the skin strength,
nourishment, and flexibility melanin (MEH luh nun): a pigment that protects the body
by absorbing some of the Sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays
epidermis (eh puh DUR mus): the outer layer of skin and
the only layer in direct contact with the outside environment

1. Review the terms and their definitions in the Mini Glossary. Write two or three sentences
that explain how the terms integumentary system, epidermis, dermis, and bruise are related.

2. Rewrite each phrase shown below in the correct part of the Venn diagram to compare
and contrast the epidermis and the dermis.

Epidermis Both Dermis

Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

• can be burned by extreme heat
• thick, middle layer of skin
• thin, top layer of skin

3. How does the number of sensory receptors affect an area of skin?

What do you think

Reread the statements at the beginning of the Connect ED
lesson. Fill in the After column with an A if you Log on to ConnectED.mcgraw-hill.com
agree with the statement or a D if you disagree. and access your textbook to find this END OF
Did you change your mind? lesson’s resources. LESSON

240 Structure and Movement Reading Essentials