Science Minute Script:

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Greatest Thing in the World to Have

This Science Minute was researched and written by Iris G., Ithaca.

It just so happens that without your skin, you wouldn’t be able to survive. Not only would you look extremely gross, but germs would get into your body, causing you to get an infection and become ill.

Even though you have only three layers of skin, each of them plays and extremely important roll in keeping your body healthy, strong, and protected. The three different layers are your epidermis, the top layer; your dermis, the middle layer; and your bottom layer called subcutaneous.

The main role of your epidermis is to create more skin cells, which rise to the top. The process takes two weeks then your old skin cells flake off. Your epidermis also produces melanin. The darkness of your skin is dependent on the amount of melanin you have, The less melanin you have, the lighter your skin. That is why people have different colors of skin.

Next comes your dermis. That holds all of your nerve endings and blood vessels. It is these nerves that send messages to your muscles warning you if something is dangerous or not. Last but not least is the subcutaneous layer, which is mostly fat. It helps keep you warm and absorbs shock.

In the time you took to listen to this Science Minute, you lost approximately thirty-five thousand skin cells. That’s almost ten pounds a year!