Grades 6 to 8 • Human Body Series
Endocrine System
The endocrine system is responsible for many amazing processes: growth, sexual
KidsHealth.org/classroom
development, the fight or flight response to danger, and maintaining cellular
energy and blood sugar levels. Its work is complicated, but these activities will
Teacher’s Guide help students understand how the endocrine system gets the job done.
This guide includes: Related KidsHealth Links
• Standards
• Related Links Articles for Kids:
• Discussion Questions What Are Glands?
• Activities for Students KidsHealth.org/en/kids/glands.html
• Reproducible Materials
Movie: The Endocrine System
KidsHealth.org/en/kids/esmovie.html
Your Endocrine System
Standards KidsHealth.org/en/kids/endocrine.html
This guide correlates with
the following National Health The Endocrine System Activity
Education Standards: KidsHealth.org/en/kids/bfs-esactivity.html
Students will:
Endocrine System Word Find
• Comprehend concepts related KidsHealth.org/en/kids/bfs-eswordsearch.html
to health promotion and
disease prevention to enhance Endocrine System Online Quiz
health. KidsHealth.org/en/kids/esquiz.html
• Analyze the influence of
family, peers, culture, media, Articles for Teens:
technology, and other factors
on health behaviors. Endocrine System
• Demonstrate the ability to TeensHealth.org/en/teens/endocrine.html
access valid information and
products and services to Growth Problems
enhance health. TeensHealth.org/en/teens/growth-hormone.html
• Demonstrate the ability to use
interpersonal communication Thyroid Disease
skills to enhance health and TeensHealth.org/en/teens/thyroid.html
avoid or reduce health risks.
• Demonstrate the ability to
use decision-making skills to
Discussion Questions
enhance health.
• Demonstrate the ability to use Note: The following questions are written in language appropriate for sharing with
goal-setting skills to enhance your students.
health.
• Demonstrate the ability to 1. Name the main parts and functions of the endocrine system.
practice health-enhancing
behaviors and avoid or reduce 2. Glands and hormones make a great team. Describe how they work in the body.
health risks. How do they work with other body systems?
• Demonstrate the ability to
advocate for personal, family,
3. Hormones are extremely specific. What does this mean?
and community health.
Describe the process by which hormones reach their intended targets.
National Health Education 4. The endocrine system produces hormones, and it also senses when to shut them
Standards: off. Describe how the negative feedback system works to maintain the proper
www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/sher/ balance of hormones in the blood.
standards/index.htm
© 2017 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
Grades 6 to 8 • Human Body Series
Endocrine System
Activities for Students
Note: The following activities are written in language appropriate for sharing with your students.
Glands on Strike!
Objectives:
Students will:
• Gain an understanding of the function of each gland in the endocrine system
Materials:
• Computer with Internet access
• “Glands on Strike!” handout
Class Time:
• 40 minutes
Activity:
(Note to instructor: Students may complete this activity in groups or individually.)
What do we want? APPRECIATION! When do we want it? NOW!
The eight glands of endocrine system are feeling overworked and underappreciated. They do so much to help ensure
that so many body processes run smoothly, but they don’t get so much as a day off, let alone a measly thank you.
These glands have had enough. Tomorrow, they’re going on strike. Using the "Glands on Strike!" handout, write a list
of health problems that would occur if your glands decided to stop working.
Extension:
Of course, glands don’t really go on strike, but it is possible for them not to work properly. Take the pancreas, for
example. If it doesn’t produce enough of the hormone insulin, the result is type 1 diabetes, one of the most common
disorders of the endocrine system. Research more about type 1 diabetes, then write a brief report about the
disease, including its signs and symptoms and how doctors treat it.
© 2017 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
Grades 6 to 8 • Human Body Series
Endocrine System
The Gland Band
Objectives:
Students will:
• Create a song that will demonstrate their knowledge of the endocrine system
Materials:
• Computer with Internet access
• Paper or pen and paper, or word processing software
Class Time:
• 90 minutes
Activity:
The endocrine system is an incredibly efficient, well-oiled machine. Its eight glands each have a unique job to do.
It releases hormones that are so “smart,” they only target specific receptors. And it even has a built-in system for
sensing the precise levels of hormones in the blood so it knows whether to increase or decrease hormone production.
If the endocrine system doesn’t deserve a musical tribute, we’re not sure what does!
Let’s break up into small groups, and then each group will write one stanza of a song celebrating one amazing detail
about the endocrine system. You can write about a specific gland or hormone, or about a function like target cell
receptors or the negative feedback system. It may be easiest to choose a tune everyone knows, like Yankee Doodle
Dandy or Take Me Out to the Ballgame, but a pop or rap song is fine, too. Be as creative as you like, but remember
to show what you know!
Extensions:
1. Create a music video from the song.
2. Have students complete the How the Body Works activity:
Endocrine System Word Find (KidsHealth.org/en/kids/bfs-eswordsearch.html)
Reproducible Materials
Handout: Glands on Strike!
KidsHealth.org/classroom/6to8/body/systems/endocrine_handout1.pdf
Quiz: Endocrine System
KidsHealth.org/classroom/6to8/body/systems/endocrine_quiz.pdf
Answer Key: Endocrine System
KidsHealth.org/classroom/6to8/body/systems/endocrine_quiz_answers.pdf
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© 2017 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
Human Body Series
Endocrine System
Name: Date:
Glands on Strike!
Instructions: Write a list of health problems that might occur if your glands decided to go on strike.
g la n d s
ad ren al p it u it
ary g
la n d
panc
r ea s
thy roid
id s
p a rathy r o rep r
o
(ova d u ctive
ri e s g la n
and d
te s t s
es)
© 2017 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
Human Body Series
Endocrine System
Name: Date:
Quiz
Instructions: Answer each question.
1. List four functions of the endocrine system.
2. In general, the endocrine system is in charge of body processes that happen slowly, such as cell growth. Faster processes like
breathing and body movement are controlled by the:
a. digestive system
b. respiratory system
c. nervous system
d. cardiovascular system
3. are chemical messengers that transfer information and instructions from one set of cells to another.
4. Endocrine glands release more than major hormones directly into the bloodstream.
a. 20
b. 100
c. 200
d. 1,000
5. The brain contains these three glands:
6. The pineal gland secretes:
a. melatonin
b. oxytocin
c. insulin
d. thyroxine
7. True or false: The thyroid gland is involved in metabolism, the process by which the fuel in the food we eat is converted into
cellular energy.
8. A problem with the pancreas’s production of insulin can lead to a condition called .
9. Once a hormone is secreted, it travels from the endocrine gland that produced it through the bloodstream to the cells
designed to receive its message. These cells are called .
10. If the pituitary glands release hormones that stimulate the gonads to produce sex hormones too early, some kids may begin to
go through puberty at a very young age. This is called:
a. hyperthyroidism
b. precocious puberty
c. gigantism
d. hypothyroidism
© 2017 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
Human Body Series
Endocrine System
Quiz Answer Key
1. List four functions of the endocrine system.
Any four of the following: regulating mood, growth and development; tissue function; the fight or flight response;
metabolism; blood glucose levels; sexual function and reproductive processes.
2. In general, the endocrine system is in charge of body processes that happen slowly, such as cell growth. Faster processes like
breathing and body movement are controlled by the:
a. digestive system
b. respiratory system
c. nervous system
d. cardiovascular system
3. Hormones are chemical messengers that transfer information and instructions from one set of cells to another.
4. Endocrine glands release more than 20 major hormones directly into the bloodstream.
a. 20
b. 100
c. 200
d. 1,000
5. The brain contains these three glands: pituitary, hypothalamus, and pineal gland (or pineal body)
6. The pineal gland secretes:
a. melatonin
b. oxytocin
c. insulin
d. thyroxine
7. True or false: The thyroid gland is involved in metabolism, the process by which the fuel in the food we eat is converted into
cellular energy.
8. A problem with the pancreas’s production of insulin can lead to a condition called diabetes .
9. Once a hormone is secreted, it travels from the endocrine gland that produced it through the bloodstream to the cells
designed to receive its message. These cells are called target cells .
10. If the pituitary glands release hormones that stimulate the gonads to produce sex hormones too early, some kids may begin to
go through puberty at a very young age. This is called:
a. hyperthyroidism
b. precocious puberty
c. gigantism
d. hypothyroidism
© 2017 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
