Old Plumbing in the Body: teacher key

Belly Buttons, grade 10 edition, written for 10th grade. At birth the body shuts down a set of fetal blood routes and keeps their remains for life. Trace those leftovers, and meet the scientists who learned to look at unborn babies.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What happens to the umbilical vein inside the body after birth?
   • It becomes the round ligament of the liver (answer)
   • It grows longer
   • It becomes a new artery
2. What makes the muscle of the ductus arteriosus tighten for good?
   • Cutting the cord
   • Breathing (answer)
   • The stump falling off
3. What was the Glasgow team's prototype scanner made from?
   • A disused flaw detector, Meccano toy parts and a hospital bed table (answer)
   • A microscope and a camera
   • A heart monitor and a radio
4. What is known about why some belly buttons are outies?
   • No one knows exactly why (answer)
   • Doctors choose it when they cut the cord
   • It is caused by bacteria
5. In the text, what does fibrous mean?
   • Soft and wet
   • Like tough strings (answer)
   • Hidden by hair

Words

• ligamentum: tough string
• allantois: early cord stalk
• arteriosus: artery-like
• fibrous: stringy
• jaundice: yellow tint