The Scar Everyone Wears: teacher key

Belly Buttons, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. Every person has one scar that nobody remembers getting. Find out what a belly button is left over from, and why yours looks the way it does.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What is a belly button?
   • A scar left from the umbilical cord (answer)
   • A hole that stays open
   • A place where food enters
2. What does the placenta do in the womb?
   • It keeps the baby warm
   • It does the work of the lungs (answer)
   • It makes the stump
3. Why does a platypus have no belly button?
   • It is too small
   • Its hair hides the scar
   • It lays eggs, so it has no cord (answer)
4. What does the stump do as it heals?
   • It dries, shrinks and falls off (answer)
   • It grows into an outie
   • It stays for life
5. Which best describes an outie?
   • A navel that is hidden by hair
   • A navel that sticks out (answer)
   • A navel with no scar
6. Why was the belly button study compared to a rainforest?
   • Only a few bacteria types were found on most people (answer)
   • It was done outdoors
   • Every belly button was wet

Words

• umbilical: of the cord
• placenta: acts as lungs
• stump: leftover cord piece
• navel: belly button
• platypus: egg-laying mammal