Name: _________ Class: ____ Date: ___

The Human Excretory System

Directions: Use the word choices in the box below, and look at the diagram, to
complete the paragraphs with the correct vocabulary.

The function of the excretory system in all organisms is to remove waste products
from the body. In humans, the skin and the lungs help to remove waste products from
the body in the form of salts and carbon dioxide. However, the urinary system serves
an important function in removing waste products from the blood. The urinary
structures as part of the excretory system filter and cleanse the blood. Waste products
leave the body as urine (the liquid) through the urethra (the tube).

Humans have two (1)_______________. Blood from the aorta travels from the heart and
through a branch of the aorta called the (2)___________________. The renal artery gets
smaller and forms an arteriole. This arteriole goes into a cup-like structure called
(3)_________________________. The knot of capillaries that forms inside Bowmans
Capsule is called the (4)_______________________. Bowmans capsule, the glomerulus,
and the tubules all together are called the (5)________________. The nephron is the
structural and functional unit of the kidney. The pressure is very high inside the
glomerulus, and many substances (like water, salts, hormones, minerals) are
squeezed out of the blood because of this high pressure. The substances that are
squeezed, or filtered, out go into a tube called the
(6)________________________________________. This tube continues down and becomes
the (7)_______________________________. At the bottom of this loop, the pressure
increases again. Then, this tube comes back up and becomes the
(8)________________________________________. Many distal convoluted tubules come
together into a (9)_______________________________. Many collecting ducts come
together into the (10)_____________________________. The renal pelvis continues down
and becomes the (11)____________. The ureter empties waste into the urinary
(12)__________________. The urinary bladder stores waste in the form of urine until the
person is ready to urinate. Then, the urine exits the body through the tube called the
(13)________________.

WORD CHOICES:

Glomerulus
Bowmans Capsule
Proximal Convoluted Tubule
Distal Convoluted Tubule
Loop of Henle
Collecting Duct
Renal Artery
Ureter
Urethra
Bladder
Kidneys
Nephron
Renal Pelvis
Directions: On the diagram below, label the organs and the parts of the kidney.

Directions: For the following statements, indicate whether each is true or false. If the
statement is false, rewrite the sentence to make it true.

1) The kidneys help to maintain reproduction through balancing the amount of

water and salts in the body.
________________________________________________________________________
2) The kidneys go through processes of filtration, respiration, and excretion to
cleanse the blood.
________________________________________________________________________
3) The bladder is the structural and functional unit of the kidneys.
________________________________________________________________________
4) The skin, lungs, liver, and kidneys all help to remove waste from the body.
_________________________________________________________________________
5) After filtration, water and other useful substances are reabsorbed back into the
capillaries where they return to the circulatory system.
_________________________________________________________________________