Human biology is a complex area of study that examines humans through the influences and interplay of many diverse scientific fields, including anatomy and physiology.

The Certificate of Human Biology – Anatomy and Physiology is ideal for those who work in the the medical, health, fitness or alternative medicine sectors or those keen to study health science or biomedicine. It will give you insights into the human body, how it works and what factors determine good health.

In this human biology short course, you will study the features of the human body at a microscopic level, including the structure and function of tissues, cells and membranes. You will also learn about the basic structure, features and function of the human muscular, skeletal, digestion, excretion, nervous and physiological systems.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a human biology short course include:

• Learning about the structure and function of cells, tissues and membranes
• Exploring cell division
• Studying cell processes
• Gaining insights into osmosis and filtration
• Examining nutrient and waste exchange in cells
• Understanding the features of the human skeleton
• Learning about bone anatomy
• Exploring bone types
• Studying bone joints
• Gaining insights into bone movements
• Examining fractures and fracture healing
• Understanding the structure and basic function of the muscular system
• Learning about the types of muscle fibre
• Exploring muscle movement
• Studying skeletal muscle types
• Gaining insights into tendons
• Understanding the structure and basic functions of the nervous system
• Learning about nerve cells and the nervous system
• Exploring nerve terminology
• Studying the parts of the nervous system
• Gaining insights into the central and peripheral nervous system
• Examining cranial nerves
• Understanding reflex actions and the automatic nervous system
• Learning about sensory neurons and motor neurons
• Exploring the spinal chord
• Studying the physiological systems of digestion and excretion
• Gaining insights into the digestive system and digestive tract
• Understanding the mouth, oesophagus and stomach
• Learning about the small and large intestine
• Exploring digestive organs
• Studying nutrient digestion disorders
• Gaining insights into digestive system disorders
• Understanding excretion
• Learning about the urinary system
• Exploring the body’s physiological systems
• Studying the endocrine systems and secretions (hormones)
• Gaining insights into the respiratory system
• Examining the physiology of respiration
• Understanding the male and female reproduction systems
• Learning about the circulatory system
• Exploring the functions of the blood
• Studying blood vessels
• Gaining insights into the heart

And more!

60 Amazing Facts About the Human Body

We all know the human body is complex and an extraordinary piece of living machinery , and undertaking a human biology short course (as well as these 60 amazing facts) will certainly solidify that belief!

1. The human brain has a memory capacity equivalent to more than four terabytes on a computer hard drive.
2. There are twenty-nine different bones in your skull.
3. Nerve impulses sent from your brain move at a speed of 274 kilometres an hour.
4. By the end of a person’s life, they can recall around 150 trillion pieces of information.
5. We lose 80 per cent of our body heat from our head.
6. 100,000 chemical reactions occur in the human brain every second.
7. The human heart pumps 182 million litres of blood during the average lifetime.
8. The human embryo acquires fingerprints within three months of conception.
9. A newborn child can swallow and breathe at the same time for up to seven months.
10. Children grow faster in the spring.
11. At birth, a child’s body is made up of around 300 bones — an adult only has 206.
12. Teeth are the only part of the human body that can’t heal themselves.
13. 99 per cent of the calcium contained in the human body is in our teeth.
14. If one identical twins lacks a certain tooth, the other twin will not have that tooth either.
15. If allowed to grow for their whole lifetime, the length of someone’s hair would be about 725 kilometres.
16. People with blue eyes are more sensitive to pain than others.
17. The human eye can distinguish 10 million different colours.
18. The retinas inside the eye contain 137 million light-sensitive cells. 130 million are for black and white vision and seven million are for helping us see in colour.
19. Our eyes remain the same size as they were at birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
20. The muscles which help our eyes to focus complete around 100,000 movements a day.
21. It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
22. Women blink about two times less often than men.
23. One percent of people can see infra-red light and one per cent can see ultra violet radiation.
24. Women’s hearts beat faster than men’s.
25. The human heart pumps blood at such pressure that it would be able to raise blood up to the fourth floor of a building.
26. The total length of all the blood vessels in the human body is about 100,000 kilometres.
27. Your right lung can take in more air than your left lung.
28. An adult person performs around 23,000 inhalations and exhalations a day.
29. There are about 40,000 bacteria in the human mouth.
30. Each of us has around 2,000 taste buds.
31. By the age of sixty, most people lose half of their taste buds.
32. The rate at which a person’s hair grows doubles during an airplane flight.
33. The facial hair of a blonde-haired man grows faster than that of a man with dark hair.
34. Human lips are hundreds of times more sensitive than the tips of a person’s fingers.
35. Human skin is completely replaced around 1,000 times during our lifetime.
36. Human-beings are the only living things that sleep on their backs.
37. Your fingernails grow about four times faster than your toenails.
38. Ingrown toenails are hereditary.
39. The average human body contains enough carbon to make 900 pencils and enough water to fill a 50-litre barrel.
40. 50,000 cells in your body died and were replaced by new ones while you were reading this sentence.
41. The smallest cells in a man’s body are sperm cells.
42. When you blush, your stomach also turns red.
43. At least 700 enzymes are active in the human body.
44. The scientific name for the belly button is the umbilicus.
45. Only seven per cent of people are left-handed.
46. Every year more than two million left-handed people die because of mistakes they make when using machines designed for right-handed people.
47. During their lifetime, a person will on average accidentally swallow eight small spiders.
48. The structure of the human body contains only four minerals — aragonite, apatite, crystobalite and
49. calcite.
50. The surface area of the human lungs is approximately equal to the area of a tennis court.
51. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue.
52. The human heart is approximately equal in size to that of our fist.
53. The chemical compound in the body which causes feelings of ecstasy (phenylethylamine) is also contained in chocolate.
54. A person uses seventeen muscles when they smile, and 43 when they frown.
55. If you were locked in a completely sealed room, you would not die due to a lack of air, but from carbon dioxide poisoning.
56. Statistically, only one person out of two billion reaches the age of 116 years old.
57. In the morning, a person is about eight millimetres taller than in the evening.
58. A cough amounts to an explosive charge of air which moves at speeds up to 60 miles per hour.
59. Bones are about five times stronger than steel.
60. A person would die quicker from a total lack of sleep than from hunger. Death would occur after ten days without sleep, whereas from hunger it would take several weeks.

 

Gain a strong foundation in both anatomy and physiology to enhance or kick-start your health science career with a human biology short course such as our Certificate of Human Biology – Anatomy and Physiology.