Eighteen organ cards are sorted into six body systems on this 3-page 5th grade science worksheet. The skeletal, muscular, circulatory, respiratory, digestive and nervous systems each get three parts, from skull and femur to trachea and spinal cord. Page 2 has three written questions, including why the diaphragm is sorted with breathing. Page 3 gives the sorted table and sample answers.
“Sort body parts into the system where they do their main job.”
Page 1 gives eighteen cards and six systems with three parts each.
“Explain how one organ can belong to two body systems.”
Questions 1 and 2 on page 2 ask for the diaphragm's two roles and another organ of the student's choice.
Eighteen cards, from biceps and tendons to esophagus and nerves, sit above six boxes with three lines each. Students write each card in the system where it does its main job.
Three written questions. Why do we sort the diaphragm, a muscle, with breathing? Name one organ in two systems and explain both jobs. Which system do the brain, spinal cord and nerves make up?
The sorted table of all six systems and written answers, with heart, diaphragm and stomach as examples of organs that serve two systems.
Cut and move
Print a second copy and cut the cards out. Pairs slide them between boxes before anyone writes, and the arguments about heart and diaphragm do the teaching.
Diaphragm debate
Ask for a show of hands on muscular or respiratory before students answer question 1. The split usually surprises them.
Early finishers
Question 2 has several correct answers. Students who finish early can add a third organ and say which two systems it joins.
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