My Amazing Body 3-minute video · ages 4-8 · free coloring page
Why do we fart?
Sometimes a little puff of gas comes out of your bottom. It is called a fart. But where does that gas come from? Why do we fart?
3 min
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Free coloring page
The scene from the video as a coloring page, plus the three-sentence answer, the experiment, and a QR code back to this page. One sheet, US Letter, black and white.
The answer in three parts
Why?
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First of all, everybody does it!
Kids, grown-ups, grandmas, teachers, even dogs and cows. Most people do it more than ten times a day!
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Some of the gas is air you swallowed.
Every time you eat, drink or talk, you swallow a little bit of air. Some of it comes right back up as a burp. The rest keeps traveling, all the way through the long tube inside your tummy.
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The rest is made by tiny helpers in your tummy.
They are called bacteria, and they are much too small to see. Your body cannot break down every bit of your food by itself. So the helpers munch the tough bits and turn them into things your body can use. While they work, they make gas.
For grown-ups: Most of the gas has no smell at all. A tiny bit of it has sulfur in it, the same thing that makes eggs smell like eggs, and that is what the nose notices. Gas means the gut bacteria are busy and well fed, and the foods that make more gas, like beans and vegetables, are very good for you.
Food for your tummy helpers
- Beans
- Vegetables
- Fruit
- Whole grains
Some parts of these foods are too tough for your body, so they travel on down to the helpers.
A tiny experiment
Try it!
Listen to yourself swallow
You need: a glass of water and a straw
- Drink a glass of water slowly, and listen to yourself swallow.
- Now drink through a straw, or drink while you talk.
- Do you swallow more air that way?
What happened? Eating slowly, with your mouth closed, means less air in your tummy.
Did you know?
Trillions of tiny helpers live deep inside your tummy, and they are your friends. While they work, they make gas, just like the yeast in bread dough.
What should you do when it happens? If you can, step away from other people. And if it slips out, just say, "Excuse me." No big deal.
Your guide in this video
I'm Beanie, a tiny helper who lives in your tummy!
Beanie is a pink, bean-shaped tummy helper in a white chef's hat. Beanie munches the tough bits of your food.
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