Hair Facts for Kids

A Picture of Human Hair
  • Name: Hair
  • Type: Protein filament
  • Location: All over the exterior of the human body
  • System: Integumentary system
  • TA ID: A16.0.00.014
  • FMA ID: 53667

19 Hair Facts for Kids

  1. Human hair is a protein filament found on the head, face, arms and other parts of the body.
  2. Hair is part of the human Integumentary system.
  3. Hair is primarily made from the protein alpha-keratin, also known as a-keratin.
  4. The human head can have between 90,000 and 150,000 hairs.
  5. The hair on your head can live between two and seven years.
  6. Hair is found all over the human body, except for a few locations, like the lips and the palms of your hands.
  7. Hair grows from follicles located in the dermis layer of human skin.
  8. A hair strand has three main parts and they are the cortex, cuticle and medulla.
  9. The cuticle is the outer part of a hair strand and forms from dead cells.
  10. The cortex is between the cuticle and the medulla. It contains the pigment that gives your hair its color.
  11. The medulla is the innermost part of a stand of hair. Its role is unknown at this point.
  12. Human hair comes in a wide variety of colors, between very light blonde to black.
  13. The melanin in the cortex of your hair is what gives it color.
  14. The Fischer-Saller scale is used to determine the color of human hair and rates hair color using letters in the alphabet and roman numerals.
  15. Blond is graded between A and O, with A being the lightest and O being the darkest. Brown is graded between P and Y, with P being the lightest and Y being black. Red hair is graded using roman numerals, between I and IV, with I being the lightest and IV being the darkest. Blond red hair is graded using roman numerals, between V and VI, with V being the lightest and VI being the darkest.
  16. Hair loss is known as pattern hair loss when it’s not related to medical treatment or disease.
  17. In males, hair loss is called male-pattern hair loss (MPHL).
  18. In females, hair loss is called female-pattern hair loss (MPHL).
  19. Hair loss has no physical effects on the human body. The most common symptoms behind hair loss are psychological.

Additional Resources on Human Hair

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