Classroom Questions

Questions for ‘Burps and farts: Why the body is such a gas’ 

a photo of a person wearing jeans and a white shirt from behind. They are covering their butt as if to stop a fart from coming out.

Everybody passes gas. We all burp out of our mouths, and fart out the other end. Scientists are investigating what causes all this gas — and what it can teach us about our health.

Ocskaymark/iStock/Getty Images Plus

By Science News Explores

To accompany ‘Burps and farts: Why the body is such a gas’  

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

  1. To what extent do you think it is important to understand the science of why and how much people fart? Briefly explain your answer. Regardless of whether you see this kind of understanding as important or not, come up with one way that medical science may benefit from a greater understanding of fart science.
  2. Do you think fish fart? Do you think fish burp? Explain why or why not in one sentence.

During Reading:

  1. “Eructation” is the scientific word for what biological process?
  2. Approximately how long, in meters, might a typical adult human gastrointestinal (GI) tract extend?
  3. What is the role of the sphincter between your esophagus and stomach?
  4. Would Brennan Spiegel consider the inside of your stomach to be inside or outside your body?
  5. How many times does a typical person burp each day?
  6. What causes a supragastric burp? How does it differ from a gastric burp?
  7. What does RAIR stand for? How does RAIR help us?
  8. If a person can set fire to their fart, what might this suggest about the fart’s chemical composition?
  9. Why are microbes an important consideration when studying the science of farts or burps?
  10. Name one food that contains lactose.
  11. If a person farts 45 times a day, how does this frequency compare to the average measured in Brantley Hall’s 2025 study?

After Reading:

  1. Refer back to your answer to Question 2 in Before Reading. After reading this story, would you answer the same or differently? Briefly explain why this story supported your previous speculation or led you to change your mind. Then do a quick internet search and describe in one sentence how your prediction was right or wrong.
  2. What is one way that understanding the science of farts or burps has led to real-world innovations in medical science? Find one example from this story. Then, use what you’ve learned to come up with another potential application for this type of knowledge. How might it be used to help people in ways not mentioned in this story? Feel free to be creative. Explain your idea and point out how this kind of innovation might improve a person’s life.