Biology AOS 2 Flashcards
What are the key organ systems involved in the main homeostatic processes?
digestive system, respiratory system, circulatory system, excretory system, and nervous system.
What is the digestive system?
The digestive system breaks down food into nutrients for energy, growth, and cell repair, involving organs like the mouth, stomach, intestines, and liver.
What is the respiratory system?
The respiratory system facilitates gas exchange, bringing oxygen into the body and removing carbon dioxide, involving the lungs
What is the circulatory system?
The circulatory system transports blood, nutrients, oxygen, and waste products throughout the body, involving the heart, blood vessels, and blood.
What is the excretory system?
The excretory system removes waste products and excess substances from the body, involving the kidneys, bladder, and associated ducts.
What is the nervous system?
The nervous system controls and coordinates body activities by transmitting signals between different body parts, involving the brain, spinal cord, and nerves.
What is the function of the xylem?
Plant tubes that carry water and minerals from roots to the rest of the plant. Which is unidirectionally.
What is the function of the Phloem?
Plant tubes that transport sugars and nutrients from leaves to other plant parts. Which is transported bidirectionally.
What is transpiration? What effect does it have on plants?
Transpiration is the process of water movement through plants from roots to leaves, followed by its evaporation from leaf surfaces. It facilitates nutrient uptake, maintains plant structure, and regulates temperature. However, excessive transpiration can lead to water stress and wilting.
Describe the process of digestion including ingestion, digestion, absorption and elimination. Ensure you include all key organs.
Ingestion (mouth), digestion (mouth, stomach, small intestine), absorption (small intestine), elimination (large intestine, rectum, anus).
What is the difference between mechanical and chemical digestion and where do they occur?
Mechanical digestion: Breaking food into smaller pieces by chewing and squeezing it with muscles in the stomach and intestines whilst, Chemical digestion: Breaking down food into simpler parts using special chemicals called enzymes made by organs like the stomach and pancreas
Explain the basic structure of the nephron using the following: glomerulus, loop of Henle, Bowman’s capsule, collecting duct.
Glomerulus: filtration, Bowman’s capsule: collects filtrate, loop of Henle: concentrates urine, collecting duct: transports urine.
What is the function of the kidney? What do the kidneys produce?
Kidneys filter blood, regulate fluid/electrolyte balance, maintain acid-base balance; they produce urine, erythropoietin, renin.
What is a hormone and what kinds of tissues and organs are they produced by?
Hormones are chemical messengers produced by endocrine glands like pituitary, thyroid, adrenal glands, pancreas, gonads.
How do hormones travel around the body and communicate to target cells?
Hormones travel through the bloodstream and bind to specific receptors on target cells, triggering a physiological response.
What is homeostasis?
Your body maintaining a stable environment, like body temperature (optimal 36.5-37.5 degrees), pH level ( Optimal pH of blood is 7.35-7.45), blood sugar levels, fluid balance.
How does the Stimulus response model work?
the behavior that is made by a living organism which is the result of an external or internal stimulus.
What are the components of the stimulus response model?
The stimulus-response model involves a stimulus triggering a receptor, which sends a signal to a control center, leading to an effector response that restores homeostasis.
What is negative feedback?
Negative feedback is a process in which the body responds to a change by counteracting that change, maintaining stability and homeostasis.
Describe the stimulus-response model for when your temperature is too high
Increase in temperature -> thermoreceptors -> hypothalamus -> sweat glands and blood vessels -> sweating, vasodilation -> cooling down.
Describe the stimulus-response model for when there is decrease in temperature.
Decrease in temperature -> thermoreceptors -> hypothalamus -> muscles and blood vessels -> shivering, vasoconstriction -> warming up.
List and explain the four types of heat transfer.
Convection: fluid movement, Conduction: direct contact, Radiation: electromagnetic waves, Evaporation: liquid to gas.
Define alpha cells.
which is located in the pancreas, produces glucagon, which raises blood glucose level.
Define beta cells.
Beta cells are cells that make insulin, a hormone that controls the level of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood.
Define Islets of Langerhans.
Islets of Langerhans are clusters of pancreatic cells that include alpha, beta, and other cell types involved in glucose regulation.
What is Glucose?
Glucose is a simple sugar and main energy source for cells.
Define glycogen.
Glycogen is a form of stored glucose found mainly in the liver and muscles, providing a source of energy when needed. It’s created through glycogenesis
Define glycogenesis.
Glycogenesis is where glucose molecules are linked together to form glycogen for storage in liver and muscle cells. Glycogenolysis is the breakdown of glycogen
Define insulin.
secreted (hidden) by beta cells in the pancreas when blood glucose is elevated, to lower it
Define glucagon.
secreted by alpha cells in the pancreas when blood glucose is low, to elevate it
Describe the homeostatic mechanisms used when blood glucose is high.
Stimulus Response model - High blood glucose -> beta cells -> insulin -> glucose uptake and glycogenesis -> lower blood glucose.
Describe the homeostatic mechanisms used when blood glucose is low.
Low blood glucose -> alpha cells -> glucagon -> glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis -> higher blood glucose.
Define antidiuretic hormone (ADH).
adds aquaporins – to keep water in the body, increase water, produced by hypothalamus
Define nephron.
Functional unit of the kidney that filter blood.
Define kidney.
Kidney filters blood to remove waste, maintains electrolyte balance, and regulates blood pressure.