Internal Systems Flashcards
What important function do the kidneys carry out in humans?
Detecting waste in our blood and filtering it out, releasing vitamins, balancing the amount of fluid in our body.
How do the kidneys help the body to maintain homeostasis?
The kidneys balance our fluids by controlling water, they also activate vitamin D to secrete hormones that help in increasing our blood pressure and red blood cell production.
What waste product are the lungs responsible for removing?
Carbon Dioxide
What unconscious control center signals our lungs to function?
The autonomic nervous system.
What are the skin’s 3 key functions?
Protecting, regulating temperature, and sensing the world.
What are some of the ways the body reacts when it is too hot?
Blood vessels will expand, sweat glands will secrete sweat, and hair on our body can also release warmth.
Do plants have the same specialized system for excretion as humans and animals?
No, plants still produce waste products like CO2, but their methods of excretion are much more simple. Like pores on a leaf called stomata!
What are the two main types of reproduction called?
Sexual and asexual proroduction.
What are testes, also referred to as testicles, responsible for?
Producing sperm and hormones such as androgens and testosterone.
What are spermatozoa, known as sperm, responsible for?
Carrying the string of genes, called chromosomes.
A uterus is made up of muscular walls, a lining called the endometrium, and a cervix. What is the cervix responsible for?
Housing and protecting a potential embryo/ fetus/ baby.
Allowing nutrients and waste exchange with the placenta during pregnancy.
What is the ovary responsible for?
Providing storage for the ovum (eggs).
Providing a place for the ovum (eggs) to mature.
Producing hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and androgens.
What is one example of an animal that goes to extremes in order to reproduce?
Answers will vary. Garter snakes will form a mating ball and the males will fight for a position to reproduce.
How does cross-pollination occur in plants?
Cross-pollination happens when the wind or animals move pollen from one plant to fertilize the ovules on a different plant. The advantage of cross-pollination is that it promotes genetic diversity.
What is asexual reproduction?
Asexual reproduction is a process carried out by only one organism. The offspring is therefore a clone.
The endocrine system relies on the interaction between what 3 features?
Glands, hormones, and trillions of cell receptors.
Hormones need to locate target cells in the body in order to carry out their function. What are the cells called that help the hormones along?
Receptors.
After the hormone has binded to the receptor, what happens inside the cell?
The hormone will either increase or decrease the process happening inside the cell to change the cell’s behavior.
What are examples of hormones that every person has?
Estrogen and testosterone.
Give an example of how hormones are important in animals.
Answers may vary. In insects, metamorphosis is controlled by a set of hormones that determine whether the animal grows into the next larval stage or changes into an adult as it gets larger.
Do plants need hormones to survive? Provide one reason to support your answer.
Yes, plants use the hormone auxin in order to grow larger or turn themselves to face the sun.
What function do sensory neurons carry out?
Sensory neurons send information from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin to the brain.
What does the sympathetic nervous system do?
The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for sudden stress, like if you witness a robbery. When something frightening happens, the sympathetic nervous system makes the heart beat faster so that it sends blood quickly to the different body parts that might need it.
What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?
The parasympathetic nervous system prepares the body for rest. It also helps the digestive tract move along so our bodies can efficiently take in nutrients from the food we eat.
