Excretion - Leaving Cert

Mention one method of excretion in flowering plants.

Diffusion OR leaf fall OR transpiration OR through lenticels (OR through stomata)

What is meant by the term excretion?

Eliminating waste products of metabolism

Suggest two structures in flowering plants which play a role in excretion.

Stomata OR leaf OR lenticels OR stem

Filtration ensures that cells and valuable substances are not lost from the body when urine is being formed. Name two of these substances or cells.

Blood cells OR proteins OR glucose

Name an organ in the human body, other than the kidney, in which excretion takes place.

Skin OR lungs OR liver

Suggest a treatment that may be used for a person whose kidneys are not carrying out their normal functions.

Dialysis

To what structure does the ureter link the kidney?

Bladder

Where does filtration occur in the kidney?

cortex

State the role of the kidneys in homeostasis.

Maintaining salt balance OR maintaining water balance OR osmoregulation

Filtration is an essential process in the formation of urine. In what part of the kidney does it take place?

Cortex

Name an excretory organ in the human body other than the kidney. Name a substance excreted by this organ.

Skin: water OR sweat; Lungs: water OR carbon dioxide; Liver: urea OR salt OR bile

What change in blood composition triggers the secretion of ADH?

Increasing (salt) concentration OR decreasing water concentration

Reabsorption of useful substances takes place in the kidney. In what part does this occur?

Proximal convoluted tubule

Briefly describe the effect of ADH on its target area of the nephron.

It becomes more permeable to water OR more water is reabsorbed

Distinguish between the following pair of terms: Ureter and urethra.

Ureter: from kidney or to bladder; Urethra: from bladder or to outside

Explain the term plasma.

Liquid part of blood

Explain the term glomerular filtrate.

(Plasma) that has entered Bowman's capsule OR has left the glomerulus OR plasma minus proteins

Name the hormone associated with changing the permeability of the collecting ducts.

Anti-diuretic hormone OR ADH

The concentration of glucose is the same in plasma and glomerular filtrate. Why is this?

(Glucose) small or passes through

Why is glucose normally absent from urine?

Reabsorbed

Describe the role of sweat glands in relation to body temperature.

Water in sweat evaporates, heat lost and cools body

The human being is an endotherm. What does this mean?

Has constant body temperature OR warm blooded OR can regulate temperature

What happens to the small arteries (arterioles) in the skin when the external temperature drops?

Constrict

What is the main source of body heat in endotherms?

Respiration

Name the fluid present in the ureter.

Urine

To which main blood vessel does the renal artery link the kidney?

Aorta

What is meant by osmoregulation?

Balancing salt OR water concentration

When the water content of the blood drops a hormone is released. Name this hormone and the endocrine gland from which it is secreted.

Hormone: ADH (vasopressin); Gland: Pituitary

Urea is an excretory product of the human body. Name a substance from which urea is derived.

Protein OR amino acid

Carbon dioxide is an excretory product of the human body. Name a substance from which carbon dioxide is derived.

Carbohydrate OR named example OR fat OR named example of fat OR fatty acids

Name a group of biomolecules in the blood which are too large to pass through the filtration system of the nephron.

Proteins

Name two substances excreted by the kidneys.

Water OR Salts OR Urea

Name the blood vessel that supplies blood to a kidney.

Renal artery

Give a feature of the nephron that aids filtration.

Large surface area OR porous capillary walls OR (lining) one cell thick OR efferent arteriole narrower than afferent arteriole

Give a feature of the kidney which indicates that it is an exocrine gland.

Has ducts OR does not produce hormones

In which cavity of the body are the kidneys located?

Abdominal (cavity) OR abdomen

Where in the human kidney does most re-absorption take place?

Proximal convoluted tubule

Give a precise target area for the hormone ADH.

Distal tubule or collecting duct

Why are red blood cells normally absent from the glomerular filtrate?

Too big to pass into Bowman's capsule

Explain the role of the hormone ADH at its target area, when the water content of the blood is low.

(Makes walls) more permeable (resulting in) more absorption of water

From which blood vessel is the afferent arteriole derived?

Renal artery OR renal arteriole

What term is given to an animal whose temperature changes with that of its surroundings, i.e. a cold-blooded animal, e.g. fish, frog, reptile? It gains heat by moving into a warmer area and loses heat by moving into a colder area.

Ectotherm

The standing up of hairs on the skin due to contraction of erector muscles at the base of hair follicles in response to cold, shock, or fright is known as ...

Piloerection

The collective term for the group of organs concerned with the production and excretion of urine, i.e. kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra is the ...

Urinary system

The method of thermal insulation employed by humans to conserve heat in cold conditions whereby the arterioles nearest the surface are constricted so less blood flows to the body surface and less heat is lost to the atmosphere is known as ...

Vasoconstriction

Name the process which requires energy to move substances from a region of low concentration to a region of higher concentration against the concentration gradient through a semi-permeable membrane.

Active transport