homeostasis
regulation of the internal conditions of a cell or organism
examples of internal conditions regulated by homeostasis
water content, temperature, pH, BP, blood glucose concentration
why is homeostasis important
to stay healthy and maintain optimum conditions to allow the organism to function and respond to changes
how does homeostasis keep us alive
it maintains optimal conditions for enzyme action and all cell functions
examples of homeostasis in humans
control of body temperature, control of body water content
is homeostasis involuntary or voluntary
involuntary
what parts of our body are involved in maintaining homeostasis
the brain stem and the spinal cord
responses of automatic control systems
nervous or chemical responses
3 main parts to a coordinated response
stimulus
receptor
effector
stimulus
change in the environment (internal/external)
receptor
cells that detect stimuli
coordination centre
receives and processes information from receptors
effector
part of the body that brings about the response to a stimulus (muscle, gland)
control systems helping humans respond to stimuli
nervous system
hormonal system (endocrine system)
tropisms
directional growth responses
phototropism
plant response to light
geotropism / gravitoprism
plant response to gravity
positive tropism
growth towards stimulus
negative tropism
growth away from stimulus
shoots growing upwards
positively phototropic
negatively geotropic (away from gravity and towards light)
roots growing downwards
negatively phototropic
positively geotropic (away from light and towards gravity)
auxins
plant growth regulators that control directional growth responses
effect of auxin on the shoot
promote cell elongation
effect of auxin on the root
inhibit cell elongation
unequal distributions of auxin
unequal growth rates in shoot and root
distribution of auxin in the shoots
affected by light and gravity
distribution of auxin in the roots
affected by gravity
where is auxin made
it is mostly made in the tips of growing shoots and then diffuses down to the region where cell division occurs (below the tip)
more auxin
cells elongate and grow faster
light all around the tip (shoot)
auxin is distributed evenly throughout and the cells in the shoot grow at the same rate
light on the shoot predominantly from one side
auxin produced in the tip concentrates on the shaded side making the cells on that side elongate and grow faster than the cells on the sunny side
unequal growth on either side of the shoot
shoot bends and grows in the direction of the light