Skin Structure and Growth

Chapter 03: Skin Structure and Growth

Track My Progress

  • Use this tracker to record your progress as you work through the activities in each learning objective.
OBJECTIVECOMPLETED# OF CORRECT ANSWERS
LO 1 - Explain the necessity of understanding skin structure and growth.☐/13
LO 2 - List the skin's three major layers, sublayers, and their functions.☐/2
LO 3 - Describe the nerves in the skin and their functions.☐/10
LO 4 - Define melanin and its effect on skin pigment.☐/2
LO 5 - Describe the role of collagen and elastin.☐/14
LO 6 - List the two major glands of the skin and their functions.☐/2
LO 7 - List the skin's six functions.☐

Why Study Skin Structure and Growth?

True or False Statements

  1. Statement: Young clients want their beauty providers to inspire them to have healthy-looking hair and skin and a radiant appearance.

    • Answer: True
    • Explanation: All clients desire inspiration from beauty providers for healthy-looking features, regardless of age.

  2. Statement: Licensed cosmetologists can diagnose, prescribe medications for, and treat irregular skin conditions, illnesses, or diseases.

    • Answer: False
    • Explanation: Cosmetologists are not permitted to diagnose, prescribe medications, or treat irregular skin conditions, illnesses, or diseases.

  3. Statement: Dermatology is a medical branch that studies skin, including its nature, structure, functions, diseases, and treatment.

    • Answer: True
Short Answer
  1. Question: Other than providing excellent skin care, why is it crucial for cosmetologists to study skin structure and growth?
    • Answer: Understanding advancements in technology, ingredients, and delivery systems ensures that cosmetologists can offer state-of-the-art advice to clients on how to nourish, protect, and preserve the health and beauty of their skin.

Skin Layers and Their Functions

Fill in the Blanks
  1. Complete the sentences using the word bank:

  • Word Bank: sudoriferous, texture, organ, surface, infection, acidic, touch, sebaceous, visible, appendages, moist, immune

  • Healthy skin is free of any visible signs of disease, infection, or injury. It is slightly moist and soft, and has a smooth, fine-grained texture. The surface of healthy skin is slightly acidic, and its immune responses react quickly to organisms that touch or attempt to penetrate it. Appendages of the skin include hair, nails, as well as sudoriferous (sweat) and sebaceous (oil) glands. Skin is the body's largest organ.

Matching
  1. Match each layer of the epidermis with its features:

  • Word Bank: Stratum corneum, Stratum lucidum, Stratum granulosum, Stratum spinosum, Stratum germinativum

    • Stratum spinosum: The largest layer of the epidermis.
    • Stratum corneum: The visible outer layer of the skin.
    • Stratum germinativum: The living layer that produces new epidermal skin cells, responsible for "germinating" the growth of the epidermis.
    • Stratum germinativum: Contains special cells called melanocytes, which produce skin pigment known as melanin.
    • Stratum corneum: Forms a barrier protecting underlying tissues from infection, dehydration, chemicals, and mechanical stress.
    • Stratum granulosum: Composed of cells that appear granular and are filled with keratin.
    • Stratum lucidum: Clear, translucent layer consisting of small cells through which light can pass.
    • Stratum corneum: Contains overlapping skin cells made up of keratin, a fibrous protein.
    • Stratum spinosum: The layer where the process of skin cell shedding begins.
    • Stratum corneum: Combines cells with lipids (fats) to help create a protective, water-resistant barrier; cells are continually shed and replaced by cells from below.
    • Stratum lucidum: Located only on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet; identifies unique fingerprints and footprints.
    • Stratum granulosum: Cells die as they are moved upwards to replace dead cells shed from the top layer of skin.
Labeling
  1. Label the stratum of the epidermis in the diagram:
    • Epidermis
    • Stratum corneum (horny layer)
    • Stratum lucidum
    • Stratum granulosum (granular layer)
    • Stratum spinosum (spiny layer)
    • Stratum germinativum (basal cell layer)
Multiple Choice Questions

  1. The highly sensitive dermis layer of connective tissue is about … times thicker than the epidermis.

    • A) 2
    • B) 2.5
    • C) 25
    • D) 10
    • Correct Answer: B

  2. The dermis, also known as …

    • A) epidermis, corium, cutis, or true skin
    • B) derma, corium, cutis, or true skin
    • C) media, corium, cutis, or true skin
    • D) derma, corium, cutis, or actual skin
    • Correct Answer: B

  3. The dermis is made of which two layers?

    • A) the papillary layer and superficial layer
    • B) the reticular layer and deeper layer
    • C) the papillary layer and subcutaneous layer
    • D) the papillary layer and reticular layer
    • Correct Answer: D

  4. The reticular layer of the dermis includes which two glands?

    • A) sudoriferous and sweat
    • B) sebaceous and oil
    • C) sudoriferous and sebaceous
    • D) sulphurous and sebaceous
    • Correct Answer: C

  5. Some papillae contain small epidermal structures called __________, sensitive to touch, pain, heat, cold, and pressure.

    • Correct Answer: A) tactile corpuscles
Short Answer
  1. Describe the arrector pili muscles:
    • Answer: Arrector pili are small involuntary muscles located adjacent to the hair follicle base, causing goosebumps or erect hairs when stimulated by cold or fear.
Fill in the Blanks
  1. Fill in the blanks using the word bank:

  • Word Bank: protective, dermis, gender, thickness, fats, age, subcutaneous, epidermis, tissue, superficial, health

  • The subcutaneous layer, also known as hypodermis or superficial fascia, is the fatty tissue below the dermis layer (which is found just below the epidermis layer). It provides the body with smoothness and contour, contains fats for energy, and acts as a protective cushion for the skin. Its thickness varies according to an individual's age, gender, and general health.

Labeling
  1. Circle the parts of the diagram (seven items) that constitute the reticular layer of the skin:
  • Sweat pore
  • Hair shaft
  • Stratum corneum
  • Stratum lucidum
  • Stratum granulosum
  • Stratum spinosum
  • Stratum germinativum
  • Arrector pili muscle
  • Sebaceous oil gland
  • Hair follicle
  • Papilla of hair
  • Nerve fiber
  • Sweat gland
  • Pacinian corpuscle
  • Dermal papilla
  • Tactile corpuscle
  • Vein
  • Artery
Draw
  1. Draw the three main components of the skin:
    • Epidermis
    • Dermis
    • Subcutaneous
Create
  1. Using household items or food products, create a model of the following layers of the skin:
  • Stratum germinativum (basal cell layer)
  • Stratum spinosum
  • Stratum granulosum
  • Stratum lucidum
  • Stratum corneum
  • Papillary layer
  • Reticular layer
  • Subcutaneous tissue
  • Materials: Use food items like cereal, a slice of bread, honey, or materials like aluminum foil or sponge to create your model. Compare it to the Figure 3-2 in your textbook.
Nerves That Affect the Skin
Crossword
  1. Complete the crossword with the following clues:
  • Across
    • 3. These form a network of pathways for conducting information throughout the body.
    • 4. Nerve feelings related to cold or fear.
    • 5. Nerve fibers that convey impulses to the muscles or glands, stimulating muscles including arrector pili.
  • Down
    • 1. Nerve fibers that send messages to the CNS and brain to react to heat, cold, touch, pressure, and pain.
    • 2. Nerve fibers attached to sweat and oil glands.