Feedback Sort

Instructions: As a group, sort the following into two categories (Positive or Negative) based on the type of
Feedback each passage is modeling.
1. Human blood pressure - When blood pressure increases, signals are sent to the brain from the
blood vessels. Signals are sent to the heart from the brain and heart rate slows down, thus
helping blood pressure to return to normal. Negative Feedback
2. When a human is hungry, metabolism slows down to conserve energy and allow the human to
continue living with less food. Negative Feedback
3. The ballcock in a toilet rises as the water rises, and then it closes a valve that turns off the
water. Negative Feedback
4. Water flowing through a fracture in a rock will eventually deposit enough sediment to slow
down the flow of the water. Negative Feedback
5. Population of predators and prey - If the numbers of prey decreases, then some predators will
starve, and their numbers will decrease. Negative Feedback
6. Not being recommended for a raise after being rude to customers. Negative Feedback
7. A supervisor telling you that the choice of images in the presentation were in poor taste.
Negative Feedback
8. A coach explaining weaknesses in the team’s defensive line. Negative Feedback
9. Higher oil prices cause an increase in gas prices. Consequently, people drive less, so demand
is decreased. This brings equilibrium to supply and demand. Negative Feedback
10. An injury stimulates production of a molecule that triggers production of another molecule
which triggers production of another molecule as well as production of more of the first
molecule, and so on, until the injury has completely closed. Positive Feedback
11. Childbirth is another example of the positive feedback loop. When the baby is ready to go out
(and there’s no stopping it at this point!), it releases a hormone that triggers the first contraction
of the uterus. The contraction of the uterus pushes the baby out a little. That movement of the
baby stretches the wall of the uterus. The wall of the uterus contains stretch receptors which
send signals to the brain. In response to the signal, the brain (actually the posterior portion of
the pituitary gland, which is an outgrowth of the brain) releases hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin
gets into the bloodstream and reaches the uterus triggering the next contraction which, in turn,
moves the baby which further stretches the wall of the uterus, which results in more release of
oxytocin…and so on, until the baby is expelled, when everything returns to normal. Positive
Feedback
12. The wall of the urinary bladder is built in such a way that there are several layers of cells. As
the bladder fills up, the wall stretches and these cells move around until the wall is only a
single cell thick. At this point, urination is inevitable (cannot be stopped by voluntary control).
Beginning of the urination starts the movement of the cells back from single-layer state to
multi-layer state. This contracts the bladder further which forces urine out even more which
contracts the wall of the bladder even more, and so on until the bladder is completely empty
again and everything goes back to normal. Positive Feedback
13. The loud squealing or howling sound produced by audio feedback in public address systems:
the microphone picks up sound from its own loudspeakers, amplifies it, and sends it through
the speakers again. Positive Feedback
14. The generation of nerve signals in which the membrane of a nerve fibre causes slight leakage
of sodium ions through sodium channels, resulting in a change in the membrane potential,
which in turn causes more opening of channels, and so on. So a slight initial leakage results in
an explosion of sodium leakage which creates the nerve action potential. Positive Feedback