12

IGCSE BIOLOGY

Coordination and response

 – ability to detect stimuli and carry out
Sensitivity responses

stimuli
detected receptors
by
any change in the external or internal
environment of the body
The process of
nervous endocrine
coordination
system system
The way an organism reacts after
electrical
detecting a stimulus hormones
impulses

carry
responses out effectors
 12.1

The Human Nervous

System
Syllabus Statements
Nervous
System Nerves

Nerves form a network of pathways for conducting information throughout the

body. They transfer messages to and from the brain so that it can function
efficiently. There are three kinds of nerves – sensory, motor and mixed.
Structure of a Nerve
Structure of a Neurone
Describe a nerve impulse as an electrical signal
that passes along nerve cells called neurons.

One
direction
Direction of nerve impulse ONLY!
passing along neurons
Structure of a Neurone
Structure of a Neurone
Basic Function of the Nervous System
 Human Nervous System
CNS PNS
-integration and command center -consists of nerves
-connect to all other parts of body
Functions:
1. Control center (coordination and
regulation) of all body activities

2. Responds and adapts changes that

occur both inside an outside the body
(eg. Pain, temp etc.)
Nervous
System Actions of the body

In daily life, our body performs many different actions. These can be
categorized as – voluntary actions and involuntary actions.
 c t i o n
a r y A
lun t
Vo

A voluntary action is any action that we do out of our will or we do it consciously.

eg. Picking up a pen requires conscious thought and always involves the brain.
We drink water when we feel thirsty.
Reflex Arc
Five
essential
components
to the reflex
arc

• Rapid +
automatic
• Integrate and
coordinate
stimuli with
responses
Reflex arc
receptor sensory neurone

interneurone

effector motor neurone

Reflex Arc
 Class Activity

1. Copy figure 12.2 , 12.5 and 12.6 into your

notebook (page 236-238)
2. Write short note for each figure.
3. Complete questions in page 239.
Syllabus Statements
 What is a synapse?
A synapse is a junction between two neurones across
which electrical signals pass. The human body contains up
to 500 trillion synapses.

presynaptic
cell

postsynaptic
cell
 The release of neurotransmitters
When a nerve impulse arrives at the end of one neurone it
triggers the release of neurotransmitter molecules from
synaptic vesicles.

synaptic
vesicle

neurotransmitter
molecules
 Continuing the impulse
The neurotransmitters diffuse across the synaptic cleft and
bind with receptors on the next neurone, triggering another
impulse.

synaptic
cleft

nerve
impulse
receptor
 Synaptic Transmission = STRB
1. Synthesis: making neurotransmitter (NT) from
chemicals
2. Transport: vesicles travel down to axon
terminal
3. Release: an impulse triggers release of NT
into synaptic gap
4. Binding: NT diffuses across and bind with
receptor causing impulse to continue
Common Neurological Disorders and Diseases
Disease/Disorder Description

Alzheimer’s disease Progressive, degenerative disease of the brain

Amyotrophic lateral Lou Gehrig’s disease

sclerosis (ALS) Degeneration of neurons in the spinal cord and brain
Occurs as a result of bursts of electrical signals that
Epilepsy and seizures
disrupt normal brain functioning
Chronic disease of CNS
Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Myelin is destroyed

Parkinson’s disease Progressive and degenerative motor system disorder

Stroke Brain cells die because of an inadequate blood flow;

“brain attack”
 Parkinson’s Disease
-not enough NT made to transmit message from brain to muscles

Red areas
show
where
chemicals
are stored
 Class Activity

1. Copy figure 12.8.

2. Write short note for the figure.
3. Complete questions in page 240.
 12.2

Sense organs
Syllabus Statements
 Detection of the environment by
mammals
sense organ stimulus sensation
detected
by
sends out results
in

transmitted to
nerve impulse
brain
Detection of the environment by mammals

sense organ stimulus sensation

Eye Light Sight
Sound Hearing
Ear Movement of the
Movement
body, balance
Nose Chemicals in air Smell
Tongue Chemicals in food Taste
Touch, pain, Texture, pain,
Skin pressure pressure
Temperature Heat or cold
 Inside the eye
cornea
protects eye surface and
focuses light rays
suspensory ligaments retina
hold lens in place senses light
lens
focuses light
on retina

iris
regulates amount
of light entering eye
optic nerve
ciliary muscles transmits impulses to
change shape of the lens the brain
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Internal structures of the eyeball
Inner layer
retina Retina
• contains rods for black and
white vision, and cones for
colour vision

rods — contain a pigment,

visual purple, which is
sensitive to low light
cones — require brighter
light to function

vertical section through the eyeball

Internal structures of the eyeball
Inner layer
retina Retina
fovea • two special regions
— Fovea and blind
spot
at Fovea— sharpest vision;
most concentrated with
cones and no rods
at blind spot — no cones or
optic nerve rods; the place where optic
blind spot nerve leaves the eye
vertical section through the eyeball
Internal structures of the eyeball
2 The iris and pupil

Under different light intensity, the eyes responds

differently.

The size of the pupil can be adjusted by the iris.

Reflex action
Internal structures of the eyeball
2 The iris and pupil To prevent too much
light from entering the
radial
eyeballs which may
muscles
relax damage or over-
stimulate the retina

narrow pupil
(pupil constricts)

circular
muscles
eye in bright contract
light
Internal structures of the eyeball
2 The iris and pupil More light is allowed
radial to enter the eye
muscles helping a clear image
contract to form at low light
intensity

wide pupil
(pupil dilates)

circular
muscles
eye in dim light relax
Internal structures of the eyeball
Inner layer
retina Retina
fovea • two special regions
— Fovea and blind
spot
at Fovea— sharpest vision;
most concentrated with
cones and no rods
at blind spot — no cones or
optic nerve rods; the place where optic
blind spot nerve leaves the eye
vertical section through the eyeball
 How does the eye focus near
and distant objects?

Accommodation by
controlling the thickness
The ability of the eye to of lens
focus objects at different – thicker (near object)
distances onto the retina – thinner (distant object)
 Focusing on near objects This is why the eyes
become tired after
1 Circular ciliary 2 Tension in too much reading!
muscles contract suspensory
ligaments reduces
4 Light is
light rays from refracted
near object more by the
(diverging) lens

Light is focused
3 Lens becomes on the yellow
more convex spot
(fatter shape,
thick and short)
 Focusing on distant objects This is how the
eyes are when
1 Circular ciliary 2 Tension in resting!
muscles relax suspensory
ligaments increases

light rays from 4 Light is

refracted a
distant object
little by the
(parallel) lens

Light is focused
3 Lens becomes
on the yellow
less convex
spot
( thin and wide)
side view
Short sight
• The image of distant object is formed in front
of the retina because of two reasons:

can be corrected
by concave lens

1 Lens too convex 2 Eyeball too long

cause (lens too convex) and cause (eyeball too long) and
correction of short sight correction of short sight
Long sight
• The image of nearby object is formed behind
the retina because of two reasons:

can be corrected
by convex lens

1 Lens not convex enough 2 Eyeball too short

causes (lens not convex enough) causes (eyeball too short)

and correction of long sight and correction of long sight
 Colour blindness
Colour blindness
• reduced number of / some defects in one or
more of the 3 types of cone cells
• inherited
Human beings seldom have total colour blindness. Red-green
colour blindness is the most common form.

normal eyesight with colour blindness

Colour Vision
The retina contains two main types of light sensitive cells:

Rods are found all over the retina. They are very light
sensitive and give us night vision. The image is black and
white (monochrome) and low definition ( lacks detail).

Cones are concentrated mainly at the fovea. There are

three different types of cone, sensitive to red, blue and
green light and are responsible for giving us high definition
colour vision. They are less sensitive than rods and so only
work in good light.
 Class Activity

1. Copy figure 12.18.

2. Write short note for the figure.
3. Complete question 13 in page 246.
 12.3

Hormones in humans
Syllabus
 The human endocrine system

Endocrine glands
inflow outflow
of blood of blood

• richly supplied with capillaries

• produce hormones which diffuse directly
into blood
 The human endocrine system

Hormonal coordination
Hormones
• chemical messengers that only act on
specific target cells / organs
• important to
regulation of
body processes
and internal
environment
Hormones & Glands
Hormones & Glands
 “Fight or flight response”
• Adrenaline is known as the ght or ight hormone as it
is produced in situations where the body may be in
danger
• It causes a range of different things to happen in the
body, all designed to prepare it for movement (ie ght
or ight).
• These include:
• Increasing blood glucose concentration for increased
respiration in muscle cells
• Increasing pulse rate and breathing rate so glucose
and oxygen can be delivered to muscle cells, and
carbon dioxide taken away, from muscles cells more
quickly.
fl
fi
fl
fi
 “Fight or flight response”
• Diverting blood ow towards muscles and away from
non-essential parts of the body such as the
alimentary canal; again to ensure the reactants of
respiration are as available as possible
• Dilating pupils to allow as much light as possible to
reach the retina so more information can be sent to
the brain
fl
Nervous and Chemical coodination
Nervous or endocrine control?
The nervous system and endocrine system are both
involved in controlling the internal conditions of a mammal.

nervous control endocrine control

electrical chemical
signal type
(action potential) (hormones)
reach the target relatively slow,
speed of signal cells in travelling in the
milliseconds bloodstream
duration of signal short lasting long lasting

When do you think endocrine control would be advantageous

over nervous control?

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 Class Activity

1. Copy table 12.1 & 12.2.

2. Complete question 14-17 in page 247.
 14.5

Tropic Responses
Syllabus Statements
What do plants respond to?
Plants are very sensitive and their growth is affected by
their environmental conditions.
Any condition that affects plant growth is called a stimulus.
What are three types of stimuli that plants respond to?

light water gravity

Which stimulus will have the

strongest effect on the plant?

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What is a tropism?
A tropism is a growth movement in response to a stimulus.
Plants grow towards or away from stimuli.
A growth movement towards a stimulus
is called a positive tropism.
What is growth away from
a stimulus called?

A growth movement away from a

stimulus is called a negative tropism.
Will all the parts of a plant respond
to a stimulus in the same way?

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Are there different types of tropisms?
Plant responses to stimuli are given specific names:

light water gravity

phototropism hydrotropism gravitropism

What do the names of each tropism mean?

Which parts of a plant respond to these different stimuli?

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Phototropism experiment

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Do plants have hormones too?
Like humans, plants use hormones,
(chemical messengers)
to control their development.
Hormones produced by plants
control growth, flowering and
fruit ripening.
The growth of shoots and roots is
controlled by a group of hormones
called auxins. These chemicals are
produced in the tips of the shoots
and roots.
What environmental stimuli might
cause a plant to produce auxins?

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Hormones and phototropism

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How do roots respond to water?
Roots always grow towards water, which is a positive
tropism.

Roots will grow sideways, or even upwards, towards water.

Roots always have a stronger response to water than
gravity to ensure that a plant gets the water it needs.

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How do roots and shoots respond to stimuli?
Plant stimuli affect certain parts of the plant in different ways.
● Shoots grow towards sunlight.
They are positively phototropic.

● Shoots grow away from gravity.

They are negatively
gravitropic.
● Roots grow away from sunlight.
They are negatively phototropic.

● Roots grow towards gravity.

They are positively gravitropic.
What experiments can be used to test these ideas?

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How can plant hormones be used?
Plant hormones are naturally-occurring chemicals, but they
can also be produced synthetically for uses in gardening
and agriculture, such as:
● growing cuttings

● ripening fruit

● killing weeds.

● controlling dormancy

● making seedless fruit.

Why are these purposes useful for gardeners and farmers?

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How are cuttings grown?
A cutting is a part of plant that is removed from the main shoot.
Do cuttings have everything they need to grow?
A cutting does not have roots and so has no supply of water
or minerals.
To stimulate root growth,
cuttings are dipped into
rooting powder.
This contains plant
growth hormones.
Cuttings are genetically
identical to the parent plant.
This allows growers to
copy successful plants.

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How do plant hormones kill weeds?
Weeds are unwelcome plants that compete with the plants
being grown by gardeners and farmers.
However, many chemicals that are potential weedkillers are
toxic to animals and humans, as well as plants.
Plant hormones can be used
instead to make weedkillers
that only affect certain plants.
Most weeds have broad
leaves. Cereals, which have
narrow leaves, can be
protected from weeds by using
weedkillers that only effect the
growth of broad-leaved plants.

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