Name: ____________

Excretory System Practice

1. Draw a flowchart to show the pathway of blood through the excretory system.

2. Draw a flowchart to show the pathway of urine formation to exit from the body

3. What are the 2 main components of urine?

4. Label the following diagram using the following word list:

Afferent arteriole Bowman’s capsule Collecting duct

Distal tubule Efferent arteriole Glomerulus
Loop of Henle Proximal tubule

5. What can not fit through the glomerulus and therefore enters the efferent arteriole (always remaining in
the blood – never to be found in the urine)?

6. What three cellular processes are involved for tubular reabsorption to occur:
7. Practice:
 Draw a picture of the nephron and label the areas where the 3 stages occur
 Include where substances are being filtered, reabsorbed and secreted
 Include how specific substances are being moved (ie. Passive, active, osmosis, pressure filtration)

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 8. Which parts of the nephron are in the cortex of the kidney? Which parts penetrate deep into the medulla?

9. One of the effects of a drug overdose is a serious decrease in blood pressure. How might this affect
kidney function?

10. Explain why blood cells and proteins are not usually found in the filtrate.

11. Why are useful molecules like glucose and other nutrients found in the filtrate along with urea and other
wastes?

12. Sometimes bacterial infection causes nephritis—an inflammation of membranes in the glomerulus and
capsule. Large pores are created through which blood cells enter the nephron. What symptom would
indicate this problem?

13. The costs to the cells in the proximal tubule, the reabsorption of salt (Na + and Cl–) and water has been
called a deal where we get “3 for the price of 1.” Explain.

14. What other useful substances, in addition to Na+, Cl–, and water, are reabsorbed in the proximal tubule?

15. Why are the two parts of the nephron loop called “descending” and “ascending”?

16. Explain the process of reabsorption from the descending loop.

17. Where is the highest concentration of Na+ found?

18. Explain the process of reabsorption from the ascending loop.

19. Explain how reabsorption of ions and water occurs from the distal tubule.

Use this additional information to answer the next question.

Excess ions and other substances are added to the filtrate from the surrounding capillaries in a
process called tubular secretion. This has been called “reabsorption in reverse.”

20. List three examples of substances that are actively secreted into the filtrate. How is blood pH maintained
by tubular secretion?

Practice:
21. Explain how the kidney maintains blood pH.

22. List the structures in the correct order, through which a glucose molecule passes as it travels through the urinary system
starting at the renal artery and ending at the peritubular capillary network. Be very specific about the structures. In addition,
with respect to urea and glucose content, contrast the composition of blood in the renal artery and the renal vein. (10 marks
23. How does your liver play a role in you excretion system?

24. How does aldosterone lead to an increase in water reabsorption?

Practice: Hormonal Control of Urine Formation (pages 316- 318)
25. Complete the following table based on what you have learned:
Hormone Place of Target Effect on Effect on Effect on

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 Urine
Production Structure Nephron Urine Output
Concentration

Antidiuretic
Hormone
(ADH)

Aldosterone

Practice: A person is dehydrated after running a marathon.

26. Explain why the person would not be sufficiently rehydrated after the marathon if they were only drinking water, rather than
a sports drink containing electrolytes.

27. Beginning with the receptors, explain how this person’s body would return to normal hydration through homeostasis (draw 2
flowcharts starting with osmoreceptors detecting a change in…)

Practice Test: Use the following diagram to answer the next eight
questions
1. The letter that indicates the part of the nephron that would have the
highest concentration of urea is ____

2. The letter indicates the area where blood pressure is the most important
factor in urine production is ____

3. The letter that points to the structure where the most amount of
reabsorption takes place is ____

4. The efferent arteriole is indicated by this letter _____

5. The afferent arteriole is indicated by this letter _____

6. The letter that indicates blood supply lowest in oxygen is _____

7. Which of the letters points to blood supply that is the least concentrated
in urea and wastes?
a) A b) C c) B d) H e) D

8. A person who needs to conserve water will produce the hormone __________________
that effects the part of the nephron indicated by the letter ______

9. Secretion is the movement of matter from

a) the blood to the nephron c) collecting duct to the bladder
b) the nephron to the blood d) none of these

10. Biuret Reagent is added to a sample of urine and the urine turns purple. It is reasonable to infer that
sample of urine most likely belongs to person suffering from:
a) Diabetes Mellitus c) Alcoholism
b) Diabetes Insipidus d) Nephritis e) Kidney Stones

11. A patient is frequently urinating and complaining of constant thirst. When Benedict’s reagent is
added to the patient’s urine, the sample remains blue. The Biuret test also proves to be negative. Based
on this information, the patient is most likely suffering from
a) Diabetes Mellitus c) Alcoholism

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 b) Diabetes Insipidus d) Nephritis e) Kidney Stones

13. A person who suffers from kidney failure and travels regularly with a busy lifestyle would most benefit
from
a) Hemodialysis c) Ultrasound
b) Peritoneal dialysis d) High Protein Diet

14. If the urine of a healthy person were analyzed, there would be only trace amounts of
a)Urea c) glucose
b) water d) mineral salts e) nitrogen wastes

15. Urea is formed from the breakdown of ___________________ in the __________________. This
process is known as ______________________ . (3 marks)

16. Under normal conditions proteins are found in the fluid of the
a)Glomerulus c) proximal tubule
b) loop of Henle d) Bowman's capsule

Use the following information to answer the next question.

17. If the concentration of a substance is 0.01g/L in the structure labelled

W and 0.10g/L in the structure labelled X, then the substance is probably
a) retained in the blood b) reabsorbed from the
nephron
c) not reabsorbed from the nephron d) returned to the
circulatory system

18. The substance in the previous question is most likely

a) water c) toxins
b) glucose d) plasma proteins

19. In the kidney, active transport occurs when

a) glucose molecules move from the glomerulus to Bowman's
capsule
b) amino acids are rcabsorbed into the blood from the proximal
tubule
c) small particles are separated from large particles by the capsule of
the nephron
d) water moves from a region of lower solute concentration to one of a higher solute concentration
through a selectively permeable membrane

20. One function of the kidney is to

a) form urea c) regulate body temperature
b) regulate the acid-base balance d) secrete antidiuretic hormone

21. Which is the correct sequence of structures (but not necessarily all) through which a molecule of water
passes before it is eliminated from the body?
a) proximal tubule  urethra  bladder  ureter
b) Bowman's capsule proximal tubule ureter urethra
c) Bowman's capsule  glomerulus  tubule ureter
d) Collecting tubule  distal tubule  ureter bladder