HOMEOSTASIS

By Afshan Hassan
Learning outcomes
students should be able to:
(a) define homeostasis as the maintenance of a constant internal environment;
(b) identify, on a diagram of the skin, hairs, sweat glands, temperature receptors, blood
vessels and fatty
tissue;
(c) describe the maintenance of a constant body temperature in humans in terms of
insulation and the role
of temperature receptors in the skin, sweating, shivering, blood vessels near the skin
surface and the
coordinating role of the brain.
Glossary
Maintain – keep up.
Constant – the same.
Internal – inside the body.
Environment – surroundings of the body.
What is Homeostasis?
Body cells work best if they have the correct
Temperature
Water levels
Glucose concentration

These are the environment of our body cell.

Your body has mechanisms to keep the cells in a

constant environment.
What is Homeostasis?
The maintenance of a
constant environment
in the body is called
Homeostasis
Controlling body temperature
All mammals maintain a constant body
temperature.
Human beings have a body temperature of about
37ºC.
E.g. If your body is in a hot environment your
body temperature is 37ºC
If your body is in a cold environment your body
temperature is still 37ºC
 Advantages of having constant body
temperature
organism can remain active through out the year
enzymes can work effectively at their optimum temperature

The disadvantage of being warm blooded is that the animal have to eat more
food to generate heat to keep their body warm
Skin and Temperature control
Skin is the largest organ of our body.
Functions of skin
temperature regulation : keep the body temperature
constant
protections : from water loss, germs and harmful
radiations from the sun
sensitivity : receptors present which detect change in
environment
 Structure of human skin
Human skin is made up of two layers. The top layer is
called epidermis and the lower layer is the dermis.
There are two layers of epidermis;
cornified layer : the out most layer made up of dead
cells
malphigian layer : made up of living cells which
are always dividing and possess melanin
producing cells
 Structure of human skin
The dermis contain many important structures e.g.
hair follicles attached to hair erector muscle, hair grow
from each hair follicle
sweat gland which secrete sweat, the sweats come out on
the surface of skin by means of sweat duct and sweat pore
blood vessels which dilate and constrict
nerve endings sensitive to pain, pressure and temperature

Below dermis there is a layer of fat tissue(adipose tissue)

which insulates our body
 1.

Look at the cross section diagram of the skin below. Choose the best answers to fill in each
of the missing labels.

epidermis nerve fat

hair sebaceous gland capillary

dermis muscle
What mechanisms are there to cool the body
down?

1. Sweating
 When your body is hot, sweat glands are stimulated
to release sweat.
 Sweat comes out of the sweat pore.
 The liquid sweat turns into a gas (it evaporates)
 To do this, it needs heat.
 It gets that heat from your skin.
 As your skin loses heat, it cools down.
Sweating

The
skin
 What mechanisms are there to
cool the body down?
2. Vasodilation
 Your blood carries most of the heat energy
around your body.
 There are capillaries underneath your skin
that can be filled with blood if you get too
hot.
 This brings the blood closer to the surface
of the skin so more heat can be lost.
 This is why you look red when you are hot!
 This means more heat is lost from the surface of the
skin

If the
temperature
rises, the blood
vessel dilates
(gets bigger).
What mechanisms are there to warm the
body up?
1. Vasoconstriction
 This is the opposite of vasodilation
 The capillaries underneath your skin get
constricted (shut off).
 This takes the blood away from the surface
of the skin so less heat can be lost.
What mechanisms are there to warm the
body up?
Hair erector muscle contract
 This is when the hairs on your skin “stand
up” .
 It is sometimes called “goose bumps” or
“chicken skin”!
 The hairs trap a layer of air next to the skin
which is then warmed by the body heat
 The air becomes an insulating layer.