Homeostasis is a way that a cell or organism maintains stable internal conditions. It is necessary for life. At the start of this project, my group chose the homeostasis of blood sugar as what we were going to study. We then created a experiment related to blood sugar, and were expected to perform it. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to do our experiment, as it requires pricking the subjects fingers to acquire blood, in order to test their blood sugar levels. After the experiment, we created a scientific document detailing our findings, and a poster with the same information, that we used to present to our class. both the document and the poster can be seen below.
Concepts Used:
Homeostasis: As stated previously, homeostasis is maintaining stable internal conditions, and it is one of the factors that is necessary for life.
Feedback Loop: This is one of the ways in which the body maintains homeostasis. There are two kinds of feedback loop, a positive feedback loop, and a negative one. The negative version is the most common. It is when the organism or cell detects too much of a certain item, it will slow or stop the production of said item, in order to reduce the amount of it. This can be seen in blood sugar homeostasis, as when the body detects too much blood sugar, it releases insulin, which lowers the amount of sugar that the liver introduces into the blood. The positive feedback loop is less often seen. It is when a small change is detected, and the organism or cell amplifies it into a big change. One example of this is the ripening of apple trees. When the first apple on a tree ripens, it emits a gas that causes other apples near it to ripen, accelerating the ripening of all the apples considerably.
Insulin: Insulin is a hormone involved in blood sugar homeostasis. When the body detects that there is too much glucose (the sugar in blood sugar) in the bloodstream, insulin is released into the bloodstream. It then travels to the liver, where it slows the conversion of glycogen (the storage form of glucose) into glucose. This has the effect of lowering the blood sugar levels of the body
Glucagon: Glucagon is a hormone that performs the reverse function of insulin. When the body detects too little glucose in the bloodstream, glucagon is released. Once in the bloodstream, glucagon travels to the liver, where it accelerates the conversion of glycogen to glucose. This has the effect of heightening the amount of glucose in the bloodstream.
Homeostasis: As stated previously, homeostasis is maintaining stable internal conditions, and it is one of the factors that is necessary for life.
Feedback Loop: This is one of the ways in which the body maintains homeostasis. There are two kinds of feedback loop, a positive feedback loop, and a negative one. The negative version is the most common. It is when the organism or cell detects too much of a certain item, it will slow or stop the production of said item, in order to reduce the amount of it. This can be seen in blood sugar homeostasis, as when the body detects too much blood sugar, it releases insulin, which lowers the amount of sugar that the liver introduces into the blood. The positive feedback loop is less often seen. It is when a small change is detected, and the organism or cell amplifies it into a big change. One example of this is the ripening of apple trees. When the first apple on a tree ripens, it emits a gas that causes other apples near it to ripen, accelerating the ripening of all the apples considerably.
Insulin: Insulin is a hormone involved in blood sugar homeostasis. When the body detects that there is too much glucose (the sugar in blood sugar) in the bloodstream, insulin is released into the bloodstream. It then travels to the liver, where it slows the conversion of glycogen (the storage form of glucose) into glucose. This has the effect of lowering the blood sugar levels of the body
Glucagon: Glucagon is a hormone that performs the reverse function of insulin. When the body detects too little glucose in the bloodstream, glucagon is released. Once in the bloodstream, glucagon travels to the liver, where it accelerates the conversion of glycogen to glucose. This has the effect of heightening the amount of glucose in the bloodstream.
Reflections:
One thing I did well in this project was not get distracted. Though most of my team mates had a habit of only working when the teacher noticed them goofing off, and even then only for a few minutes, I stayed on task fairly well. I did the majority of the work on the paper of this project, and at least half of the poster by myself. Another thing that I did well was learning how to write a scientific paper. We didn't get very many instructions on how to write our paper, but I did some research on my own, and I am fairly pleased at how it came out, especially considering we weren't actually allowed to conduct our experiment.
Something I failed at in this project was leadership. While one member of my group wasn't really willing to do work, the other two members might have, but they had no motivation. If I had stepped up and pushed them a little, they probably could have helped a lot. I didn't but maybe I will next time. Another thing I didn't do well at in this project was having motivation. While I didn't get distracted that much during this project, I often felt like I wasn't working as hard as I could, or should, have been. I will have to work on this skill in the future.
One thing I did well in this project was not get distracted. Though most of my team mates had a habit of only working when the teacher noticed them goofing off, and even then only for a few minutes, I stayed on task fairly well. I did the majority of the work on the paper of this project, and at least half of the poster by myself. Another thing that I did well was learning how to write a scientific paper. We didn't get very many instructions on how to write our paper, but I did some research on my own, and I am fairly pleased at how it came out, especially considering we weren't actually allowed to conduct our experiment.
Something I failed at in this project was leadership. While one member of my group wasn't really willing to do work, the other two members might have, but they had no motivation. If I had stepped up and pushed them a little, they probably could have helped a lot. I didn't but maybe I will next time. Another thing I didn't do well at in this project was having motivation. While I didn't get distracted that much during this project, I often felt like I wasn't working as hard as I could, or should, have been. I will have to work on this skill in the future.