Year 11 - Science
The roles of the nervous and endocrine systems in controlling water balance
Coordination and control: maintaining a constant internal environment
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit covers the importance of maintaining a constant internal environment, focusing on body temperature control, osmotic balance, and kidney function. It explains the roles of the skin, kidneys, and ADH, and emphasises data extraction, experiment techniques, and accurate data interpretation.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe the roles of the nervous and endocrine systems in controlling water balance in the human body.
Key Notes
- Receptors in the hypothalamus detect changes in the amount of water in the blood plasma.
- When there is too little water, the pituitary gland secretes a hormone called ADH.
- ADH increases the permeability of the kidney tubules so more water is reabsorbed into the blood plasma.
- When there is too much water, the pituitary gland secretes less ADH and less water is reabsorbed in the kidneys.
- Drinking alcohol causes less ADH to be produced, so urine becomes more dilute and this can cause dehydration.
Vocabulary To Learn
- hypothalamus: Part of the brain that controls our internal environment, including water balance and body temperature.
- gland: An organ or tissue that produces and secretes substances, such as hormones.
- hormone: A chemical substance produced by a gland that travels in the bloodstream to a specific target organ.
- ADH: Anti-diuretic hormone, secreted by the pituitary gland, which increases the permeability of the kidney tubules.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Understanding how kidney filtration is controlled is complex, multifaceted and involves fairly obscure parts of the body so there is a lot of new content in this topic.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
Receptors in the hypothalamus detect changes in the amount of water in the blood plasma. When there is too little water, the pituitary gland secretes a hormone called ADH.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'hypothalamus'
Part of the brain that controls our internal environment, including water balance and body temperature. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Understanding how kidney filtration is controlled is complex, multifaceted and involves fairly obscure parts of the body so there is a lot of new content in this topic. Correction: The parts of the process are broken down into individual steps, introduced with care and supporting illustrations, checked, reviewed and backed up with reinforcing tasks.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Controlling water balance: the kidneys, and nephron structure Study Guide
- Controlling water balance: the kidneys, and treating kidney failure Study Guide
- Controlling water balance: the kidneys, nephron structure and kidney failure Study Guide
- Effect of osmosis and sugar concentration on the mass of plant tissue: analysis Study Guide
- Effect of osmosis and sugar concentration on the mass of plant tissue: practical Study Guide
- The importance of maintaining constant conditions in the body Study Guide
- The importance of maintaining constant conditions in the body, including osmosis Study Guide
- The role of the nervous system in thermoregulation Study Guide
- The role of the skin in thermoregulation Study Guide
- Using a microscope to observe effects of osmosis in plant cells: practical Study Guide
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