Student Exploration: Homeostasis

Introduction: Homeostasis means maintaining a relatively constant state of the body’s

internal environment. The term used to describe a pattern of response to restore the body
to normal stable level is termed negative feedback. When a stimulus (environment
change) is met by a response that reverses (negates) the trend of the stimulus, it is neg-
ative feedback. As a result, the internal environment is returned to normal. Pulse rate is
constantly checked by receptors (sensors) throughout your body. A stimulus such as el-
evated pulse rate leads to a reaction by an organ making the response. An appropriate
response will return the pulse rate to normal.

Purpose: To observe an example of homeostasis working to control your body’s pulse

rate (heart rate).

Vocabulary: dehydration, heat stroke, homeostasis, hypothermia, thermoregulation

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

Homeostasis is the ability to maintain a stable environment inside the body. For example, your
body does things to maintain constant blood sugar levels and body temperature.

1. What are some things you do to stay cool on a hot day? On a hot day something, I would do
to stay cool would include eating something cold like perhaps a popsicle, going swimming
and taking a cold bath.

2. What can you do to warm up on a cold day? On a cold day there are several things I would
do in order to warm up including a lot of physical activity, wearing lots of layers, and eating
something warm.

3. What things does your body do automatically to cool down or warm up? The body tends to
sweat in order to automatically cool down or warm up.

Gizmo Warm-up
The Homeostasis Gizmo shows a person on a treadmill. Notice the Air
temperature and Body temperature thermometers.

1. What are these temperatures? Air: 20 degrees Celsius

Body: 37 degrees Celsius

2. Click Play ( ) and wait for a while. What happens to the body

temperature? The body temperatures remained the same.

3. Click the Run button and wait for a while. How does exercise affect body temperature?

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 Exercise cause the body temperature to increase.

4. Set the Sweat slider to 5 L/hour (liters per hour). How does sweating affect body tempera-

ture? Sweating cause the body temperature to become very low and for the runner to get

severe hypothermia.

Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:

Automatic sweat- • Click Reset ( ).
ing • Turn on the Automatic sweating checkbox.

Question: How does the body maintain a stable temperature?

1. Form hypothesis: In normal conditions, a person can sweat to help maintain his body tem-
perature. How do you think sweating will be affected by air temperature?

I believe that if the air temperature is very low sweating will cause the body temperature to
become very low which will result in hypothermia. If the air temperature is very high it may
lead to excessive sweating which would make to body more prone to dehydration.

2. Run Gizmo: Check that Automatic sweating is selected. Drag the hat and sweatshirt to
the person. Click Jog. Press Play and observe. Once in a while, you will need to drag the
energy bar or water bottle to him so he can eat or drink.

Click Pause ( ) once per hour (simulated time). Each time, record the Air temperature,
Body temperature, and Sweat level.

Time Air temp. (°C) Body temp. (°C) Sweat (Liters/hour)

1 hour 20 37 2.6

2 hours 0 37.1 0.1

3 hours 40 37.3 5.0

3. Analyze: Look at the values on the table.

A. How does the air temperature affect the sweat level? As the temperature increased so
did the sweat level, while as the temperature decrease the sweat level also decreased.

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 B. The ability to maintain a steady internal temperature is called thermoregulation. How

well did thermoregulation work in this case? Thermoregulation worked by using sweat

maintain a steady internal temperature when it got too hot the body sweated more in or-

der to keep the temperature consistent while when it got colder the body sweated less in

order to keep the temperature steady.

4. Draw conclusions: How does sweating help with thermoregulation? Sweating cools your
skin as it evaporates this helps with thermoregulation because the cooling of your skin helps
to maintain a steady internal temperature.

5. Extend your thinking: Why do you need to drink water to stay cool on a hot day? Drinking
water on a hot day is essential because your body sweats more in order to help with ther-
moregulation and you need to drink a lot of water in order to keep up with the water you are
losing through sweat.

Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:

Controlling your • Click Reset.
body temperature • Turn off Automatic sweating.

Question: How well can you maintain constant internal conditions for the runner?

1. Observe: The Homeostasis Gizmo allows you to control clothing, exercise, sweat, food, and
drink. Use the Gizmo to explore what happens when things go wrong.

A. What is it called when body temperature goes below 30°C? When the body tempera-
ture goes below 30 degrees Celsius it is called severe hypothermia.

B. What is it called when body temperature goes above 41°C? When the body tempera-
ture goes over 41 degrees Celsius it is called heatstroke.

C. What is it called when you don’t drink enough water? When the body does not get
enough water it is called dehydration.

2. Challenge: Click Reset. Then click Play. Try to maintain a constant body temperature as the
air temperature goes up and down. Every hour, click Pause and record the data asked for in
the table below. (Click Reset and try this more than once if you like.)

Air temp. Body temp. Sweat

Time Clothing Exercise
(°C) (°C) (L/hour)

1 hour 20 37 No hat or sweater running 3.0L

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 2 hours 0 37 No hat or sweater running 1.5L

3 hours 40 38 No hat or sweater running 5.0L

4 hours 20 37.5 No hat or sweater walking 0.7L

3. Analyze: Look at your data.

A. How good were you at thermoregulation?

I think I was pretty good at thermoregulation as the body temperature did not vary more than
one degree Celsius throughout the four hours she was running.

B. What did you do to cool down when it was hot?

When it was too hot I increased her water intake along with increasing the amount she

sweated in order to help cool her down.

C. What did you do to warm up when it was cold?

When it was too cold I decreased the amount that she sweated along with giving her extra

layers to wear in order to keep her warm.

Conclusion:
In conclusion sweating is essential to maintaining homeostasis in the body because
sweating acts as a cooling system in order to keep the body temperature consistent re-
gardless of physical activity. The reason why sweating helps cool down the body is be-
cause sweat cools your skin as it evaporates making it very important for thermoregula-
tion.

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