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Science lesson plan · 10th grade (Year 11 in England) · 30 minutes

Homeostasis and negative feedback loops

Human body and health

CCSS NGSS.HS-LS1-3England: GCSE Combined Science: Homeostasis and response

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Homeostasis and negative feedback loops.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Nervous system, reflexes and hormones

Leads to: Blood glucose control, insulin and diabetes; How the body warms up and cools down

Materials: Stopwatches, Body diagrams, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Nervous system, reflexes and hormones). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. How do hormones travel around the body? (along nerves as electrical impulses / through the air / in the blood / through the bones) → in the bloodPrompt: Hormones are chemical messengers.
  2. Coordination and control: which statement is true? (Hormones travel along nerves. / Insulin raises blood glucose. / Adrenaline (epinephrine) prepares the body for "fight or flight". / Reflex actions are controlled by conscious thought.) → Adrenaline (epinephrine) prepares the body for "fight or flight".Prompt: Nerves carry electrical impulses; hormones are chemicals.
  3. Compared with nerves, hormones usually act… (more slowly but for longer / faster and for a shorter time / only in the brain / exactly the same way) → more slowly but for longerPrompt: Blood travels more slowly than an electrical impulse.

Hook · 3 min

  • Ask everyone to find their pulse, then jump for 30 seconds and find it again.
  • Share the objective: Homeostasis and negative feedback loops. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: In a control system, what role do these play: a gland releasing a hormone?
  • Step 1: Effectors (muscles or glands) carry out the response.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: effector
  • Answer: effector
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. In a control system, what role do these play: the thermoregulatory centre in the brain? (receptor / coordination centre / effector) → coordination centrePrompt: Detect → decide → respond.
  2. Which is NOT controlled by homeostasis in humans? (blood glucose concentration / eye colour / body temperature / water levels in the body) → eye colourPrompt: Homeostasis keeps internal conditions stable when they change.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Homeostasis: which statement is NOT true? (In negative feedback, a rise in a value triggers changes that lower it. / Effectors can be muscles or glands. / Negative feedback makes changes bigger. / Body temperature is kept close to 37 °C.) → Negative feedback makes changes bigger.Prompt: Which part detects and which part responds?
  2. In a control system, what role do these play: temperature receptors in the skin? (receptor / coordination centre / effector) → receptorPrompt: Detect → decide → respond.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Nervous system, reflexes and hormones.
  • Use concrete materials: stopwatches.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Blood glucose control, insulin and diabetes; How the body warms up and cools down.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-10.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Homeostasis and negative feedback loops

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Homeostasis: which statement is NOT true?

    • A. In negative feedback, a rise in a value triggers changes that lower it.
    • B. Homeostasis uses both nervous and hormonal responses.
    • C. Body temperature is kept close to 37 °C.
    • D. Homeostasis keeps every internal condition exactly constant.
  2. Question 2

    In a control system, what role do these play: the spinal cord?

    • A. receptor
    • B. coordination centre
    • C. effector
  3. Question 3

    A room thermostat switches the heating on when the room gets cold and off when it warms up. How is this like homeostasis?

    • A. It changes the set point every minute
    • B. It uses negative feedback to keep conditions near a set point
    • C. It uses positive feedback to keep heating forever
    • D. It has no sensor
  4. Question 4

    What is negative feedback?

    • A. A change triggers a response that reverses the change, back towards the set point
    • B. Bad news from a doctor
    • C. A change triggers a response that makes the change bigger
    • D. A response that never stops
  5. Question 5

    In a control system, what role do these play: a gland releasing a hormone?

    • A. receptor
    • B. coordination centre
    • C. effector
  6. Question 6

    In a control system, what role do these play: the thermoregulatory centre in the brain?

    • A. receptor
    • B. coordination centre
    • C. effector

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Answer key: Homeostasis and negative feedback loops

  1. 1. D. Homeostasis keeps every internal condition exactly constant.

  2. 2. B. coordination centre

  3. 3. B. It uses negative feedback to keep conditions near a set point

  4. 4. A. A change triggers a response that reverses the change, back towards the set point

  5. 5. C. effector

  6. 6. B. coordination centre