• 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. Compared with nerves, hormones usually act… (exactly the same way / only in the brain / more slowly but for longer / faster and for a shorter time) → more slowly but for longerPrompt: Blood travels more slowly than an electrical impulse.
2. Coordination and control: which statement is true? (Insulin raises blood glucose. / Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas makes too little insulin. / Hormones travel along nerves. / Reflex actions are controlled by conscious thought.) → Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas makes too little insulin.Prompt: Nerves carry electrical impulses; hormones are chemicals.
3. Why are reflexes useful? (They are slow and careful / They only happen when we sleep / They are fast and automatic, protecting the body from harm / They let us think carefully first) → They are fast and automatic, protecting the body from harmPrompt: The message does not have to go to the conscious brain.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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: sweat glands? (receptor / coordination centre / effector) → effectorPrompt: Detect → decide → respond.
2. A room thermostat switches the heating on when the room gets cold and off when it warms up. How is this like homeostasis? (It has no sensor / It uses negative feedback to keep conditions near a set point / It changes the set point every minute / It uses positive feedback to keep heating forever) → It uses negative feedback to keep conditions near a set pointPrompt: What happens after the room warms up?

• 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• 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? (Body temperature is kept close to 37 °C. / Effectors can be muscles or glands. / Homeostasis uses both nervous and hormonal responses. / Homeostasis keeps every internal condition exactly constant.) → Homeostasis keeps every internal condition exactly constant.Prompt: Which part detects and which part responds?
2. In a control system, what role do these play: the thermoregulatory centre in the brain? (receptor / coordination centre / effector) → coordination centrePrompt: Detect → decide → respond.

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