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Science lesson plan · 10th grade (Year 11 in England) · 60 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 · 6 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. Which hormone lowers blood glucose concentration? (insulin / testosterone / adrenaline (epinephrine) / oestrogen (estrogen)) → insulinPrompt: It is made in the pancreas.
  2. Coordination and control: which statement is true? (Homeostasis keeps conditions inside the body steady. / Insulin raises blood glucose. / Reflex actions are controlled by conscious thought. / Hormones travel along nerves.) → Homeostasis keeps conditions inside the body steady.Prompt: Nerves carry electrical impulses; hormones are chemicals.
  3. 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.

Hook · 6 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 · 12 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 · 12 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: temperature receptors in the skin? (receptor / coordination centre / effector) → receptorPrompt: Detect → decide → respond.
  2. Why is it important to keep internal conditions within narrow limits? (So that we never feel hungry / So that hair grows faster / Enzymes and cells only work well in a narrow range of conditions / It is not important) → Enzymes and cells only work well in a narrow range of conditionsPrompt: What happens to enzymes at the wrong temperature or pH?

You do: independent practice · 17 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Which is NOT controlled by homeostasis in humans? (eye colour / water levels in the body / blood glucose concentration / body temperature) → eye colourPrompt: Homeostasis keeps internal conditions stable when they change.
  2. In a control system, what role do these play: light-sensitive cells in the retina? (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/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Homeostasis: which statement is NOT true?

    • A. Homeostasis uses both nervous and hormonal responses.
    • B. In negative feedback, a rise in a value triggers changes that lower it.
    • C. Receptors carry out the response.
    • D. Body temperature is kept close to 37 °C.
  2. Question 2

    Which is NOT controlled by homeostasis in humans?

    • A. blood glucose concentration
    • B. water levels in the body
    • C. eye colour
    • D. body temperature
  3. Question 3

    In a control system, what role do these play: temperature receptors in the skin?

    • A. receptor
    • B. coordination centre
    • C. effector
  4. Question 4

    What is negative feedback?

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

    In a control system, what role do these play: sweat glands?

    • 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
  7. Question 7

    Why is it important to keep internal conditions within narrow limits?

    • A. So that hair grows faster
    • B. So that we never feel hungry
    • C. It is not important
    • D. Enzymes and cells only work well in a narrow range of conditions
  8. Question 8

    In a control system, what role do these play: muscles that cause shivering?

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

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Answer key: Homeostasis and negative feedback loops

  1. 1. C. Receptors carry out the response.

  2. 2. C. eye colour

  3. 3. A. receptor

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

  5. 5. C. effector

  6. 6. B. coordination centre

  7. 7. D. Enzymes and cells only work well in a narrow range of conditions

  8. 8. C. effector