Homeostasis

Royal Navy expedition to the South Pole

Synopsis

Lieutenant Polly Hatchard RN (Royal Navy) became the first female in the UK military to reach the South Pole on 1st January 2007. What makes Polly's story even more inspiring is that when she reached the South Pole, she bravely posed for her victory photo in a bikini to raise money and awareness of Breast Cancer.

This case study and lesson provides an exciting and inspiring context to learn about homeostasis and how it keeps our internal conditions constant to enable our cells and tissues to work properly. Through photography, audio and video footage, students gain a direct insight into how the body adapts internally in response to the extreme external conditions of Antarctica. Whilst this lesson introduces all the homeostatic mechanisms, the focus is on thermoregulation.

MOD Topic

Royal Navy expedition to the South Pole

Curriculum Checklist

2) l; m; n; o.

Curriculum Links

• PSHE
• Citizenship
• Geography

Prior Knowledge

This lesson provides all the required content to introduce Homeostasis as a new topic. The topics will be easier to digest if students have knowledge of senses and understand that living things need to be sensitive to react to changes in their environment and to survive.

Learning Outcomes

Lower ability students will:

• Understand the importance of maintaining a constant internal environment through homeostasis.
• Know that humans maintain a constant body temperature through thermoregulation.
• Be aware of the mechanisms and suggest whether they lower or raise body temperature.
• Be aware that there are other homeostatic mechanisms.
• Be aware of the effect of homeostasis on their own lives.

Average ability students will:

• Understand the importance of maintaining a constant internal environment through homeostasis.
• Understand that humans maintain a constant body temperature through thermoregulation.
• Be able to explain some of the mechanisms and how they result in changes to body temperature.
• Understand whether the mechanisms lower or raise body temperature.
• Understand that there are other homeostatic mechanisms and identify their function.
• Be aware that these principles affect the work of members of the Armed Forces.

Higher ability students will:

• Fully understand the importance of maintaining a constant internal environment through homeostasis.
• Be able to explain how humans maintain a constant body temperature through thermoregulation and be able to describe the different mechanism in detail e.g. vasodilation , sweating, shivering.
• Have full understanding of how the mechanisms result in changes to body temperature.
• Be able to independently identify the other homeostatic mechanisms and outline their function.
• Understand the relevance of these principles through the work of members of the Armed Forces.

Lesson code

SC11