Animal Unit Possible FRQs 1.

) Describe the anatomical and functional similarities and differences within each of the following pairs of structures. A. Artery..vein B. Small intestine..colon C. Skeletal muscle..cardiac muscle D. Anterior pituitary..posterior pituitary Arteries and veins have several structural differences apart from each other, but they are also quite similar too. First off, both are systems of vessels that spread around the body. Both of these vessels carry blood and are actively working to move blood around. Arteries are generally a lot thicker than veins. Oxygenated blood is pumped out of the heart and into an artery in which it will travel around the animal body and mainly get to your extremities. What veins do, however, is they are the vessels that bring blood back to the heart to oxygenate it again and send the blood back into the artery and to your extremities. The small intestine and colon are two of the most important organs within your digestive system. At first look, the small intestine and the colon look pretty similar, but they really arent. Another two words for colon is the large intestine, but when actually comparing the size between the small and large intestine, you can see that the small intestine is actually much lengthier. The main processes that go on in the intestine are absorption and excretion. The main function of the small intestine is to absorb nutrients and minerals that your body needs. The colon processes in absorbing any water from your digested food, and then passing it on in a form of a stool. This is called excretion, removing waste products from the body. Skeletal muscles and cardiac muscles do not have too much in common besides the fact that they are both muscles. Skeletal muscles are muscles that run around your body and skeleton. These muscles include your biceps, triceps, quadriceps, etc The main function of these muscles is for movement, but these muscles can also count in functioning in protection of the body, stability, and maintaining body temperature. These muscles cannot work on their own as they are operated by the animal (they have control of it). Cardiac muscles on the other hand are not controlled by the animal itself, it is controlled by the small electrical currents generated by the cardiac conduction system. Basically, the main cardiac muscle that you have in your body is the heart. The main function of cardiac muscles is to pump blood around the body. The heart beats around 60-100 times minute in the average healthy adult human.

2.) Describe negative and positive feedback loops, AND discuss how feedback mechanisms regulate each of the following: a. The menstrual cycle in a nonpregnant human female b. Blood glucose levels in humans 3.) Homeostatic maintenance of optimal blood glucose levels has been intensively studied in vertebrate organisms. A.) Pancreatic hormones regulate blood glucose levels. Identify TWO pancreatic hormones and describe the effect of each hormone on blood glucose levels.

B.) For ONE of the hormones you identified in (a), identify ONE target cell and discuss the mechanism by which the hormone can alter activity in that target cell. Include in your discussion a description of reception, cellular transduction, and response. C.) Compare the cell-signaling mechanisms of steroid hormones and protein hormones. 4.) Cephalization and the development of a brain were important steps in animal evolution A. Discuss the evolutionary origin and adaptive significance of cephalization in animal phyla B. Describe the development of the nervous system in the vertebrate embryo C. At the sound of shattering glass, people quickly turn their heads. Discuss how the human nervous system functions to produce this type of response to an external stimuli. 5.) The defenses of the human body to the entry and establishment of pathogens (diseasecausing organism) can be divided into nonspecific responses and specific responses A.) Explain how THREE types of nonspecific defenses can prevent the entry and/or establishment of a pathogen in a persons body B.) Discuss how the immune system responds to an initial pathogenic exposure, AND how this exposure can lead to a quicker response following a second exposure to the same pathogen. C.) Explain the biological mechanisms that lead to rejection of transplanted organs.