Name: ________________________________________________
Period: ____
Control of the Internal Environment: Animal Form & Function
Part I: Thermoregulation Strategies
The great white shark is no “cold fish”, and this section tells why. It also introduces the terms “ectotherm” and
endotherm” and explain why biologists prefer these terms to “cold-blooded” and “warm-blooded”. If you need
to, use the internet to read about the following organisms and use them to answer the questions below: Insect
(invertebrate), bird, great white shark, polar bear, frog (amphibian), snake (reptile), and most fish.
1. Which of the animals above are popularly regarded as “cold-blooded”?
2. Which of the animals above are popularly regarded as “warm-blooded?
3.
Which of the animals above would be cold in a cold environment?
4. Which of the animals above would be worm in a warm environment?
5. Which of the animals above would be warmer than their surroundings in a cold environment?
6. Which of the animals above are endothermic?
7. Which of the animals above are ectothermic?
Part II: Behavioral & Physiological Responses Influencing Thermoregulation
Does the room temperature where you are right now feel comfortable? Do you feel a bit chilly? Or are you
sweating because it is hot and humid? We will discuss thermoregulation, and provide numerous examples of
methods animals use to regulate their internal temperatures. Animals regulate temperature two ways: (1) by
changing rate of heat production and (2) by adjusting rate of heat gain or loss. State whether each of the
following is
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
a method of warming or cooling the body by regulating heat production
a method of warming the body by reducing heat loss
a method of warming the body by increasing heat gain
a method of cooling the body by increasing heat loss
a method of cooling the body by decreasing heat gain
1. _____ Moisture evaporates from a lizard’s nostrils.
2. _____ A robin fluffs up its feathers to trap more air near the skin
3. _____ A rabbit grows a thicker coat in the winter.
4. _____ A lizard comes out of its burrow and turns broadside to the sun
5. _____ An elephant sprays itself with cold water.
6. _____ Bees cluster together and shiver
7. _____ Blood vessels dilate in a jackrabbit’s ears
8. _____ You shiver.
9. _____ A kangaroo rat presses itself against the cool wall of its burrow.
10. _____ A countercurrent heat exchanger cools the blood flowing to a duck’s feet.
11. _____ Hormones increase a mouse’s metabolic rate.
12. _____ A polar bear’s transparent hairs beam sunlight to its black skin
13. _____ A cat licks itself, and saliva evaporates from its skin.
14. _____ A bee seeds flowers that focus sunlight on its body
15. _____ A snake moves out of the sun and into the shade.
Part III: Metabolic Rate vs. Animal Size
Go to the site: http://animals.mom.me/animals-size-affect-metabolism-8635.html and read the article to answer
the questions below.
1. Define in your own words the term: metabolic rate.
2. Identify some of the variables which impact the speed an organism’s metabolic rate.
3. Why does more surface area of an organism, impact thermal regulation?
4. List in order the metabolic rates of the following organisms from fastest to slowest: shrew, elephant, tiger,
mouse, and whale.
Part IV: Osmoregulators or Osmoconformers?
Animals must maintain a correct balance of water and solutes in body fluids to stay alive. The concentration of
seawater is good enough for many animals, so they are osmoconformers, simply matching the osmotic
concentration of their environment. Other marine creatures, as well as freshwater and land animals, are
osmoregulators. They actively move solutes and water in and out of their cells to maintain body fluid
compositions different from their environments. Land animals have particular problems with loss of water and
solutes. Use the information from your text or reliable sources to complete this chart comparing
osmoconformers and various osmoregulators.
Marine Worm
Freshwater Fish
Saltwater Fish
Land Animal
Osmoregulator
or
Osmoconformer?
Tends to gain or
lose water?
Tends to gain or
lose solutes
(ions)?
Method of
compensating for
gain or loss?
Part IV: Nitrogenous Waste Production
Breakdown of proteins and nucleic acids produces nitrogen-containing waste products. Different animals
dispose of nitrogen in different ways. Summarize the kinds of animals that excrete each of the following
nitrogenous wastes, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Ammonia
Animals excreting
this compound
Advantages of
excreting this
compound
Disadvantage of
excreting this
compound
Urea
Uric Acid
Part V: Organ Systems
1. List the 3 organ systems that had to evolve to support cellular respiration in multicellular animals and provide
their role in supporting cellular respiration multicellular animals.
2. Structure/Function: List 5 adaptations that increase surface area in animal systems and explain why
increased surface area improves the function of that system.
3. Structure/Function: List 3 countercurrent exchange systems used in animal systems and explain the
adaptive advantage of each.
4. Structure/Function: List 5 organ or system examples of structure fits function and explain how the structure
fits the function.
5. Cell-to-cell Communication: For each system listed below, give an example of a component in that system
that is based on cell-to-cell communication and explain how this is accomplished.
Endocrine
Immune
Nervous
Part VII: Hox Genes & Development
Go the website: http://www.dnaftb.org/37/
Go to the link: "animation"
1. What are the stages of fruit fly development?
2. What is a "gap" gene?
3. What is a pair-rule gene?
4. Why is it likely that ancestors of fruit flies had 2 pair of wings? What gene causes them to have only one pair
of wings?
5. What are hox genes? What might occur if a hox gene mutated?
6. Describe each of the following mutant flies:
kruppel mutant
fushi tarazu mutant
Ubx mutant
Antp mutant
Go to the link: "problem"
7. What will happen to an embryo that doesn't have BICOID protein?
8. What will happen if BICOID is overexpressed?
9. What kind of gene is HAIRY?
10. What kind of gene is EYELESS?