Body Systems: Inside Secrets

Uncovering how the digestive, respiratory, circulatory, and excretory systems work together

A Webquest of the Human Body

By

Patricia Tivadar

ptivadar@milforded.org

last updated 10/22/02

Introduction

Task

Process

Resources

Evaluation

Conclusion

Introduction

You and your team members are investigative reporters for the national weekly tell-all newspaper, "Inside Secrets". Your editor, Mr. E. P. Glottis, has called all of you into his office to give you a special assignment: get the scoop on a tip that he has received. He tells you that "Something really juicy called homeostasis is going on inside the human body, and the digestive, respiratory, circulatory, and excretory systems are all involved." Before you can get the scoop and write your articles, you and your team members have some extensive "snooping" to do to uncover the "dirt" about each of these systems, and their secretive activities to maintain homeostasis.

Task

You and the other reporters in your group have been assigned the task of writing a series of articles that will expose some of the "Inside Secrets" of the human body. To successfully complete this task, your team members will investigate and gather the "dirt" about the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, and excretory systems. You will then write and publish a series of newspaper articles, one about each system, and final article, in which you reveal the secretive activites that they perform that help the body to maintain homeostasis.

Process

You will be working in a team of 4-5 "reporters".

You will use your textbook, resources from the media center, and various Internet resources to do your "snooping".

Your group may investigate the four organ systems in any order you wish.

Each member of your group should write one of the articles in the series. Each article must include the information and vocabulary indicated for the organ system that the article is about.
Digestive System | Circulatory System | Respiratory System | Excretory System | Inside Secrets
Articles must be typed using a word proccessor or publishing program.

Each article should be submitted to your "Editor" (teacher) for final approval before it is "published".

All of the "reporters" in your group should share the the "dirt" that they have uncovered during their "snooping" about each of the four organ systems, so that everyone has all the "dirt" about each system. All group members need to have a thorough understanding of all four organ systems to successfully master the material.

The final article should include "dirt" uncovered by all of the "reporters" in your group.

You will publish and present your series of articles to the rest of the class.

The Digestive System:

INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN YOUR ARTICLE:

The three main functions of the digestive system.
The path that food makes through the digestive system.
A Comparison of mechanical digestion and chemical digestion.
The functions of the digestive enzymes amylase and pepsin, and the roles that hydrochloric acid and bile play in digestion.
The roles that the liver, the gall bladder, and pancreas in digestion.
Describe the structure of villi and explain how their function is related to their structure.
Explain how the large intestine helps the body to maintain homeostasis.