Homeostasis

Preparation and Planning

This lesson uses a number of audio and visual resources which really help to bring the learning to life. The Audio interview with Lieutenant Polly Hatchard RN (Royal Navy) and imagery on the Slides complement each other and are best presented together. Instructions are given in the Delivery Notes but you may want to listen to the Audio and view the Slides in advance of the lesson.

You will need to photocopy the Student Worksheets and should produce enough copies for students to independently write notes before discussing answers in pairs or as a class. In some of the exercises you may want to cut out keywords for less able students.

There are two additional videos that show HMS Endurance in Antarctica. These are extra material but give the students a good insight to the environment.

About the MOD Topic

Lieutenant Polly Hatchard RN (Royal Navy) became the first female in the military to reach the South Pole on 1st January 2007. Dealing with temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius, Polly trekked 180 kilometres (112 miles) and then stripped down to a bikini when she reached the South Pole in aid of Breast Cancer. The expedition also marked the centenary of Sir Ernest Shackleton's failed attempt to reach the South Pole in 1907. He famously said after, 'Better a live donkey than a dead lion.'

Polly's two team mates were not Royal Navy Officers. Carolyn and Fiona were novice explorers and both fighting breast cancer, they decided to take on the challenge to raise money and awareness for Cancer Research UK. The team flew to their Antarctic base camp at Patriot Hills. They were then flown onto latitude 88'23'S where they began Shackleton's unfinished journey. For seven days they lived under canvas and towed supplies across ice fields and glaciers, finally climbing to the polar plateau at almost 3,048m (10,000ft).

Here is a taste of Polly's story that is sure to engage your students and provides a thrilling context within which to apply the theory of homeostasis:
'Antarctica is a seriously tough and challenging environment, of which I am very respectful. Temperatures get so cold that the hairs inside your nose freeze and if not disciplined enough to breathe out through your nose you risk frost bite to the tip. Wind speeds get so high that a glove, tent or top not secured properly is gone forever in a flash. And the atmosphere gets so dry that you feel you've been smoking 40 cigarettes a day or just stepped out of a nightclub. A single careless moment can cost the life of a finger, toe or worse still you. I experienced temperatures down to minus 41 degrees Celsius but with wind speeds sometimes gusting to 25 knots* the wind chill factor was well below minus 50 degrees Celsius. I am thrilled to have reached the South Pole, not only for myself and the members of my team but to bring the awareness of breast cancer to thousands of women and in the Centenary year of the incredible explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton'. Lieutenant Polly Hatchard RN
*1 knot equates to 1.152 miles per hour (mph) and 1.85 kilometres per hour (kph).

Below are links to further information:
News articles on Polly Hatchard's expedition (copy and paste url): http://tinyurl.com/595vr9
Breast Cancer and Polly's awareness campaign: http://tinyurl.com/5oqfvh
Antarctica: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/index.php

Further Opportunities for Learning

Whilst this lesson introduces the main homeostatic mechanisms it is focussed on thermoregulation. It therefore provides a good basis for further lessons on osmoregulation, glucoregulation, kidney function, structure and failure.

Additional lessons on the concept of negative feedback which is applicable to all the homeostatic mechanisms. You could compare the effects highlighted in this lesson with organisms that are not able to regulate their temperature.

There is also great opportunity to deliver important Citizenship and PSHE lessons through this MOD topic. It provides an excellent context for students to imagine and appreciate other people's experiences and to also consider their own achievements and personal challenges.

It also enables students to witness someone doing something for charity and can encourage them to think about their role in society and support they can offer to charities. Students could be encouraged to think about a personal challenge that they could plan in aid of a charity.
Ask students to read the attached news article – Panthers sprint to victory. Once they have read the article ask students to write a brief explanation of how the Pink Panthers bodies will react once they start the challenge. Students could be asked to recommend how the Pink Panthers could prepare for their challenge. How would the Pink Panthers' preparation differ to that undertaken by Polly Hatchard and her team?

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.