Muscle
Which muscle type is under conscious control and attaches to bones?
Skeletal Muscle
The main signaling cells of nervous tissue are called what?
Neurons
Which tissue type stores energy and provides support, and includes bone and blood?
Connective Tissue
Which tissue forms the outer layer of skin and lines internal organs?
Epithelial Tissue
Name the two control categories (voluntary vs involuntary) and give one tissue example for each.
Voluntary — skeletal muscle; Involuntary — smooth or cardiac muscle.
Identify two functions of nervous tissue.
Transmits electrical signals; controls body functions; processes information.
Give two examples of dense connective tissue and explain their primary function.
Tendons and ligaments — transmit force and connect muscle to bone or bone to bone, providing structure and movement stability.
List three functions of epithelial tissue.
Protection, control absorption/secretion, barrier against microorganisms.
Describe one structural feature of muscle tissue that allows contraction.
Bundled muscle fibers made of long, contractile cells with actin/myosin (myofibrils) enabling contraction.
Describe the roles of neurons and glial cells and explain how they work together to transmit signals.
Neurons send and receive signals; glial cells support nutrition, insulation, and repair; together they maintain signal speed and health.
Explain how connective tissue structure (cells spread apart in an extracellular matrix) supports its functions of support and transport. Include at least one component of the matrix.
Cells are embedded in extracellular matrix (collagen, elastin, ground substance); matrix bears load, stores fat, and allows transport (blood).
Explain why epithelial tissue is described as avascular and how it receives nutrients.
Avascular means no blood vessels; nutrients/oxygen diffuse from underlying connective tissue through the basement membrane.
Explain why cardiac muscle does not fatigue the same way skeletal muscle can; include how its cellular structure supports continuous activity.
Cardiac muscle cells are interconnected by intercalated discs (gap junctions) allowing synchronized contraction and have abundant mitochondria for continuous ATP supply.
Explain how the arrangement of nervous tissue (branched network) supports rapid communication across the body; include one example.
Branched networks (axons/dendrites) create many pathways for rapid signaling—e.g., reflex arcs enabling fast response.
Compare the functions of bone, cartilage, and blood within connective tissue; explain how their structures match their functions.
Bone — mineralized matrix for rigid support and protection; Cartilage — flexible matrix for shock absorption and smooth joint surfaces; Blood — fluid matrix (plasma) for transport of gases/nutrients.
Describe the role of the basement membrane in epithelial tissue and explain how tight cell packing supports its barrier function.
Basement membrane anchors epithelium to underlying tissues and regulates exchange; tight packing prevents pathogen entry and controls permeability.
Compare and contrast skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle in terms of control, location, and cellular organization; include how each contributes to homeostasis.
Skeletal—voluntary, attached to bones, long multinucleated fibers for movement; Smooth—involuntary, walls of organs, spindle-shaped cells for slow sustained contractions; Cardiac—involuntary, heart wall, branched fibers with intercalated discs for rhythmic contraction and homeostasis of blood flow.
Predict how damage to nervous tissue in the spinal cord could affect multiple body systems, and justify your reasoning using tissue function.
Damage can interrupt signal transmission to/from organs, causing loss of motor/sensory function; because nervous tissue controls multiple systems, effects cascade (e.g., breathing, movement).
Design a short explanation for how connective tissue contributes to organ protection and systemic transport during an injury (e.g., broken bone with bleeding). Use physiological reasoning.
Connective tissue (bone) protects organs; blood transports clotting factors and immune cells to injury site; matrix and cells coordinate repair and isolation of damage.
Analyze how changes to epithelial tissue (e.g., chronic abrasion or infection) could impair its functions and affect overall health; propose one cellular-level adaptation the tissue might undergo in response.
Chronic abrasion can cause hyperplasia or metaplasia, weakening barrier and increasing infection risk; adaptation might include increased cell turnover or thicker stratified epithelium.