Communication & Feedback Loops
A chemical signal released by a cell must bind to this specific structure on or inside a target cell to trigger a response.
A receptor
True or False: Any increase in body temperature above 98.6°F automatically means a person has a fever.
False
During a race, muscle cells require higher amounts of this gas to produce energy for movement.
Oxygen
The localized physiological response to tissue injury or infection characterized by redness, heat, swelling, and pain.
Inflammation
The state of maintaining internal physical and chemical stability around optimal ranges in the body.
Homeostasis
Physiological parameters like body temperature and heart rate stay within a healthy range rather than a single fixed number, reflecting this biological principle.
Homeostasis
As muscle cells consume oxygen rapidly during exercise, they produce increased amounts of this waste gas.
Histamines cause these blood vessels to dilate and become more permeable, allowing fluid and immune cells to reach infected tissue quickly.
Capillaries
A control mechanism where an initial change triggers responses that amplify or increase that same change further.
Positive feedback
A non-illness reason why a student's body temperature might gradually rise from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m
physical activity, movement, or normal circadian/daily biological rhythms?
The primary energy-carrying molecule produced during respiration that muscle cells use directly to power contractions.
ATP
These defense cells travel through your bloodstream and communicate with each other using chemical signals to fight off pathogens.
white blood cells
During the initial phase of an infection, positive feedback causes white blood cells to do this rapidly.
Divide/ multiply
In a scientific argument, the statement that directly answers the driving research question with a how or why explanation is called this.
A claim
Known as the "powerhouses" of muscle cells, these organelles consume oxygen to carry out aerobic respiration.
Mitochondria
A cell that receives a specific chemical message because it has the matching receptor for that signal.
Target cells
This biological mechanism counteracts high CO2 and low O2 levels to bring heart and breathing rates back to normal resting levels after exercise.
Negative feedback
To fully support a claim on the BSCS assessment, a student must link specific experimental evidence to these overarching principles.
science ideas
When oxygen supply is insufficient during high-intensity exercise, muscle cells use this anaerobic process to generate ATP, producing a chemical byproduct that contributes to temporary fatigue.
lactic acid
The general term for chemical signals that immune cells release to call for back-up and coordinate their attack against an infection.
cytokines