The roles of the nervous and endocrine systems in controlling water balance
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the roles of the nervous and endocrine systems in controlling water balance in the human body.
Key learning points
- Receptors in the hypothalamus detect changes in the amount of water in the blood plasma.
- When there is too little water, the pituitary gland secretes a hormone called ADH.
- ADH increases the permeability of the kidney tubules so more water is reabsorbed into the blood plasma.
- When there is too much water, the pituitary gland secretes less ADH and less water is reabsorbed in the kidneys.
- Drinking alcohol causes less ADH to be produced, so urine becomes more dilute and this can cause dehydration.
Keywords
Hypothalamus - Part of the brain that controls our internal environment, including water balance and body temperature.
Gland - An organ or tissue that produces and secretes substances, such as hormones.
Hormone - A chemical substance produced by a gland that travels in the bloodstream to a specific target organ.
ADH - Anti-diuretic hormone, secreted by the pituitary gland, which increases the permeability of the kidney tubules.
Common misconception
Understanding how kidney filtration is controlled is complex, multifaceted and involves fairly obscure parts of the body so there is a lot of new content in this topic.
The parts of the process are broken down into individual steps, introduced with care and supporting illustrations, checked, reviewed and backed up with reinforcing tasks.
Teacher tip
Use a model of the brain to show the proximity of the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, and take time to ensure that students are clear about the three main parts of this process (hypothalamus, pituitary gland and ADH).
Equipment
None required.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.It is important that the amount of water in the human body is kept ...
Q2.Which organ detects changes in water levels in the human body?
Q3.The brain detects the amount of water in the ...
Q4.Which organ responds to changes in water levels in the human body by filtering and reabsorbing water from the blood?
Q5.Water moves between cells and blood plasma by the process of ...
Q6.Put the sentences in the correct order to explain what would happen to body cells if there was a very high level of water in the blood.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match each body system to its correct description.
transports blood around the body
uses hormones as chemical messengers
transmits impulses along neurones
Q2.Which part of the brain detects changes in the water balance of the blood plasma?
Q3.The hormone ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) is secreted by the gland in the brain.
Q4.True or false? The hormone ADH is secreted when there is less water in the blood than normal.
Q5.What effect does ADH have on the kidney?
Q6.What effect does drinking alcohol have on the control of water balance in the body?
To help you plan your 11 biology lesson on: The roles of the nervous and endocrine systems in controlling water balance, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 biology lesson on: The roles of the nervous and endocrine systems in controlling water balance, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
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