7th Grade Unit 3: Organisms Internal Responses Lesson 2: Reacting to the Environment to Maintain Homeostasis Vocabular

7th Grade Unit 3: Organisms Internal Responses Lesson 2: Reacting to the Environment to Maintain Homeostasis Vocabulary of Instruction:

Adaptation • Changes in an organism's physiological structure or function or habits that allow it to survive in new surroundings.

Estivation • A rare state of dormancy similar to hibernation, but during the months of the summer.

Hibernation • A state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals during cold temperatures (winter) and characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate.

Homeostasis • Is the self-regulation of the internal environment of organisms or cells.

Response • An action or change in behavior that occurs as a result of a stimulus.

Shivering • Is a bodily function in response to early hypothermia in warm-blooded animals. When the core body temperature drops, the shivering reflex is triggered.

Stimulus • Is something that triggers a response from your senses. Sunlight Cold Heat Pain

Supercool • To cool a liquid below a transition temperature without the transition occurring, especially to cool below the freezing point of water without solidification into ice. http://wohba.com/pages/supercool0407.html

Sweating • The process of the sweat glands of the skin secreting a salty fluid; “sweating or perspiration is a homeostatic process.”

Torpor • Is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal; during the active part of their day, these animals maintain normal body temperature and activity levels, but their body temperature drops during a portion of the day (usually night) to conserve energy.

7th Grade Unit 3: Organisms Internal Responses Lesson 2: Reacting to the Environment to Maintain Homeostasis Vocabular