The fourth project we did in STEM this year was making a functioning model of an organ system. We looked into all the systems but ended up picking two and demonstrating how they work together. Our project had to have moving parts that loosely resembled the actual systems in our bodies. My group (Alexa Funahashi, Diamon Tesfay, and Zack Griggy) and I chose the endocrine and circulatory systems. We made a model representing their major functions and how they work together/interact with each other.
Content
These systems were used throughout the project. Although we only focused on two of them, we presented our projects to the class so we got all the information. The specifics to our project include veins, arteries, and the glands.
Muscular- used for movement and strength
Endocrine- sends hormones to different cells telling them to make a certain change
Nervous- processes and sends electrical signals to allow for functions
Respiratory- does gas exchange
Lymphatic (Immune)- helps fight diseases
Circulatory- movement(circulation) of nutrients, waste, and gas
Digestive- break down and absorb food
Excretory- eliminate waste in the body
Reproductive- to reproduce and continue a species
Skeletal- support and protection
Hormones- a substance produced in an organism that os transported to cells taht tell it to do a certain action/task
Pituitary Gland- One of the most important glands because it controls growth hormones, prolactin, release of cortisol, thyroid, and luteinizing hormones. It also has great influence over other organ systems and glands
Heart-Contains red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma
Arteries-Contains red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma
Veins-Returns blood from body to heart
Capillaries-Small blood vessels where oxygen and nutrients are delivered
Blood- contains/carries nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc. throught body
Positve Feedback-The body produces more of a hormone when there is more of another hormone present. (Example: the body produces more milk when more prolactin is present)
Negative Feedback- When the body notices that there is too much of a hormone or a substance, it produces less of that hormone to even it out with other hormones. (Example: too much insulin so the body produces less to even out insulin with blood sugar.)
These systems were used throughout the project. Although we only focused on two of them, we presented our projects to the class so we got all the information. The specifics to our project include veins, arteries, and the glands.
Muscular- used for movement and strength
Endocrine- sends hormones to different cells telling them to make a certain change
Nervous- processes and sends electrical signals to allow for functions
Respiratory- does gas exchange
Lymphatic (Immune)- helps fight diseases
Circulatory- movement(circulation) of nutrients, waste, and gas
Digestive- break down and absorb food
Excretory- eliminate waste in the body
Reproductive- to reproduce and continue a species
Skeletal- support and protection
Hormones- a substance produced in an organism that os transported to cells taht tell it to do a certain action/task
Pituitary Gland- One of the most important glands because it controls growth hormones, prolactin, release of cortisol, thyroid, and luteinizing hormones. It also has great influence over other organ systems and glands
Heart-Contains red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma
Arteries-Contains red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma
Veins-Returns blood from body to heart
Capillaries-Small blood vessels where oxygen and nutrients are delivered
Blood- contains/carries nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc. throught body
Positve Feedback-The body produces more of a hormone when there is more of another hormone present. (Example: the body produces more milk when more prolactin is present)
Negative Feedback- When the body notices that there is too much of a hormone or a substance, it produces less of that hormone to even it out with other hormones. (Example: too much insulin so the body produces less to even out insulin with blood sugar.)
Our Project
Our two systems (endocrine and circulatory) were represented by the model below. It contains most of the major organs in both systems and functions properly and resembles the actual process in the human body. We have a balloon filled with water that represents the heart and blood. During the presentation, one of our group members squeezed the balloon to resemble the contractions that push blood through arteries. The clear tube represents this artery and the syringe represents the pituitary gland. Inside the syringe, there was green food coloring which shows the hormones within the "gland." To show the interaction between the two systems, the food coloring in the syringe was released during the presentation and "circulated" into the cup which shows a target cell. This cell had a paper towel to absorb the color to show the "hormones" entering the cell.
Our two systems (endocrine and circulatory) were represented by the model below. It contains most of the major organs in both systems and functions properly and resembles the actual process in the human body. We have a balloon filled with water that represents the heart and blood. During the presentation, one of our group members squeezed the balloon to resemble the contractions that push blood through arteries. The clear tube represents this artery and the syringe represents the pituitary gland. Inside the syringe, there was green food coloring which shows the hormones within the "gland." To show the interaction between the two systems, the food coloring in the syringe was released during the presentation and "circulated" into the cup which shows a target cell. This cell had a paper towel to absorb the color to show the "hormones" entering the cell.
Here is a picture of our finished project:
Reflection
I thought this project was very successful. My group worked well together and I am very happy with our final project. One thing we did really well was time management. On the first day we built our entire project and this really helped us perfect its function. We spent the next build day working out the flaws and our project worked successfully almost every time. The extra time let us focus more attention on the presentation and the information in it. Another thing we did well was making our presentation detailed and informative. With the spare time, we were able to add pictures and organize the research in the best possible way. One thing I could improve on is incorporating everyones ideas into the project. At certain times it seemed that only some people's ideas were being used and our research had too many specifics. We ended up making everything cohesive but for future projects I should make sure everyones ideas are concidered and incorporated somehow. Another thing I could improve on is staying on task. Since we had a bit of spare time on our hands, I wandered around the classroom a bit. I could have used this time to add on to the project and make it even better. This is definitely something I hope to improve on in the upcoming projects. Overall, I enjoyed this project and I think it turned out great. I hope to do more hands on building projects like these in the future as well.
I thought this project was very successful. My group worked well together and I am very happy with our final project. One thing we did really well was time management. On the first day we built our entire project and this really helped us perfect its function. We spent the next build day working out the flaws and our project worked successfully almost every time. The extra time let us focus more attention on the presentation and the information in it. Another thing we did well was making our presentation detailed and informative. With the spare time, we were able to add pictures and organize the research in the best possible way. One thing I could improve on is incorporating everyones ideas into the project. At certain times it seemed that only some people's ideas were being used and our research had too many specifics. We ended up making everything cohesive but for future projects I should make sure everyones ideas are concidered and incorporated somehow. Another thing I could improve on is staying on task. Since we had a bit of spare time on our hands, I wandered around the classroom a bit. I could have used this time to add on to the project and make it even better. This is definitely something I hope to improve on in the upcoming projects. Overall, I enjoyed this project and I think it turned out great. I hope to do more hands on building projects like these in the future as well.