Chapter 3 : Coordination and

response
3.1 RESPONSE &
COORDINATION
• External environment
• Refers to the physical and chemical conditions outside an
organism and how these conditions affect it

• Internal environment
• Refers to the physical and chemical conditions of the tissue
fluid (interstitial fluid) surrounding the tissues of an
organism

Changes in External &

Internal Environment
 CHANGES IN THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
• Light
• Taste
• Pressure
• Sound
• Temperature
• Touch

Living Organisms

CHANGES IN THE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

• Blood osmotic level

• Osmotic pressure of blood
• pH of tissue fluid

Changes in External & Internal Environment

The need for an organism
to be sensitive to changes
WHY?
1. Stimuli
2. Irritability
• ability of a living organism to react to stimulus
3. Receptor
4. Nerve impulse:
• Electrical messages (or signals) which are sent
to the integrating centre via afferent nerve
(sensory nerve)
• Integrating centre
• Processes sensory information from afferent nerve
• decide what to do
• initiate a response by sending nerve impulses via efferent
nerve (motor nerve)

• Response:
• Action taken by an effector in response to impulse receive
 STIMULUS SENSE ORGAN SENSATION
(RECEPTORS)
Light Eye Sight
Sound Ear Hearing
Chemicals in air Nose Smell
Chemicals in food Tongue Taste (sweet, salty, sour,
bitter)
Temperature Warm, hot, cold or cool
Pressure Pressure
Skin
Touch Texture
Pain Pain
 Stimulus Receptor
Nerve impulse travels
along an afferent nerve

Integrating centre
(Central Nervous
System)

Nerve impulse
travels along an
efferent nerve

Effectors (muscle or gland)

Appropriate responses
brings about a response

Pathway of Information Due to External

Stimuli
 Stimulus Corrective Negative
(above normal) mechanism feedback

NORMAL CONDITION
NORMAL CONDITION

Stimulus Corrective Negative

(below normal) mechanism feedback

Pathway of Information Due to Internal

Stimuli
Activity : human response to
external environment
• 2 types of plant responses to stimulus from
external environment:
• Tropism
• Growth movement of a plant organ towards
or away from an external stimulus
• Shows slow responses because they result
from differential growth of the plant

Plant responses to
external environment
 • Nastic movement
• Growth movement of a plant organ that is not
directed towards or away from an external
stimulus
• Fast because it result from osmotic changes
at the cellular level

Plant responses to
external environment
• Coordination:
• The act of making parts of
something work together in an
efficient and organized way

The Meaning of
Coordination
Stimulus Receptors

Nervous System Endocrine system

Effectors

Appropriate responses
3.4 HOMEOSTASIS IN
HUMANS
 The maintenance of
relatively constant internal
environment

HOMEOSTASIS
 KIDNEYS

Regulate the water & salt

balance in the body by
Regulate osmotic pressure
• excreting more/less salt
& ionic levels in the blood
• Increasing the intake /loss
of water

Excrete waste products Regulate the blood pH

 RENAL ARTERY : Supplies
oxygenated blood & nutrients to
the kidney

RENAL VEIN : carries filtered

blood away from kidney
NEPHRONS
Glomerulus Bowman’s Capsule Renal tubule
FORMATION OF
URINE
ULTRAFILTRATION REABSORPTION SECRETION
 Water
Glucose
Amino acids
Urea
Mineral Salts
RBC
Plasma
proteins

Water
Glucose
Amino acids

Ultrafiltration
Urea
Mineral Salts
RBC
Plasma
proteins
OSMOREGULATION
REVISION