Homeostasis

Ben Grant Mia

The great differences and diversity of the world we in habit.

• Planet earth is full of life from big to small from warm blooded mammals to plants to cold blooded reptiles.

• Every thing in this huge and complex environment of our planet are all made of cells which are all composed of roughly the same parts.

• It is easy to forget in our modern metropolises that all life is not so different from us.

First of all what is homeostasis?

Good question!

Homeostasis is the regulation of a system that makes it maintain a stable internal environment. Living things use homeostasis from single celled organisms to entire large organisms. We need systems to maintain our internal environments such as, body temperature, water content, food intake and many more absolutely necessary systems. Basically homeostasis is just an organisms internal environment, & how it’s maintained. There for, there are different parts of homeostasis, like the pH in an organism. pH is the acidic level in something. The pH scale ranges from zero (very acidic), to 14 (very basic), and 7 is the mediator

But how do so many cells work in harmony to fuel the organism that they ultimately

complete?

• The answer to this question is surprisingly simple!

• Each and every cell whether it is a brain cell or a cell in the small intestine are all programmed for their certain job.

• This means that all cells know exactly what they are doing and that with the help of other cells of their kind they can complete jobs necessary to the organism.

But what about single celled organisms?

Although one may think that a single celled organism has less going on in its inner workings but that is not true. Just like every other living thing single celled organisms must create and maintain their own homeostasis to have a safe and productive interior environment to live in. yes single celled organisms do maintain their homeostasis just like us but they have other ways of doing it. Ways that they do this are by growing, responding to theirenvironments, transforming energy for their needs, and reproducing.

Single cell domination!Alright well maybe not domination, but in terms of numbers single celled organisms account for much more life than us humans or any type of animal. Single cellular organisms include both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Prokaryotes are bacteria and are very adaptive. They can live almost anywhere because of their relatively simple systems to maintain. They can live from places desolate like the desert to environmentally rich places such as oceans or even inside of you! Many Eukaryotes live single cellular organisms as well although not nearly as adaptive as Prokaryotes. Many fungus are single cellular to such as yeast, which is very helpful to other organisms.

That’s great and all but what about multi cellular organisms?The cells of multi cellular

organisms all have to work together and communicate to maintain homeostasis and their ideal and necessary internal environments.

Each cell has a specific job to maintain and together when all of the cells work together in harmony they can create and maintain necessities for the organism that they create

Whether it’s a single celled bacteria or a multi cellular kitten cells and cell cooperation play a very important role in every life!

Cell Specialization“The cell performing a specific function

 for a larger organ or tissue.”

• The cell functions vary but are all very important, some cells are programmed, or specialized, to move, some provide for the organism, and some are specialized to do a task based on the environment they are in. Each task, a specialized cell, no matter what it may be, contributes to the overall homeostasis of the organism

Specialized Animal Cells

- Specialized animal cells help to keep the particles out of the lungs. They are almost like our janitors. This is necessary because even the most filtered air can have loads of bacteria, dust, and smoke.

- Mitochondria fills each of these cells , which provides a steady supply of the ATP (adenosine triphosphate, empirical) that powers the cilia on their upper surfaces

Specialized Plant Cells

- Pollen grains are a great example of a highly specialized cells. Pollen grains are tiny and light, with thick cell walls to protect the cell’s contents.

- Another great example of a specialized plant cell would be a pine pollen grain. They have two tiny wings that it make it that even slightest breeze can allow them to travel great distances.

Levels of Organization

The specialized cells of multicellular organisms are organized into three groups, tissues --> organs --> organ systems. A group of similar cells that work together to perform a specific function, are called tissues. For very complicated tasks, many groups of tissues work together to create an organ. Each type of tissue performs an essential task to help the organ work properly. By organizing the body’s cells into tissues, organs, and organ systems allows the organism to maintain homeostasis.

Cellular CommunicationCells in a large organism communicate by ways chemical signals that are transferred from one cell to another. These signals can make the cells either speed up or they can slow down the activities of the cells that receive them. Also they can cause a cell to change what it is doing. Some cells form cellular junctions or connections, to neighboring cells. Some junctions let tiny molecules carrying chemical messages to pass directly from one cell to the next. To respond to a chemical signals, a cell must have a “receptor” where the signaling molecule can connect to. Sometimes these receptors are on the cell membrane, but sometimes the receptors for certain types of signals are inside the cytoplasm. This type of communication can cause important changes in cellular activity.