What is homeostasis?
Q: What is homeostasis?
A: Homeostasis is the self-regulation of a stable internal environment in living things. It is life's ability to stay balanced when the environment changes.
Q: Who coined the term homeostasis?
A: The term was coined by Walter Cannon in 1926, 1929, and 1932.
Q: What are some features of homeostasis according to Walter Cannon?
A: According to Walter Cannon, homeostasis involves constancy in an open system such as our bodies which is maintained by mechanisms that resist change; any increase or decrease in certain variables will meet with factors that resist it; and there are cooperating mechanisms which act simultaneously or successively to keep a steady-state condition.
Q: What organs are involved with homeostasis in mammals?
A: In mammals, the main organs involved with homeostasis are the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, lungs, skin, muscles, kidneys, liver and pancreas. The brain also plays an important role as it controls behaviour which supports life by taking action.
Q: How do animals regulate their inner equilibrium?
A: Animals regulate their inner equilibrium by adjusting their pH levels, temperature levels of oxygen or carbon dioxide in the blood and so on.
Q: What is the study of how living things keep themselves in a stable condition called?
A: The study of how living things keep themselves in a stable condition is called physiology.
