4. Lesson 4: Balancing Glucose and Understanding Homeostasis

Eleanor Kemp
Biology, Environmental Science
(1-2) 50 minute period(s)
High School Honors Biology
v1

Overview

After students have created their glucunculus and read about how the tissues in the body utilize glucose in different amounts, students should start wondering how our glucose levels change throughout the day through eating, exercise, sleeping, etc.  Start this lesson by telling them that the glucunculus they created was from a person at rest.  How might those drawings change if the person was exercising? These series of readings can be jigsawed and do not need to be completed on the CT-Stem platform, but the guiding questions are provided here as a means to start discussions, assess student understanding and probe student thinking. These readings could also be completed as homework/outside of class if you are limited on time.  The readings provide the background knowledge on homeostasis, and they have been adapted from Project Neuron, BSCS Biology: A Human Approach and the Health and Science Pipeline Initiative. 

Underlying Pages

Standards

Next Generation Science Standards
  •   Life Science
    • [HS-LS2] Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
  •   NGSS Crosscutting Concept
    • Patterns
    • Causation
    • Systems
    • Stability and Change
  •   NGSS Practice
    • Analyzing Data
    • Asking Questions, Defining Problems
    • Using Models
Computational Thinking in STEM
  •   Data Practices
    • Analyzing Data
  •   Modeling and Simulation Practices
    • Using Computational Models to Understand a Concept
  •   Systems Thinking Practices
    • Investigating a Complex System as a Whole
    • Understanding the Relationships within a System

Acknowledgement

Significant portions of this lesson are modified from materials that were created by Project Neuron, Project READi, BSCS: A Human Approach and the Health and Sciences Pipeline Initiative.