Record your notes for the "What is it" section below.
Overview
In this lesson, students will use a NetLogo model to explore how insulin and glucagon regulate blood glucose levels through negative feedback.
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
Credits
Unit designed by Eleanor Kemp a teacher at Lindblom.
Acknowledgement
These lessons utilize resources from Project Neuron, a curriculum program developed by the University of Illinois, and HASPI (Health and Science Pipeline Initiatives).
Activities
- 1. Introduction to Model
- 2. Using the model
- 3. Wrap Up
Student Directions and Resources
In this lesson, you will use a NetLogo model to explore how insulin and glucagon regulate blood glucose levels throughout your body.
1. Introduction to Model
The simulation you will be working with today is designed to model the role of the hormones insulin and glucagon play in regulating blood sugar levels. Before you begin the simulation, click on the “Info” tab to figure out how the interface functions. You should read the following sections and record any notes below the model:
Question 1.1
Question 1.2
Read through the "How it Works" section and fill out the data table below.
Question 1.3
Read the "How to Use it" Section and fill in the data table below.
2. Using the model
Run the model once without clicking any buttons (besides setup/go) or sliders.
Question 2.1
At what point does the body run out of glucose? Record any relevant values in the space below.
Question 2.2
Describe the pattern of the graph when the body runs out of glucose. Explain what might be occurring to account for this pattern.
Question 2.3
Before the body runs out of glucose, what type of feedback system is regulating the body? How does the graph help you to know this?
Question 2.4
What parts of this simulation accurately depict glucose regulation? What parts do not accurately depict glucose regulation?
Question 2.5
How could you modify this model to more accurately represent the body’s regulation of blood glucose?
3. Wrap Up
Return to the INFO tab. Follow the directions in the following sections and record your notes/answers below.
Question 3.1
Record your notes for the "Things to Notice" section below.
Question 3.2
Record your notes for the "Things to Try" section below.
Question 3.3
Record your notes for the "Extending the Model" section below.
Question 3.4
After experiencing all parts of the model, which parts can you say are physiological responses and which are behavioral? Briefly describe what systems (and structures) are involved in these processes.
