Integumentary Study Questions

Critical Thinking Questions

3. As a rule, a superficial partial-thickness burn is more painful than one ivolving deeper tissues. How would you explain this observation?

I'd say that the reason is that once the burn reaches deeper tissues, it bruns out your nerves. Either that or there is so mmany signals going off that the feeling is nulled.

6. How would you explain to an ahtlete the importance of keeping the body hydrated when exercising in warm weather?

Besides the fact that he should know it, water keeps the body from cramping up from dehydration.

8. How is skin peeling after a severe sunburn protective? How might a fever be protective?

When skin peels, it is getting whatever is dead or harmful to the body away from the body. A fever could be protective b/c germs and other things can't survive past a certain temperature.(i guess)

Review Exercises

4. List six functions of skin.

Protective covering, retains water, regulates body temperature, houses sensory receptors, contains immune system cells, synthesizes various chemicals, and excretes small quantities of waste.

5. Distinguish between the epidermis and the dermis.

Epidermis- outer layer of skin. composed of squamus epithelium.

Dermis- Inner layer of skin. thicker than epidermis. is made of connective tissue containing collagen and elastic fibers, epithelial tissue, smooth muscle tissue, nervous tissue, and blood.

6. Describe the subcutaneous layer.

Subcutaneous layer- a layer of masses of loose connective and adipose tissues that bind the skin to underlying organs.

8. List the layers of the epidermis.

Stratum corneum, Stratum lucidum, Stratum granulosum, Stratum spinosum, Stratum basale.

13. Distinguish between a hair and a hair follicle.

Hair is the stuff you actually see. a hair follicle is the tubelike depression the hair shaft comes out of.

15. Describe how nails are formed.

Specialized epithelial cells that are continuous with the epithelium of th eskin produce the nail bed. The lunula at the base of a nail plate is where the cells divide, and newly formed cells keratinize which gives rise to tiny scales that become part of the nail plate.

16. Explain the function of sebaceous glands.

The function of sebaceous glands are to keep the hairs and the skin soft, pliable, and waterproof.

22. Describe the body's responses to decreasing body temperature.

Your brain decreases te flow of heat-carrying blood through the skin, which tends to lose color, and helps reduce heat loss by radiation, conduction and convection. Also, sweat glands become inactive. If that doesnt help, muscle in your body are triggered to contract slightly and rhythmically to produce heat.

25. Describe three physiological factors that affect skin color.

Genes inherited from parents can determine your skin color by how much melanin is produced by cells. Environmental factors such as sun/UV rays tan skin by stimulating the melanocytes to produce more pigments. Physiological factors such as blood in the dermal vessels adds color to the skin.

27. Distinguish between the healing of shallow and deeper breaks in the skin.

If a break is shallow, the epithelial cells are triggered to divide mor erapidly than usual and the new cells fill in the gaps. if the injury is as deep as the dermis or subcutaneous layer, blood vessels break, and teh escaping blood forms a clot in the wound. As the process goes on, eventually a scab is formed.

28. Describe possible treatments for a third-degree burn.

Skin grafts and skin substitutes are the best cures for third-degree burns.

29. List three effects of aging on skin.

Nails harden, receptors fail, and hair turns gray or white.