AQA Biology 4.5.3.1
The endocrine system
Glands send chemical messages in the blood. Find the six glands, then race a hormone against a nerve impulse.
Triple Science · Foundation tier
Start here
A fright.
A door slams behind you in an empty house. Minutes later your heart is still pounding.
If you had to guess, is that long-lasting pounding caused by a message along nerves, or by a chemical in your blood?
Glands and hormones
Six glands.
The endocrine system is made of glands that secrete chemicals called hormones directly into the bloodstream. The blood carries each hormone to a target organ, where it produces an effect. Tap each gland to find it.
Tap a gland.
The pituitary gland in the brain is a master gland: it secretes several hormones into the blood in response to body conditions, and these act on other glands to make them release hormones.
Compare
Hormone or nerve impulse?
Send both to the same target and compare. Compared with the nervous system, hormonal effects are slower but act for longer.
Send one of each.
How nerve impulses travel: The nervous system. Hormones at work: Blood glucose and diabetes and Hormones in human reproduction.
Think again · every organ?
“Every organ responds to every hormone.”
Your call
ChooseA hormone in the blood reaches every organ. Which organs respond to it?
Sort
Nervous or hormonal?
Place each one.
Tap a card, then tap the box it belongs in. Tap a placed card to take it back.
Command words in this lesson
- Identify
- The six glands on a diagram of the body.
- Describe
- How a hormone reaches its target organ.
- Compare
- Hormonal and nervous control: speed, duration, how the signal travels.
Key fact
Glands secrete hormones directly into the blood, which carries them to a target organ. Hormonal effects are slower than nervous ones but last longer.
Key note · AQA 4.5.3.1
The endocrine system
- Glands secrete hormones directly into the blood, which carries them to a target organ.
- Six glands: pituitary (brain), thyroid (neck), adrenal glands (on the kidneys), pancreas, ovaries, testes.
- The pituitary is the master gland: its hormones act on other glands.
- Compared with the nervous system, hormonal effects are slower but act for longer.
Photograph this card. Tomorrow, cover it and say each line first.
Previous and next
Connects to
Ask MrBadmus
Not sure where the adrenal glands are?
Body outlines and the response graph are schematic.