Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the role of different glands in the endocrine systemExplain how the different glands work together to maintain homeostasis

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain how hormones workDiscuss the role of different types of hormone receptors

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain how hormones regulate the excretory systemDiscuss the role of hormones in the reproductive systemDescribe how hormones regulate metabolismExplain the role of hormones in different diseases

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain how hormone production is regulatedDiscuss the different stimuli that control hormone levels in the body

By the end of this section, you will be able to:List the different types of hormonesExplain their role in maintaining homeostasis

This course addresses the challenges of defining a relationship between exposure to environmental chemicals and human disease. Course topics include epidemiological approaches to understanding disease causation; biostatistical methods; evaluation of human exposure to chemicals, and their internal distribution, metabolism, reactions with cellular components, and biological effects; and qualitative and quantitative health risk assessment methods used in the U.S. as bases for regulatory decision-making. Throughout the term, students consider case studies of local and national interest.

In this activity, students are divided into a group of hormones and a group of receptors. The hormones have to find their matching receptors, and the pair, once matched, perform a given action. This activity helps students learn about the specificity of hormone-receptor interactions within the endocrine system.

Students learn how the endocrine system works and compare it to the mail delivery system. Students discuss the importance of communication in human body systems and relate that to engineering and astronauts.