Levels of Organization
Unit 6: Tissue Structure and Functions
Unit outline
Part 1. Tissue: a higher level of organization
- General structure of epithelial tissue
- General functions of epithelial tissue
- Classification of epithelial tissue
- General structure of connective tissue
- Functions of connective tissue
- Classification of connective tissue
Practice Questions
Learning Objectives
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
I. Define tissue and describe the importance of tissue level organization to an organism.
II. Describe the structure and function of epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous tissue.
III. Explain the relationships between structure and function of tissues.
Learning Objectives and Guiding Questions
At the end of this unit, you should be able to complete all the following tasks, including answering the guiding questions associated with each task.
I. Define tissue and describe the importance of tissue level organization to an organism.
- What is a tissue?
- What is the main benefit to humans of having tissue level organization?
II. Describe the structure and function of epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous tissue.
- Describe the general structure of each of the following:
- Epithelial tissue
- Connective tissue
- Muscle tissue
- Nervous tissue
- Describe the general function of each of the following:
- Epithelial tissue
- Connective tissue
- Muscle tissue
- Nervous tissue
- Compare and contrast the structure of the three types of connective tissue (proper, supportive connective tissue, and liquid connective tissue).
- Compare and contrast the structure of the three types of stratified epithelium (stratified squamous epithelium, stratified cuboidal epithelium, and stratified columnar epithelium).
III. Explain the relationships between structure and function of tissues.
- Use annotated diagrams to describe the structure and function of each of the seven main types of epithelial tissue (including pseudostratified columnar epithelium).
- Compare and contrast the structure and function of:
- Simple squamous epithelium and stratified squamous epithelium
- Simple squamous epithelium and simple columnar epithelium
- Simple squamous epithelium and simple cuboidal epithelium
- Simple cuboidal epithelium and simple columnar epithelium
- Simple cuboidal epithelium and stratified cuboidal epithelium
- Create a table stating:
- The matrix composition,
- The cellular types,
- The main function(s), and
- Specific examples
…of each of the following types of connective tissue:
-
- Fluid connective tissue
- Loose connective tissue
- Dense connective tissue
- Cartilage
- Bone
- Compare and contrast the three types of muscle tissue by discussing each of the following characteristics:
- The structure of each of the three types of muscle tissue
- How each type of muscle tissue is controlled (i.e., whether voluntary control is available or not)
- The function(s) of each of the three types of muscle tissue
- Name and describe both o