The Integumentary System

http://www.uchospitals.edu/online-library/content=CDR258035

        Ahhh skin, what would we do without it? The truth is, we wouldn't survive without our skin.  Our skin is what makes up our integumentary system. The integumentary system does many things for the good of our body. It protects the body's internal living tissues and organs, protects against invasion by infectious organisms, retains water to prevent dehydration, protects the body against temperature change, helps dispose of waste materials, is a receptor for touch, pressure, pain, heat, and coldness, and it stores water and fat. All of these functions are vital for us to survive and maintain homeostasis within the body.

       One thing you might notice about your skin that is different than other organs (yes it is an organ) is its elasticity and its ability to stretch constantly. This is important so we can maintain a barrier between our body and the outside world and still be able to move our joints and flex our muscles without the skin breaking. The skins rich network of elastic and collagen fibers is what makes it so flexible. 

       The skin is not very thick. you may know this from when you get a cut. You obviously don't have to cut very deep to see the blood from the capillaries below start to come to the surface. But the skin being thin has its advantages.  The skin is perfect for things like absorption and secretion. You may notice that sweat and oils are secreted from the skin. You might also see that your skin absorbs things.  If some medicines are applied topically on the skin, it can be absorbed into the blood stream. However keep in mind that the skin is selectively permeable. Keratin keeps water from being absorbed through direct contact. So basically if you go swimming keratin is the reason your cells don't explode. 

http://www.redefiningthefaceofbeauty.com/2013/04/are-you-suffering-from-extreme-sweating.html

       Your skin can do extraordinary things. One thing it does for us is help maintain a good homeostatic balance in our bodies.  When your body gets hot, you sweat. When your skin gets cold it sends messages to the hypothalamus to tell the body to shiver or trigger constriction.  Our skin is also a great way to contact our outside environment by using nerve receptors in the skin to sense pressure, pain, and heat. These things also help us voluntarily react to the environment around us.  The integument system is truly amazing in the way it works in our body to complete several tasks.

Three Weekly Questions

What tasks have you completed recently?

Well, that raffle didn't do so hot this week. We made like 30 bucks. I actually just got back home from a tennis tournament in El Paso. Didn't do as well as I wanted to, BUT the tennis tournament continues tomorrow so I have two more matches to play. Hopefully I'll do better. Oh! Also on Monday, I made a little speech to the 8th graders on 8th grade open house night about how Mayfield is awesome and why wouldn't you want to be a Trojan and such.  Some people found it quite amusing.  I got my solo for solo and Ensemble. So I'll be working on that piece of music for the next two weeks. Then in Symphony I got on the first "Tromba" part. Apparently "tromba" is the old word for trumpet. I think its Italian or something. I don't know, I only speak English jeesh. It has lots of fun solo's though.

What have you learned recently?

Well. I think this week has been blahhadfhasldkjfadfzzahsf. You know what I mean right? Like I learned stuff but I don't remember most of it. Well I can't say that, it's just the stuff this week isn't as significant as other weeks. Maybe..... I think I learned how to solve polynomial equations in Algebra 2. Woops. I forgot I had math homework. I should probably try not to forget that. Uhhh, other than that it's just the integumentary system that I took notes on and stuff. In English we learned some new vocabulary and got some homework.  So yeah.

What are you planning on doing next?

Well I plan to do better in the tennis tournament tomorrow than I did today. I also plan to get my racket re-strung this weekend. Um we plan to make our next raffle thing more fun and integrative for the people so we have more people enter than this time.  I finally figured out what this years prom theme is gonna be after like 50 people asking me. Its gonna be The Great Gatsby themed. Uh next, I plan to sleep a lot its a 3 day weekend. And I plan to finish our mesa board and car for competition on the 26th. That will be fun.

Three Weekly Questions

What tasks have you completed recently?
Let's see, tasks.... Oh! I have one. So being the president of freshmen class it is my responsibility to organize things and make meetings and a bunch of other junk. Anyways, I had a great fundraiser idea and we decided to go through with it. We are selling raffle tickets for a valentines day date night. The tickets are $1 and you have a chance to win a $25 gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings and two movie passes. The best part is the gift card and movie passes were donated so everything we earn is profit.  So we made posters and planned out who will work the table at lunch and before school. We also made arrangements to get it advertised on the power-point on all of the TV's at Mayfield. So it was a pretty big step forward for freshmen class and this is the first year the freshmen class has actually done something. Cool beans right?

What have you learned recently?
Well, I think the biggest thing I learned this week was how to serve the ball for more power.  I learned how to serve the ball in a totally different way that puts the ball more under my control and it is much easier to hit harder. I think this has made me an overall better tennis player.

What are you planning on doing next?
I would love to ace the chapter 4 test in anatomy. That'd be fantastic. I've really been stressing out about the amount of homework I've had in all of my classes. So I plan to get it all turned in on time even if it means staying up really late doing nothing but homework. Gotta keep that 4.0 going strong.  I also plan to do my best for my audition for a solo in our jazz festival piece. I hope that goes well. Also I plan (and hope) to make it to the end of the week without drowning in school. Intense right?