Histology

Discussion Board 2 

Prompt: You are an alien. Although different from humans, your tissues and organ structure are similar. This is your chance to get creative—briefly describe your alien and environment (i.e. what do you breathe or eat, do you live in an aquatic environment, etc.) 

Apply what you have learned in Hands On Lab: Histology to design one of your alien organs. 

First describe the function(s) of the organ. To do this, you need to research what Earth organs and tissues would reflect the physiology of your organ (i.e. if your organ allows you to breath underwater, you might research fish gills or if your organ is a pump, you might research human cardiac muscle)

Now, describe the tissues that make up the organ and the function of each tissue. Tissue requirements:

• 2 epithelial tissues (epithelial tissues line structures, so you should have one on the outside of your organ and one lining the inside)

• 2 connective tissues

• 1 muscle tissue

• 1 nervous tissue

Remember that the tissues you choose must reflect the purpose of the organ (i.e. if it is a filtering organ, you would not choose a stratified epithelial tissue as your filtering layer or if the organ needs to contract, this would be the purpose of the muscle layer)

Part 1: Initial Post (Worth up to 50 points)

• Length: 250-500 words

• You will need to use at least 3 reputable scientific references to support your post (not including your textbook). Reputable sources= peer reviewed scientific journal articles, accredited websites, or books. Google, Wikipedia, etc. are not acceptable sources.

o Your information must be credible, accurate, and well supported by evidence. The best sources of information are the research journals and the books as well as webpages maintained by professional societies and organizations. Search for articles and academic material should start with the electronic databases of libraries such as FTCC’s Paul H. Thompson Library (opens new window), PubMed (opens new window) or other such resources. When in doubt about material, use CARS checklist (opens new window) to see if it can be used in discussions and writings.

o You must cite all sources. Citation format must be MLA or APA (Visit the Purdue Owl Writing Lab (opens new window) for instructions on proper formatting)