Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
Concepts of Biology

Critical Thinking Questions

Concepts of BiologyCritical Thinking Questions

Critical Thinking Questions

27.

Describe how the body’s mechanisms maintain homeostasis?

28.

Why is excretion important in order to achieve osmotic balance?

29.

What is the role of the accessory organs in digestion?

30.

What is the role of minerals in maintaining good health?

31.

Discuss why obesity is a growing epidemic.

32.

Describe the function of these terms and describe where they are located: main bronchus, trachea, alveoli.

33.

How does the structure of alveoli maximize gas exchange?

34.

Describe the cardiac cycle.

35.

What is a similarity and a difference between an exocrine gland and an endocrine gland?

36.

Describe how hormone receptors can play a role in affecting the size of the responses of tissues to hormones.

37.

Many hormone systems regulate body functions through opposing hormone actions. Describe how opposing hormone actions regulate blood-glucose levels?

38.

What movements occur at the hip joint and knees as you bend down to pick something up?

39.

How are neurons similar to other cells? How are they unique?

40.

What are the main functions of the spinal cord?

41.

What are the main differences between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system?

42.

What are the main functions of the sensory-somatic nervous system?

Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/concepts-biology/pages/1-introduction

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/concepts-biology/pages/1-introduction

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Jul 22, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.