01.

04 Skin – The Largest Organ (15 Points)

Anna Lambert
10/9/22

Directions: Part 1 – Answer ONE of the essay questions below. Delete the choices you
don’t use. Please include 2 functions of the dermis and epidermis.

Part 1 (5 Points)
Choice #3: This weekend you are going camping with your closest friends and family.
Thankfully, the layers of your skin will help protect you during this adventure. Discuss at
least two ways each layer, the epidermis and dermis, may protect you on this excursion.
Describe two ways these skin layers are at work in your scenario:

Epidermis
1. My skin will be protected from infectious substances in the woods while camping
because of my epidermis. This is due to the tightly packed cells in the stratum layer of
the epidermis.
2. Merkel cells in the epidermis serve as touch receptors which would alert me if an
insect would land on me while camping

Dermis -or- hypodermis

1. The dermis layer of my skin will function to regulate my body temperature if it is hot
during the day by releasing heat through sweat from the sweat glands contained in the
dermis. This is important for maintaining constant rates of the chemical reactions inside
my body.
2. If it is cold at night, the dermis will regulate my body temperature through the
contraction of the blood vessels in the dermis which will decrease the rate of heat-
carrying blood to store as much heat in the body.

Directions: Part 2 – Write your own scenario in paragraph form, using a completely
different scenario than your first answer.
Describe two ways each skin layer is at work in your scenario.

Part 2 (10 Points)

This scenario will be completely different than your original one. Write your own skin
scenario here (5 points):
I am going to the pool on an extremely hot day in the middle of the summer in Florida
with my friends. Thankfully, the functions of my skin will protect me on this day.

Describe two ways these skin layers are at work in your scenario:

Epidermis (please do not reuse functions from part 1):

1. My epidermis will also help in protecting me from intense UV rays from the sun
through the melanin produced in the epidermis.

2. Due to the water-resistant properties of the epidermis, the pool water will be
absorbed into my cells which would interrupt their intracellular environment.
Dermis -or- hypodermis (please do not reuse functions from part 1):
1. If I were to cut my foot at the pool, the blood vessels in my dermis layer will break,
causing the wound to clot and form a scab to limit blood loss.
2. The epidermis is responsible for synthesizing Vitamin D from the sun, which is then
used in my body to maintain the health of my bones.