Introduction

Welcome to the first edition of the Open Educational Resources specifically designed for Animal Physiology at the University of Alaska Anchorage (BIOLA310).

This resource is built to support your learning and is meant to be a place to start as you consider the information that we explore during this course. However, I expect and encourage you to reach into primary literature to expand your knowledge as we move through the main topics in this course. Foundationally, the flow of the information in this course and this pressbook is built upon what physiology education experts have defined to be core principles (“big ideas”) of physiology (Michael, J. and McFarland, J., 2011, 2020).

The study of physiology and how bodies work has been a scientific focus since Aristotle (384-322 B.C) Aristotle’s Biology. For the past 200 years, scientists have used animal physiology to explore human physiology and investigate foundational theories of evolution. As a consequence of this work, there is considerable amounts of physiology content that is now known of which people can only learn a tiny fraction of the details of physiology during a single semester course. Therefore this course focuses on four of the core principles: Homeostasis, Interdependence, Gradients, and Energy. Notice that the chapters are aligned to start with Homeostasis, which is foundational to any organism that is actively maintaining an internal environment. Then the content focuses on the concept of the interdependence of systems, such that people will explore how different cells/tissues/organs/organ systems will interact or not interact with each other. This work will be done in the context of how multiple organ systems contribute to homeostasis. Concepts of gradients and energy are crucial to understanding how organisms transport “stuff” across all levels of organization and how this “stuff” is established, utilized and restored. During our journey through these core concepts, the foundation of a cell, tissue, or organ structure, is intrinsically related to its function. Any changes to the structure of a cell, tissue or organ, will likely impact the function that directly alters the mechanisms of homeostasis.

• The core principles (“big ideas”) of physiology: results of faculty surveys, Joel Michael and Jenny McFarland, Advances in Physiology Education 2011 35:4, 336-341
• Another look at the core concepts of physiology: revisions and resources, Joel Michael and Jenny McFarland Advances in Physiology Education 2020 44:4, 752-762