Integumentary System Lab Discussion

The integumentary system consists of skin, hair, nails, and nerves. As you learn about the various diseases that affect the integumentary system, it is important for you to understand the structures that can be affected by disease. Complete this lab to become familiar with a healthy system and to identify diseases related to the skin.

PART ONE: basic functions

Provide brief answers to the following questions to help you get acquainted with the basic functions of a healthy integumentary system. Refer to Ch. 19 in Microbiology: Principles and Explorations.

How does the integumentary system prevent disease?

How do sweat, sebaceous (oil), and mucus secretions help prevent disease?

Which types of bacteria are considered normal skin microflora?

Suppose a sample of bacteria was taken from your skin. If you were to perform a Gram stain on the sample, what is the likely Gram reaction – positive or negative? Explain your answer.

PART two: basic structures

Identify the selected integumentary system structures in the following diagram:

PART three: investigate and apply

Access the Public Diseases & Conditions A-Z Index on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/DiseasesConditions/ Scroll down to the section titled Top Requested Diseases & Conditions. Review the list of diseases that the general public is most frequently requesting information about. You will notice some familiar diseases from your assigned readings. Click on at least one microbe-related skin disease (excluding sexually transmitted diseases) and complete the following activity.

Read the information on the CDC site and provide a brief, 1-2 paragraph summary of the skin condition. Include the following in your description:

The skin condition

The microbe causing the condition

Which structures of the integumentary system are affected—Use one or more structures included in Part Two.

Who is at risk

How serious the disease is

[Type your paragraph in the space below]

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. Get homework help here