Eagles help Homer stay alive and thrive

Homer Simpson owes the Eagles his life. Students in Melinda Hall’s 7th grade science class at Flat Rock Middle participated in “Homer-ostasis,” a lab where they worked together to keep him alive and healthy by maintaining his homeostasis.

The class must keep the “body fluids” (water) at a certain level, color, and temperature in order to achieve this homeostasis. The level is for his hydration/dehydration; the color is for the amount of glucose and electrolytes; and the temperature is his internal temperature. They also answer questions after the lab such as: What was the most difficult part of maintaining Homer’s homeostasis? How does your actual body maintain homeostasis during cold weather? What are some ways you maintain a constant water level? How do you think you keep your blood sugar and other electrolytes at balanced levels?

“I hope they learned how valuable homeostasis is to cells and to the organism made up of those cells,” said Hall. “We also do a homeostasis exercise lab during our study of the human body that goes along with this same principle, except they are doing the exercises and watching their levels of sweat, temperature, and coloring to see how important homeostasis is to the organism as a whole.”