Body systems and tissues
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Relate organ systems to tissue types and prepare for the PLTW morgue task.
1. Open your materials
Before the lab: Complete Vital Signs simulation.
2. Start the work
Take notes on the four primary tissue types and their functions.
Show all 5 required steps
- Take notes on the four primary tissue types and their functions.
- Map two organ systems to the tissues that build them.
- Review how a pathologist links tissue damage to cause of death.
- Complete the PLTW master-the-morgue online task on body systems.
- Note the observation variables you will record during microscopy.
Lost your place? Lost your place? You are prepping for the morgue microscopy task. Check that you have notes on the four tissue types and their functions (step 1) and have mapped two organ systems to their tissues (step 2), then finish the PLTW master-the-morgue online task (step 4).
Check your work before submitting
- I can name the four tissue types and their roles.
- I can connect a tissue to the organ system it serves.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Exit ticket: name all four tissue types, one identifying structural feature of each, and one organ that contains each type.
How to submit and name your file
Hand in your exit ticket before leaving class.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
PDF upload helpYou get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Find this lesson's Schoology assignments
These are existing assignments for your section. Follow the directions in the assignment you are working on; this list does not add new work. Check Schoology for each deadline.
Link will not open? Open Schoology, choose your course and section, and find the title shown above.
How this lesson connects
Keep using what you learned last class: Should ELISA testing for Novel Flu Syndrome be mandatory? Today: A pathologist studies just four tissue types instead of dozens of organs because every organ is built from those four, so learning how each tissue breaks lets you read damage anywhere in the body.
Case background, evidence, and file details▸
How today connects to the case
Where: Statik Sound, a neighborhood recording studio. Who: Marcus Bell, 34, owner and producer of Statik Sound, found on the studio floor behind the mixing console on a Monday morning by his business partner.
The scene in our room is the scene in the case: tape at the door, the outline and torso behind the console, the lower body beneath a fallen speaker cabinet and an acoustic moving blanket. Responders left the scene as found, pending investigation.
Your job: By Day 18 your team names the manner and cause of death and backs each one with at least four exhibits across three different evidence types. Every claim stops where the evidence stops.
Today you will run the external examination and estimate time of death from three body clocks: cooling, stiffening, and blood settling.
Remember: Three independent clocks, one window. When independent estimates agree, confidence is earned, not assumed.
- Activity 1.2.1 Anatomy of an Autopsy
- Activity 1.2.2 Time of Death
This John Hay case practices skills connected to the PLTW activity above. Follow today's directions for the assigned work.
Missed class? Open today's worksheet and briefing. Use simulated data only if the worksheet or Mr. Mendoza provides it, and label it "Simulated data." If a required measurement or file is missing, ask Mr. Mendoza. Do not invent results.
Evidence released today
- Exhibit 014 · Door access log, weekend (SIMULATED) · Records thread
Exhibit means one numbered piece of evidence. Thread means the team lane it belongs to (Scene, Trace, Serology and DNA, Toxicology, Medical Examiner, Records). Exhibits are handed out on paper in class on the day they are released, and the same files are attached to that day's Schoology assignment.
Notebook reminders
- Investigation Day 12 pack (paper in class; the PDF is above and on the Schoology assignment)
- Investigative Notebook: Time-of-death worksheet organizer
- Investigative Notebook: Manner-of-death logic tree (opens today, all branches live)
- Investigative Notebook: Day 12 Cornell page
Exit ticket: name all four tissue types, one identifying structural feature of each, and one organ that contains each type.
Hand in your exit ticket before leaving class.
Schoology assignment: Wk5 D12 · The Clock in the Body (PLTW 1.2.1)
Before the hands-on lab
- Vital Signs simulationComplete this simulation before you begin the hands-on work.
What the evidence can and cannot prove
- Classroom evidence supports a classroom finding. It cannot convict a real person or diagnose a real patient.
- A hair consistent with a person proves a hair like theirs was present, not that the person was, and never when.
- A fingerprint proves touch, not when or why. A pattern class narrows a crowd; only minutiae can name one finger.
- A presumptive test says maybe. Only a confirmatory test says blood, and only DNA says whose.
- One value outside its reference range is a flag, not a verdict.
Make only the claims your evidence supports. Explain what you still cannot tell.
Optional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: A pathologist studies just four types instead of dozens of organs because every organ is built from those four, so learning how each tissue breaks lets you read damage anywhere in the body.
- 0:00Quick-draw warm-up: sketch what you think a cell looks like; compare to actual cell diagrams
- 0:08Teacher-led notes: four types, defining features of each, which organs they build
- 0:28Mapping activity: draw two organ systems and label which types make up each structure
- 0:42myPLTW: complete the master-the-morgue body-systems online task
- 1:02Write observation variables for Wednesday's microscopy: what will you record for each slide?
- 1:10Exit ticket: name the four types and one identifying feature of each
- • Everything in your body, every organ, every gland, every vessel, is made from combinations of just four types. If you can identify the tissue, you can start to understand what organ it came from and what might have gone wrong with it.
- • Pathologists use , the microscopic study of , to determine . They are looking for patterns: cells that are swollen, dead, or abnormally shaped. Those patterns are the clues.
- • Tomorrow you will identify types on real slides and examine a preserved heart. Today we build the knowledge you need to actually recognize what you are looking at.
- • By the end of today you should be able to look at a cross-section of and at least ask the right question: , , muscle, or nerve?
- • The four primary types are (covering/lining), (support/binding), muscle (movement), and nervous (communication).
- • A pathologist identifies by looking for -level changes such as necrosis, inflammation, or structural damage in slides.
- • Organ systems are not independent: the cardiovascular system depends on muscular and tissue, and a failure in one tissue type can cascade across systems.
PLTW connection and today's work
In myPLTW, open Lesson 1.2 Master the Morgue and go to Activity 1.2.1 Anatomy of an Autopsy and Activity 1.2.2 Time of Death. Finish the body-systems questions in the first one, then start the time-of-death work in the second.
Today's stopping point: You read the Lesson 1.2 overview Monday. By the end of today the myPLTW body-systems task should be finished.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Course connection
- Activity 1.2.1 Anatomy of an Autopsy
- Activity 1.2.2 Time of Death
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
Should testing for Novel Flu Syndrome be mandatory?
A pathologist studies just four types instead of dozens of organs because every organ is built from those four, so learning how each tissue breaks lets you read damage anywhere in the body.
A mechanic studies a tool whose shape allows one job but limits another.
- Which feature makes the tool work?
- What changes if that feature bends or breaks?
- Which observation shows function rather than appearance?
Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
Living tissues adapt and interact with other systems; a metal tool does not.
- • Tool shape maps to .
- • The job maps to physiological function.
- • Damage maps to a predicted functional change.
Driving question: If the whole human body is made of only four kinds of , how does a pathologist look at a slice of heart under a microscope and know it failed?
What you already know: Should testing for Novel Flu Syndrome be mandatory?
New idea: A pathologist studies just four types instead of dozens of organs because every organ is built from those four, so learning how each tissue breaks lets you read damage anywhere in the body.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Body systems and tissues. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled observation or evidence sequence before choosing an explanation.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in today's lesson.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: If the whole human body is made of only four kinds of , how does a pathologist look at a slice of heart under a microscope and know it failed?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • : The body's ongoing process of keeping internal conditions like temperature, blood sugar, and pH steady despite changes in the outside environment.
- • : A group of similar cells working together to perform a shared function, such as muscle, nerve, or .
- • : A group of organs that work together to carry out a major body function, such as the digestive or circulatory system.
- • toxicology: The science of how chemicals and other substances cause harm to living things, including the dose at which they become dangerous.
- • : The study of the microscopic structure of tissues, examining thin stained slices under a microscope to see how cells are arranged.
- • : The specific physiological breakdown inside the body that directly ends life, such as a fatal heart rhythm or blood loss, separate from the underlying cause.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
Standard anatomical terms describe location and structure precisely, while physiology describes function; connecting levels from cells to tissues, organs, and systems supports a bounded explanation.
Limit: A classroom map or organization model simplifies three-dimensional variation and cannot diagnose injury or disease.
Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
Limit: Living tissues adapt and interact with other systems; a metal tool does not.
You can name the four types and their roles.
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-PBT-2026-09-25 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: biomedical investigator
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the exit response named on today's page.
- • Write the magnification on every sketch I make today, so anyone else can tell how large the structure really is.
- • Draw what I see and move on to the heart, since the sketch itself already records the I observed.
- • Redraw the slide at a known magnification before comparing it to the heart, because my current sketch has no size to compare.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the exit response.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the exit response named on today's page.
Context: Every organ is built from just four types, so damage at the tissue level is the evidence a pathologist uses to explain a death.
- • T1: Take notes on the four primary types and their functions.
- • T2: Map two organ systems to the tissues that build them.
- • T3: Review how a pathologist links damage to .
- • T4: Complete the PLTW master-the-morgue online task on body systems.
- • T5: Note the observation variables you will record during microscopy.
- • E1: Standard anatomical terms describe location and structure precisely, while physiology describes function; connecting levels from cells to tissues, organs, and systems supports a bounded explanation.
- • E2: Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
- • E3: You can name the four types and their roles.
Measurements: No patient measurement is supplied unless it appears explicitly in E1-E3 or F1. Do not invent a value.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Body systems and tissues. Trace the labeled observation or evidence sequence before choosing an explanation. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
Students often think Students think each organ is made of its own unique special material, so the heart is made of heart stuff and the liver is made of liver stuff.. The trap: That is a trap because all organs are combinations of the same four types (, , muscle, nervous); the heart and the liver share tissues, which is why a single tissue failure can cascade across many different organs.
Four tissue types, a feature, and an organ:
- Epithelial: tightly packed cells that cover and line surfaces; found in the skin.
- Connective: cells spread in a matrix that supports and binds; found in bone.
- Muscle: long fibers that contract; found in the heart.
- Nervous: branching cells that send signals; found in the brain.
Why it matters: organs are built from combinations of these four, so recognizing them is the first step a pathologist takes when reading a slide.
| Tissue type | Feature | Organ example |
|---|---|---|
| Epithelial | Covers and lines surfaces | Skin |
| Connective | Matrix supports and binds | Bone |
| Muscle | Fibers that contract | Heart |
| Nervous | Cells that send signals | Brain |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: An exit ticket naming the four primary tissue types, one structural feature of each, and one organ that contains each, checking recall before microscopy.
- Name the prompt or task.
- Answer it directly with the key evidence.
- Check that the response matches the requested format.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Hand in your exit ticket before leaving class. Also complete the online master-the-morgue body-systems task.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Body systems and tissues. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Hand-picked readings and interactives for this lesson, from authoritative open organizations and PLTW's own public course outline.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
The wall of the heart is mostly one tissue type doing one job. Which of the four tissue types is it, and what job is that tissue built to do?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
Run this before you touch the bench. It is built from the real lab procedure, so the decisions you make here are the ones you will make with the equipment in your hands. This lesson has more than one, and they cover different skills.
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
The bench work needs equipment you do not have at home. Do the thinking half now: read the procedure, write your prediction, and set up your data table so it is ready.
Back in class. Ask Mr. Mendoza for the class data set, or for a bench slot to run it yourself. Do not submit a Exit ticket with invented numbers.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Khan Academy: human body systems (Health and medicine)- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedGo to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
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