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4.5.2.4Control of body temperature

AQA GCSE Biology Foundation (8461), Foundation tier · Homeostasis and response › The human nervous system

Practise Control of body temperature. 6 exam-style questions on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.

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Revision notes

How the thermoregulatory centre in the brain keeps your body temperature close to 37 °C, using sweating, changes in blood flow to the skin and shivering. Expect 'describe' and 'explain' questions, often in a context such as exercise or a cold day. This subtopic is in GCSE Biology only.

Key facts

  • Thermoregulatory centre (in the brain): receptors sensitive to blood temperature
  • Skin temperature receptors send nervous impulses to the thermoregulatory centre
  • Too hot: vasodilation + more sweating
  • Too cold: vasoconstriction + sweating stops + shivering
  • Vasodilation: more blood near the skin surface → more energy transferred to the environment
  • Sweat evaporating transfers energy away from the skin

Notes

Monitoring temperature

  • Body temperature is monitored and controlled by the thermoregulatory centre in the brain.
  • The thermoregulatory centre contains receptors sensitive to the temperature of the blood.
  • The skin also contains temperature receptors, which send nervous impulses to the thermoregulatory centre.
  • Keeping the core temperature near 37 °C keeps enzymes working at their optimum.

If you are too hot

  • Vasodilation: blood vessels supplying the skin dilate (widen), so more blood flows through the capillaries near the skin surface.
  • Sweating: sweat glands produce more sweat. The water in sweat evaporates from the skin.
  • Both mechanisms transfer more energy from the skin to the environment, so body temperature falls.

If you are too cold

diagram
  • Vasoconstriction: blood vessels supplying the skin constrict (narrow), so less blood flows near the skin surface and less energy is transferred to the environment.
  • Sweating stops, so no energy is transferred away by evaporating sweat.
  • Shivering: skeletal muscles contract rapidly.
  • Too hotskinvasodilation:vessels widen, more bloodnear the surface;sweat evaporatesToo coldskinvasoconstriction:vessels narrow, less bloodnear the surface;no sweating (and shivering)bloodvesselsweatgland
    Red arrows: energy transferred from the skin to the surroundings. More when hot, less when cold.

How to answer each type of question

Describe the body's responses

2 to 3 marksGrade 5
  1. Decide whether the body is too hot or too cold.
  2. Give one response per mark, using the correct terms (vasodilation, vasoconstriction, sweating, shivering).

Example. Describe how the body responds when its temperature falls below normal.

Show the model answerHide the model answer
Blood vessels supplying the skin constrict / vasoconstriction (1). Sweating stops (1). Skeletal muscles contract rapidly / shivering (1).

Don’t lose marks

  • Saying blood vessels move closer to or further from the skin. They stay where they are; they widen or narrow.
  • Saying capillaries dilate or constrict. It is the blood vessels supplying the capillaries that change width.
  • Writing that sweating cools you without saying the sweat evaporates, transferring energy from the skin.
  • Saying shivering 'makes heat' without linking it to respiration in the muscles.
  • Forgetting to name the thermoregulatory centre or saying it is in the skin. It is in the brain.

More tips

Memory tricks

  • Too hot: 'dilate and sweat'. Too cold: 'constrict and shiver'.
  • Vasodilation = red face when hot; vasoconstriction = pale skin when cold.
  • Sweat only cools you when it evaporates.
  • Shivering warms you because contracting muscles respire.

Exam technique

  • Always link a response to energy transfer: 'so more (or less) energy is transferred from the skin to the environment'.
  • In a context question, use the details given (red skin, sweat, shivering) and explain each one.
  • For 6-mark answers, cover detection as well as the responses, and keep them in a logical order.

What each grade needs

What you need to be able to do, from the first marks up to the top grade.

  1. Grade 3
    State normal core body temperatureAbout 37 °C, the optimum for the body's enzymes.
  2. Grade 4
    Name where temperature is monitoredThe thermoregulatory centre in the brain, which has receptors sensitive to blood temperature.
  3. Grade 4
    List the responses to overheatingVasodilation and more sweat produced by sweat glands.
  4. Grade 5
    List the responses to being too coldVasoconstriction, sweating stops, and skeletal muscles contract (shivering).

Quick recall

Cover the answers and test yourself. The app has these as flashcards that come back just before you'd forget them.

Which organ also contains temperature receptors that send impulses to the thermoregulatory centre?
Skin
Body temperature is monitored and controlled by the thermoregulatory centre. Where in the body is the thermoregulatory centre?
In the brain

Sample questions

Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.

Question 1Easy5 marks
Body temperature is monitored and controlled by the thermoregulatory centre.
(a) Where is the thermoregulatory centre?
Tick (✓) one box.[1]
  • Brain
  • Heart
  • Liver
  • Skin
(b) The thermoregulatory centre contains receptors.
What are these receptors sensitive to?[1]
(c) Which organ also contains temperature receptors that send impulses to the thermoregulatory centre?[1]
(d) Give two ways the body responds when body temperature is too low.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a) Answer: Brain
(b)
  • the temperature of the blood
(c) Answer: Skin
  • skin
(d)
  • shivering / skeletal muscles contract
  • blood vessels supplying the skin capillaries constrict (vasoconstriction)
  • sweating stops
Question 2Medium6 marks
On a hot day, a person’s body temperature starts to rise.
(a) Explain how sweating helps to lower body temperature.[2]
(b) Explain how vasodilation helps to lower body temperature.[3]
(c) Suggest why sweating cools the body less well when the air is very humid.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
  • sweat (water) evaporates from the skin
  • (evaporation) transfers energy from the skin to the environment
(b)
  • blood vessels supplying the skin capillaries dilate / widen
  • more blood flows near the surface of the skin
  • (so) more energy is transferred from the skin to the environment
(c)
  • less sweat evaporates because the air already contains a lot of water vapour

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