Discussion Board 2: Stranded on Puerto Golgi

Prompt (Use your imagination!):

You are a space tourist traveling to a distant planet when a malfunction occurs on your spaceship. All will need to exit the ship within a day. You will take an emergency escape pod to one of the planets nearby. 

Your friend bets you that they can accurately describe the integumentary system of the organisms on the planet you are going to stop at. Little does your friend know that you have been studying the integumentary system.

Based on your knowledge of the human integumentary system, what do you think the integumentary systems of the organisms on this planet would be like? What will you see? 

Choose one planet below and using the features of the human integumentary system, consider how that system may be altered for survival in these conditions. 

1. Planet Aridosol: Hot, dry, windy

Temperature range: 95-115 degrees Fahrenheit

Wind range: 50-65 mph daily

Sunlight range: 20-24 hours a day (in a 24hr day)

Precipitation range: 2 short rainy seasons 10” a year. One lake highly saline. 

2. Planet Histosol: Tropical, heavy vegetation, heavy rainfall

Temperature range: 75-95 degrees Fahrenheit. High humidity

Wind: very little 

Sunlight: 18 hours a day but little gets through the trees. A shady planet

Precipitation range: Heavy, 1-2” per day 

3. Planet Gelisol: Cold, gusty, icy 

Temperature range: -35-20 degrees Fahrenheit

Wind range: 30-45 mph, gusts up to 80mph 

Sunlight range: 14 hours a day (in a 24hr day) 

Precipitation range: mild, snow/ice 3-5” per month

There is no perfect answer, but here are a few things to consider:

-Layers of the skin

-Cellular activity within the layers

-Depth of certain structures

-How the integumentary system may affect other organ systems in the body

-You may want to look at the animal kingdom for some ideas

Through this 2-part discussion with your classmates, you will state your planet choice, explain how the integumentary system (the alteration you think you will see) would affect the survival of these organisms using appropriate and sufficient evidence, and then respond to your classmates posts to convince them your alterations will most likely be seen. In other words, you need to know why your description is the most advantageous. You want to win the bet! Use science to win!

Remember, no answer is one hundred percent correct so you are not saying that others are wrong, but instead why your description is more optimal based on evidence of how the integumentary system works. 

Part 1: Initial Post (Worth up to 70 points)

• State and explain your choice. When stating the evidence, consider the challenges
  that others may have to your evidence and how you could counter those respectful challenges.