Week 1 — Readings & Resources · Body Organization, Homeostasis & Anatomical Terminology

Course: Anatomy & Physiology I (BIOL 2301 + BIOL 2101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Navarro
Objective covered: Objective 1 — Use anatomical terminology; explain the levels of organization, the characteristics of life, and homeostasis.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded.

This week's load is deliberately light: 1 video + 2 short readings + 1 interactive atlas, grouped by the ideas from the lecture. Watch or read one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 35–45 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Order that matches the lecture: ① anatomy, physiology & organization → ② homeostasis & feedback → ③ the directional terms, planes & cavities.

A habit to start now: before you trust any A&P claim — in these resources, in a chatbot, or anywhere — ask the questions from class: Is the term used from anatomical position? Which structure is the reference? Does the structure's shape match the function being claimed?

① Anatomy, Physiology & the Levels of Organization

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–3. Anatomy is structure, physiology is function, and the body is built in nested levels — chemical → cellular → tissue → organ → organ system → organism.

Video — "Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology" (CrashCourse Anatomy & Physiology #1)
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBGl2BujkPQ
Why it earns the click: an energetic ~11-minute tour of exactly our week — what A&P is, the complementarity of structure and function, the hierarchy of organization (≈ 4:20), and a first pass at the directional terms (≈ 7:27). Watch the whole thing; it previews most of the week.
⏱ ~11 min

Reading — "Anatomy and Physiology 2e," Ch. 1 Introduction & §1.2 Structural Organization (OpenStax)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/1-introduction
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language statement of what A&P is, the characteristics of life, the survival needs, and the six levels of organization — a free online textbook page, no account needed. (Use the "Next" links to step into §1.2.)
⏱ ~10 min

② Homeostasis & Feedback

Maps to Lecture Segments 3–4. The idea the rest of physiology rests on: the body holds its internal environment steady through feedback loops — negative feedback reverses a change; positive feedback amplifies it.

Reading — "Anatomy and Physiology 2e," §1.5 Homeostasis (OpenStax)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/1-5-homeostasis
Why it's assigned: walks through the receptor → control center → effector loop and works the body-temperature and blood-glucose examples — exactly the negative-feedback model we built in class, plus the positive-feedback exceptions (childbirth, clotting).
⏱ ~10 min

③ Anatomical Terminology — Directions, Planes & Cavities

Maps to Lecture Segments 5–7. The precise language of location: anatomical position, the directional-term pairs, the three planes, and the body cavities.

Reading — "Anatomy and Physiology 2e," §1.6 Anatomical Terminology (OpenStax)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/1-6-anatomical-terminology
Why it's assigned: the single best reference for anatomical position, every directional term with a worked example, the sagittal / frontal / transverse planes, and the dorsal vs. ventral cavities and their subdivisions. Skim the figures — this is the page to keep open during the lab.
⏱ ~12 min

Interactive — InnerBody "Anatomy Explorer" (free, no download)
🔗 https://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html
Why it earns the click: a free, clickable 3D-illustration atlas organized by body system. You'll use it in Lab 1 to find structures and describe their directional relationships; spend five minutes now getting comfortable rotating and clicking through a system.
⏱ ~5 min (browse)

Optional one-stop references (free online)

• Khan Academy — Human Anatomy & Physiology. A free unit with short articles and videos covering the body's organization, homeostasis, and terminology. A good place to return to all term.
  🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/human-anatomy-and-physiology
• GetBodySmart — interactive A&P tutorials. Clean, labeled, interactive diagrams of each system; handy when you want to drill structure names.
  🔗 https://www.getbodysmart.com/

Pick-one quick path (≈20 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch "Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology" (groups ①–③ in one video).
2. Skim OpenStax §1.6 Anatomical Terminology (the directional terms, planes, and cavities — the heart of the quiz).

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Navarro and use the OpenStax or Khan Academy references above in the meantime.