Excreting waste is one way the body can achieve equilibrium through homeostasis. Homeostasis is the tendency toward a relatively stable balance between interdependent elements in the body. In the waste management process the liver is one of the most important organs. The liver cleanses the blood of dead blood cells and waste. The liver then puts the waste products into the urinary system. The color of your pee is directly related the the amount of water and waste in your urine. The darker the pee the less water and more waste in your pee. The lighter the pee the more water and less waste. When you have dark pee it means your body is taking more waste products out of your blood to reach equilibrium. Lighter pee means there is a less amount of waste products and more water in your body. Normal, healthy pee actually has a yellow color from a pigment called urochrome. The less water your drink the more dehydrated your body will be and darker your urine will be. However, drinking so much water that your pee is clear can actually cause an imbalance in your electrolyte levels. When the liver is cleaning out the blood, your brain knows when to pee from the hormone antidiuretic (ADH). When the bladder is full, the antidiuretic hormone is released to tell your brain it's time to empty your bladder. The hormone Aldosterone is released to tell your brain the bladder is empty. Our hypothesis is that the color of your urine color is directly related to the amount of toxins in your body and the more your body had to work to achieve homeostasis.
Abstract
As the body tries to complete homeostasis your body excretes waste. One way to excrete waste is through the urination process. Our experiment is to see how the body reacts to nutrients in the blood and how the color of your urine responds. We chose 4 participants with different diets and physical activity levels. Each participant recorded their food intake, water, and exercise for one day. Once we analysed the data we were able to prove our hypothesis that the more toxins in your body is directly related to how dark your urine is.
Test Subjects/ Results
We chose 4 participants. We chose these people because there is a wide range of physical activity and same age (within a year). 1 plays soccer and cross country. 2 plays golf, basketball, and baseball. 3 runs cross country, plays baseball, and workouts out every day. 4 plays video games at home. The subjects also have different diets. 4 does not eat many healthy foods. 2 eats relatively healthy foods.1 is gluten and nut free. He also eats eats relatively healthy. 3 eats very healthy. What we have gathered from the data we took is that the healthier you eat in combination with a sufficient amount of exercise, and a moderate amount of water leads to a more diluted volume of toxins in your urine. On the other hand if you eat an unbalanced diet which includes low amounts of exercise and water intake causes the color of your urine to be a darker shade of yellow.
Conclusion & Thoughts
Our data tells us that if you are able to keep a balanced diet and exercise every day it is inevitable that you will have a more diluted urine with less toxins in it. Your body will be able to achieve homeostasis more easily and quickly. This always your body to correct itself in other ways like body temperature and heart rate. The analysis of our data went well. We had everything organized in a simple way so we could easily access and infer our data collected. The main thing that did not go well was the technology we had. We did have the technology to make complex conclusions about our data. The main error that occurred was human error. Everybody that recorded their pee color may have a different view of their rating of color darkness. We also recorded everything in class. If we recorded it immediately we would have had a better monitor of the food, exercise, and pee color. If we had the technology if would have been nice to test the actual amount of toxins in your urine. We would have been able to compare the urine in a more complex way versus just the color.
Poster
Content
Homeostasis: The tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes Urine: A watery, typically yellowish fluid stored in the bladder and discharged through the urethra Liver: Filters and processes blood as it circulates through the body Kidney: Take creatinine out of the blood and put it in the urine to leave the body Waste System: The elimination of the waste products of metabolism and to drain the body of used up and broken down components in a liquid and gaseous state Equalibruim: A state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced Blood cells: Any of the kinds of cells normally found circulating in the blood Electrolytes: Are certain nutrients (or chemicals) present in your body that have many important functions Toxin: An antigenic poison or venom of plant or animal origin, especially one produced by or derived from microorganisms and causing disease when present at low concentration in the body Urinary System: The kidneys, ureters, bladder, and the urethra
Reflection
This project this year has been far my favorite project. Everything down to the group I was placed in was perfect. We worked incredibly off one another and it was definitely shown in the work we produced. This project was incredibly interesting and very relatable to me because this is a process that my body undergoes to create an equilibruim. One thing I felt I did well was my leadeship skills in combination with my groupmate Jake Schmidt. We were a great combo and worked very well together on this project and look forward to more projects with him in the future. One thing I did do poorly was my seperation of jobs through out the whole group. The majority of the project was done by two of the four people in the group and it was like such due to poor communication. I will learn from this experience and used these new skills going into future projects.