The Human Body as a Machine

The human body is made up of many individual parts that work together in a highly interactive and coordinated way. This course introduces the building blocks that make up the body, and how these are structured and maintained at a cellular level. We highlight the cardiovascular, hormonal and nervous systems, as critical coordination and control parts of the body. We investigate the structure of the musculoskeletal system, and how it helps us move through, and manipulate, our environment. We conclude by reviewing how the body replaces itself to create a new human being.

What will I learn?

• The organisational structure of your body
• Basic physiological principles that ensure normal body function
• The nature of the basic functional unit of the body, the cell.
• The biology of basic tissue types, such as those lining body surfaces (epithelia) and connecting other tissues (connective tissues)
• The structure and function of the cardiovascular, hormonal and nervous systems, and how they interact to coordinate and control the other systems within your body
• The structure of bone and muscle, and how they work together to allow you to  move through, and manipulate, your environment
• How DNA helps cells maintain and replace themselves to ensure internal maintenance and renewal within your body
• How your body produces reproductive cells, and how our genetic material is recombined to ensure that, through genetic diversity, we are genetically unique

Where could this lead me?

If you're wondering what your future could look like in this area, here are some potential careers you could head towards.

• Medicine
• Nursing
• Allied health Professions, such as Physiotherapy, OT, Speech Pathology, Audiology, Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical or Laboratory Science

MODULE 1: HUMAN BIOLOGY     MODULE 2: COMMUNICATION AND CO-ORDINATION SYSTEMS     MODULE 3: MOVING THE MACHINE     MODULE 4: MAKING THE MACHINE