Introduction
Did you know that you see the largest organ in your body every day? You wash it, dry
it, cover it up to stay warm or uncover it to cool off. In fact, you see it so often it is easy
to forget the important role your skin plays in keeping you healthy. Your skin is part of
yourintegumentary system(Figure16.5), which is the outer covering of your body. The
integumentary system is made up of your skin, hair, and nails.
Figure 16.5: Skin acts as a barrier that stops water and other things, like soap and dirt,
from getting into your body. ( 6 )
Your Skin and Homeostasis
Your integumentary system has many roles in homeostasis, including protection, the sense
of touch, and regulating body temperature. Keeping water out of the body is an important
role for your integumentary system. If this were not so, the man in Figure 1 would not be
able to bathe. All of your body systems work together to maintain stable internal conditions.
Each of the parts that make up your integumantary system has a special role in maintaining
homeostasis which we will explore a little later.