Module 01 — Basics of Anatomy and Physiology · quiz worth 18 pts · 2026-08-05
Most confusion in this lesson comes from memorizing labels without noticing the kind of question.
It is usually anatomy: parts, layers, location, shape, attachment, or microscopic appearance.
It is usually physiology: movement, circulation, secretion, regulation, or the effect of disease on function.
Find the root first, then add the prefix and suffix. Cardio-logy becomes heart + study of.
Is measuring how a muscle contracts anatomy or physiology?
Physiology, because the question is about function.
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Anatomy identifies structures such as organs, bones, tissues, muscles, and blood vessels. Physiology explains what those parts do alone and together to sustain life. A skin anatomist locates layers and cells; a skin physiologist studies barrier function, sensation, blood-vessel changes, and sweating. The structure gives a part its possible jobs, while the job helps explain why the structure matters.
Galen used animal dissections to describe several body systems, but some conclusions were wrong. William Harvey later used human dissection and experiments to show that blood circulates in a continuous cycle. The example models scientific inquiry: observe, question, predict, test, and interpret. New evidence can improve an earlier explanation.
A prefix comes first and modifies location, number, time, or condition. A root carries the central body part or subject. A suffix often names a specialty, test, procedure, function, or condition. Examples: cardio + logy means study of the heart; osteo + cyte means bone cell; hypo + thyroid + ism means a condition involving low thyroid activity.
An organ contains specialized tissues and performs one or more jobs. Related organs form a body system. The kidney filters substances and belongs to the urinary or excretory system. The heart and blood vessels form the cardiovascular system; the brain, spinal cord, and nerves form the nervous system. No system works in isolation, so physiology often follows how one system changes another.
Gross anatomy studies structures visible without a microscope. Microscopic anatomy studies tissues, cells, and molecules. Regional anatomy studies all structures in one area, while systemic anatomy follows one body system. In physiology, cell physiology studies cell processes, special physiology studies one organ, systemic physiology studies organs cooperating in a system, and pathological physiology studies how disease alters function.
Sort anatomy specialties by what they look at and physiology specialties by the function they test.
Regional means every structure in one place. Systemic means one system across many places.
Special physiology focuses on one organ. Systemic physiology follows organs working together.
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Name whether the question is about structure, function, a word part, a body system, or a specialty.
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