You are a space tourist traveling to a distant planet when a malfunction occurs on your spaceship. All will need to exit the ship within a day. You will take an emergency escape pod to one of the planets nearby.
Your friend bets you that they can accurately describe the integumentary system of the organisms on the planet you are going to stop at. Little does your friend know that you have been studying the integumentary system.
Based on your knowledge of the human integumentary system, what do you think the integumentary systems of the organisms on this planet would be like? What will you see?
Choose one planet below and using the features of the human integumentary system, consider how that system may be altered for survival in these conditions.
1. Planet Aridosol: Hot, dry, windy
Temperature range: 95-115 degrees Fahrenheit
Wind range: 50-65 mph daily
Sunlight range: 20-24 hours a day (in a 24hr day)
Precipitation range: 2 short rainy seasons 10” a year. One lake highly saline.
2. Planet Histosol: Tropical, heavy vegetation, heavy rainfall
Temperature range: 75-95 degrees Fahrenheit. High humidity
Wind: very little
Sunlight: 18 hours a day but little gets through the trees. A shady planet
Precipitation range: Heavy, 1-2” per day
3. Planet Gelisol: Cold, gusty, icy
Temperature range: -35-20 degrees Fahrenheit
Wind range: 30-45 mph, gusts up to 80mph
Sunlight range: 14 hours a day (in a 24hr day)
Precipitation range: mild, snow/ice 3-5” per month
