AQA · GCSE · Combined Science
Course version: 8464 · Version from Sept 2018
Control of blood glucose concentration: If the blood glucose concentration is too high, the pancreas produces the hormone insulin that causes glucose to move from the blood into the cells. In liver and muscle cells excess glucose is converted to glycogen for storage.
After a carbohydrate-rich meal, glucose absorbed from the gut raises blood glucose above the normal range.
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
After a carbohydrate-rich meal, glucose absorbed from the gut raises blood glucose above the normal range. Pancreas cells detect this rise and secrete insulin into the blood. Insulin travels to cells and increases the rate at which they take up glucose from the blood plasma. In liver and muscle cells, glucose not needed immediately for respiration is converted into glycogen, a storage polysaccharide. This lowers blood glucose back towards the set point, an example of negative feedback. Glycogen acts as a store that can later be broken down to release glucose when blood concentration falls. The liver is especially important because it can both store and release glucose, helping to keep the supply steady between meals.
What earns the marks
- A rise in blood glucose concentration is detected by the pancreas, which releases insulin into the blood.
- Insulin causes glucose to move from the blood plasma into cells, including liver and muscle cells.
- Inside liver and muscle cells, excess glucose is converted into glycogen for storage.
- Glycogen is an insoluble storage polysaccharide made from many glucose units joined together.
- The removal of glucose from the blood and its conversion to glycogen lowers blood glucose concentration towards the normal range.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Writing that insulin 'destroys' glucose.
Put it right: Insulin causes glucose to enter cells, where it is used in respiration or stored as glycogen.
Confusing glycogen with glucagon.
Put it right: Glycogen is the storage carbohydrate, while glucagon is the hormone that raises blood glucose.
Saying glucose is stored as glycogen in all cells.
Put it right: The main storage sites are liver and muscle cells.
Stating that insulin is an enzyme.
Put it right: Insulin is a hormone that alters cell behaviour, not a catalyst that digests glucose.
Exam tips
- Use the sequence: high blood glucose → pancreas detects → insulin released → glucose enters cells → excess converted to glycogen → blood glucose falls.
- Name both liver and muscle as storage sites when the question asks where glycogen is made.
- Distinguish clearly between glycogen (storage molecule) and glucagon (hormone) in written answers.
- Link the response to negative feedback so the examiner sees that the original change is reversed.
Try the lesson
The start of the Control of blood glucose concentration: If the blood glucose concentration is too high, the pancreas produces the hormone insulin that causes glucose to move from the blood into the cells. In liver and muscle cells excess glucose is converted to glycogen for storage. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Which hormone does the pancreas produce when the blood glucose concentration is too high?
See it
Put it in order
Put these steps in the order they happen.
- 1. Pancreas produces insulin
- 2. Glucose moves from the blood into the cells
- 3. Liver and muscle cells: excess glucose converted to glycogen for storage
- 4. Blood glucose concentration lowered
- 5. Blood glucose concentration too high
Key words
Say what each word means before you turn the card.
Insulin
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Glycogen
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Negative feedback
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Pancreas
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
See every definition
- Insulin
- A hormone produced by the pancreas that causes glucose to move from the blood into the cells.
- Glycogen
- An insoluble storage polysaccharide made from many glucose units joined together, formed from excess glucose in liver and muscle cells.
- Negative feedback
- A response that reverses the original rise in blood glucose, lowering it back towards the normal range.
- Pancreas
- The organ that detects a rise in blood glucose concentration and releases insulin into the blood.
Label the diagram
Some boxes have lost their names. Pick the right name for each number.
1Box 1
2Box 2
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