This chapter describes the skin and its appendages. It explains the structure and function of the layers of skin (dermis and epidermis) and the hair, nails, and sweat glands (objectives 15). This chapter also explains how the skin helps regulate body temperature and how it responds to environmental factors, such as sunlight and injury (objectives 6 and 7).

Study of the integumentary system is essential to understanding how the body controls interaction between the internal and external environments.