6.
4 - Circulatory System
The Circulatory System
Aorta
Pulmonary arteries
Superior vena cava
Left atrium
Right pulmonary Left pulmonary veins
veins
Pulmonary Mitral valve
valve
Right atrium Aortic valve
Right ventricle
Left ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Inferior vena cava Septum
Link to the Video
https://youtu.be/a-uF50BgMGM?si=8Rev132TqhQudSyb
Some animals are so small that all of their cells are in direct
contact with the environment.
Diffusion and active transport across cell membranes
supply their cells with oxygen and nutrients and remove
waste products.
The human body, however, contains millions of cells that
are not in direct contact with the external environment.
Because of this, humans need a circulatory system. The
circulatory system transports oxygen, nutrients, and other
substances throughout the body and removes wastes from
tissues.
Explain that blood is pumped through the body by the heart,
a hollow organ composed almost entirely of muscle. An
adultʼs heart contracts (in cardiac cycle, a complete
contraction and relaxation of the heart) on average 72 times
a minute, pumping about 70 milliliters of blood with each
contraction.
The heart is divided into four chambers.
2 atria and 2 ventricles
A wall, called the septum, separates the right side of the
heart from the left side. The septum prevents oxygen-poor
and oxygen-rich blood from mixing.
Question: Which chambers receive blood?
Answer: Each upper chamber, or atrium (plural: atria),
receives blood from the body.
The right atrium accepts oxygen-poor blood from the body
while the left atrium accepts oxygen-rich blood from the
lungs.
Question: Where does blood travel from the ventricles?
Answer: Each lower chamber, or ventricle, pumps blood out
of the heart.
The right ventricle pumps oxygen-poor blood to the lungs
while the left ventricle pumps oxygen-rich blood to the body.
The valves in the heart prevent blood from flowing in the
wrong direction. Identify the valves between the chambers
and between the ventricles and arteries.
Superior venae cavae and inferior venae cavae that these
bring blood from the body to the heart.
Question: Is this blood oxygen rich or oxygen poor?
Answer: oxygen poor
Question: Where does the blood go next?
Answer: to the right atrium
Question: Where does the blood go next?
Answer: through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle
Question: Where does the blood go next?
Answer: though the pulmonary valve to the lungs
Question: What happens to the blood in the lungs?
Answer: The blood is oxygenated.
Explain that the blood travels back to the heart through the
left and right pulmonary veins.
Question: Where does the blood go next?
Answer: to the left atrium
Question: Where does the blood go next?
Answer: through the mitral valve to the left ventricle
Question: Where does the blood go next?
Answer: through the aortic valve into the aorta and to the
body
Circulation
Link to the Video
https://youtu.be/BEWjOCVEN7M?si=P5LvF0ZmPk99Ijht
The heart functions as two pumps.
One pump pushes blood to the lungs, while the other
pushes blood to the rest of the body. The right side of the
heart pumps oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs
through the pulmonary circulation.
In the lungs, carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood, and
oxygen is absorbed. Oxygen-rich blood then flows to the left
side of the heart. The left side of the heart pumps oxygen-
rich blood to the rest of the body through the systemic
circulation. Cells absorb much of the oxygen and load the
blood with carbon dioxide by the time it returns to the heart.
Question: How is pulmonary circulation different from
systemic circulation?
Answer: Pulmonary circulation is the blood flow between the
lungs and the heart; systemic circulation is blood flow
between the heart and the body.
Question: In pulmonary circulation, through what organs
does blood flow?
Answer: heart and lungs
Question: What happens to blood in the capillaries of the
lungs?
Answer: The blood absorbs oxygen and gives off carbon
dioxide.
Question:What structures does blood flowing through the
systemic pathway serve?
Answer: the rest of the body
Blood Vessels
Artery Capillary Vein
Arteriole Venule
Connective Connective
tissue tissue
Endothelium
Smooth muscle Valve Smooth muscle
Blood leaving the heart passes through the aorta, the first of
a series of vessels that carries blood through the systemic
circulation. As blood flows through the circulatory system, it
moves through three types of blood vessels—arteries,
capillaries, and veins.
Arteries are large vessels that carry blood from the heart to
the tissues of the body. Except for the pulmonary arteries, all
arteries carry oxygen-rich blood. Arteries have thick, elastic
walls.
The smallest blood vessels are the capillaries. Most
capillaries are so narrow that blood cells pass through them
in single file. Their thin walls allow oxygen and nutrients to
diffuse from blood into tissues and allow carbon dioxide and
other waste products to move from tissues into blood.
After blood passes through the capillaries, it returns to the
heart through veins. Many veins are located near and
between skeletal muscles. When you move, the contracting
skeletal muscles squeeze the veins, pushing blood toward
the heart. Many veins contain valves, which ensure blood
flows in one direction through these vessels.
Question: How are the structures of veins and arteries
similar?
Answer: Veins and arteries have an inner layer of
endothelium, a middle layer of smooth muscle, and an outer
layer of connective tissue.
Question: How do the functions of arteries and veins differ?
Answer: Most arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart
to the tissues of the body. Most veins carry oxygen-poor
blood from the body back to the heart.
Question: How are capillaries similar to veins and arteries?
Sample answer: Capillaries, veins, and arteries all carry
blood in the body.
Question: Why does diffusion of materials between blood
and body cells occur across capillary walls but not across
veins or arteries?
Answer: because of capillariesʼ extremely thin walls
Blood
Capillary wall breaks.
Platelets take action.
Clot forms.
In addition to serving as the bodyʼs transportation system, components of blood
also help regulate body temperature, fight infections, and produce clots to
minimize the loss of body fluids from wounds.
Explain that the human body contains 4 to 6 liters of blood. About 55 percent of
total blood volume is a fluid called plasma.
Plasma is about 90 percent water and 10 percent dissolved gases, salts,
nutrients, enzymes, hormones, waste products, plasma proteins, cholesterol, and
other compounds. Plasma proteins consist of three types—albumin, globulins,
and fibrinogen. Albumin and globulins transport substances such as fatty acids,
hormones, and vitamins. Albumin also plays an important role in regulating
osmotic pressure. Some globulins fight viral and bacterial infections. Fibrinogen
is necessary for blood to clot.
The most numerous cells in blood are red blood cells (erythrocytes). The main
function of red blood cells is to transport oxygen. They get their crimson color
from the iron in hemoglobin, a protein that binds oxygen. Red blood cells are
produced by cells in the bone marrow. As they mature and fill with hemoglobin,
nuclei and other organelles are forced out.
Explain that white blood cells (leukocytes) are the
“army” of the circulatory system.
White blood cells guard against infection, fight parasites, and
attack bacteria. A sudden increase in white blood cells is a
sign that the body is fighting a serious infection. Different
types of white blood cells perform different protective
functions. For example, macrophages engulf pathogens.
Lymphocytes are involved in the immune response. B
lymphocytes produce antibodies that fight infection and
provide immunity. T lymphocytes help fight tumors and
viruses. In a healthy person, white blood cells are
outnumbered by red blood cells by almost 1,000 to 1.
A minor cut or scrape may bleed for a bit, but then the
bleeding stops. Why?
Because blood can clot. Blood clotting is made possible by
plasma proteins and cell fragments called platelets. When
platelets come in contact with the edges of a broken blood
vessel, their surfaces become sticky, and they release
proteins called clotting factors that start reactions to produce
a solid clot.
Question: Describe what is shown in this image.
Answer: Platelets clump at the site and release the clotting
factor thromboplastin, which triggers a series of reactions.
Thromboplastin converts the protein prothrombin into the
enzyme thrombin.
Question: Describe what is shown in this image.
Answer: Thrombin converts the soluble plasma protein
fibrinogen into insoluble, sticky fibrin filaments, which form
the clot. The clot seals the damaged area and prevents
further loss of blood.
Question: the following questions to help students
understand the functions of each component of blood.
Question: Which two components of blood are most directly
involved in blood clotting?
Answer: plasma proteins and platelets
Question: Anemia is a term for a group of disorders
characterized by a deficiency of red blood cells. What
function of blood is impaired in individuals with anemia?
Answer: delivery of oxygen to body cells
Question: If an individual has a disorder that results in a
reduction of white blood cells, what is a likely result?
Answer: reduced ability to fight infection
