THE HUMAN BLOOD

1.Blood is made up of:

a. the fluid component called the
plasma.
b. the blood cells namely the red
and the white blood cells.
c. platelets
2.The blood cells and platelets are
produced by the bone marrow.

PATH OF BLOOD FLOW
We have double circulatory system. This meant that blood
passes through our heart twice:
a. from the heart to the lungs and back to the heart.
How does the blood change when it gets to your lungs?
What does it pick up? What does it drop off?
In your lungs the blood pick up oxygen
We say that it become oxygenated
The blood also gets rid of carbon dioxide

b. from the heart to the rest of the body and back to the heart.
How does the blood change when it gets to your body cells?
What does it drop ? What does it pick up?
The blood gives up its oxygen to your body cells.
We say that is becomes deoxygenated
Carbon dioxide passes into the blood from the body cells

BLOOD AND CIRCULATION AND TRANSPORT


Your blood is carried around your body in tubes called blood vessels
Your heart and blood vessels make up your blood system
Your blood circulates round and round your body in your blood vessels

So the blood system transport some useful things like :
oxygen from your lungs to your cells
food from your gut to your cells.
It also has to remove waste chemicals like :
carbon dioxide from your cells to your lungs
waste chemicals from your liver to your kidneys.

Your blood system also transport chemicals like hormones, antibodies and
blood proteins to all the cells of your body.

Many small organism do not need a blood system, like Amoeba can get things
such as oxygen by diffusion.
They have a large surface area compared to their volume.
It is easy for things to diffuse in and out

1. The heart lies in the thorax between the lungs,
its size about the size of the fist
2. The heart pumps blood to all parts of the body,
it is made up of cardiac muscles which
contract automatically.
3 The right side of the heart contains oxygenated
blood while
the left side contains oxygenated blood .
4. The muscular wall called the septum prevents
them to mixing
5. The heart has four chambers : Atrium and
ventricle (right & left)
6.The atrium has thinner wall than the ventricle
because the atrium has to pump blood only
to the ventricle.
7.The left ventricle has thicker wall than the right
ventricle because the left has to pump blood
around the whole body.
The right ventricle has to pump blood only to
the lungs which is a short distance way.
8. Structures called valves can be found
at the exit of the ventricle
9. Valves prevent the backflow of blood to
ensure one way flow of blood

Component of blood Structure Life span Function
Plasma Forms about 55% of
the total volume of
blood
Yellow fluid containing
90% of water and 10%
of other substances
Transports hormones,
digested food
substances, heat and
excretory products such
as carbon dioxide
Red blood cell Circular and
biconcave in shape
Lacks nucleus
Contains hemoglobin
About 3-4 months Transports oxygen
White blood cell Irregular in shape
Contains a nucleus
Colorless
Larger than the red
blood cell but much
fewer in number
Able to move and
change its shape
Ranging from 2 days to
6 months
Protects the body
against diseases and
infections by destroying
bacteria and releasing
antibodies
Platelet Small fragments of
cytoplasm from certain
bone marrow cells
Lack nucleus
About 4 days Plays a part in blood
clotting.
Action of the heart
1. When the atria relax, the two ventricles will contract.
2. Both atria contract at the same time
3. One contraction of the atria and one contraction of the
ventricle form the heartbeat
Contraction of atria
Tricuspid valve open and
deoxygenated
blood enters the relaxed right
ventricle
Bicuspid valve opens and
oxygenated
blood enters the relaxed left
ventricle.
Contraction of ventricles
tricuspid and bicuspid valves
close
semi- lunar valves open so
that :
Blood enters the pulmonary
arteries
Blood enters to aorta from all
part body
BLOOD VESSELS
1. Blood circulates around the body in tubes called blood vessels
2. There are three types of blood vessels : artery, vein and capillary
* Artery carries oxygenated blood from the heart( except pulmonary artery).
*Vein Carries deoxygenated blood toward the heart.
* capillaries joint to form veins. .
oxygenated blood is rich in oxygen. It is bright red
Red blood cells contain hemoglobin that combines with oxygen to be transported to
different part of the body
Deoxygenated blood is poor in oxygen but rich in carbon dioxide. It is purplish red.
Comparisons Artery Vein Capillary
Cross-section
Lumen
Narrow Fairly wide Very narrow
Structure of wall
Thick, muscular and
elastic wall to withstand
the high pressure
Relatively thin wall, not
as elastic and muscular
as that of the arteries
Wall is only one cell thick
with gaps in between
allowing the exchange of
materials with the
surrounding tissue
Direction of blood
flow
Away from heart Towards the heart From the artery to the vein
Blood pressure
High Low Very low
Rate of blood flow
Rapid and irregular Slow and regular Very slow
Presence of valve
No Yes No
Type of blood
carried
Oxygenated (except for
the pulmonary artery)
Deoxygenated (except
for the pulmonary vein)
Oxygenated blood to the
tissues
Deoxygenated blood from
the tissue