Why many animals have a heart and circulation.

Small organisms such as flatworms

do not need a circulatory system because: they have a large surface area to volume ratio so sufficient oxygen can diffuse in across the entire surface

they are thin enough and small enough for sufficient materials to diffuse to and from every cell

Why many animals have a heart and circulation.

In large organisms diffusion is too slow to move materials oxygen, food etc. - throughout the body fast enough and in sufficient quantities to support high metabolic rates. Have mass flow transport system fluid, i.e. blood made to move around body Blood made to move by pressure generated by heart

 In vertebrates blood retained in blood vessels; blood vessels + heart = circulatory system This allows generation of higher pressure so blood travels faster increases efficiency Heart arteries arterioles capillaries (large number; site of exchange between blood and cells) venules veins heart Valves in heart and veins ensure one way flow

Blood leaving gills at low pressure Low pressure in systemic circulation

** In double circulation blood flows through heart TWICE Heart lungs heart extra pressure boost to increase pressure in systemic circulation so flow is faster rapid delivery of materials allows support of higher metabolic rate

Q 1.1: Why do only small animals have an open circulatory system?

Movement of oxygen, carbon dioxide and other products carried by blood relies on diffusion in open system diffusion only fast enough for small animals (rate of diffusion is inversely proportional to the distance)

Q 1.2: What are the advantages of having a double circulatory system?

Blood can pass slowly through the region where gas exchange occurs maximising the transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide although this causes a large pressure drop so blood has to be returned to the heart and then be pumped under high pressure around the rest of the body enabling the organism to be very active

Q 1.3: Fish have two-chambered hearts and mammals have four-chambered hearts. Sketch what the threechambered heart of an amphibian might look like

Q 1.4: What might be the major disadvantage of this threechamber system?

Some mixing of oxygenated blood (from lungs) with deoxygenated blood (from the body) in the ventricle