Leaf Structure

Heart

● Blood circulation
○ Blood in the right ventricle (RV) is pump to the lungs
○ Blood from the lungs flows back into the left atrium (LA) and then into the left
ventricle (LV).
○ Blood in the LV is pumped through the body (except for the lungs)
○ Blood returns to the heart where it enters the right atrium (RA).

● Muscular contraction
○ The heart is made of a special type of muscle called cardiac muscle which contracts
and relaxes regularly, throughout life. The heart’s muscle is constantly active, so it
needs its own blood supply, through the coronary artery, to provide it with oxygen
and glucose.

● Working of the valves

○ Valves in the heart prevent blood from being pushed backwards up into the atria
when the heart ‘beats’.
Notes
● Arteries are thick-walled, elastic vessels that carry pulsing, high-pressure blood away from
the heart. They split into capillaries, which are tiny vessels with walls only one cell thick.
Capillaries take blood close to every cell to the body, so that the cells are supplied with
oxygen and nutrients and have their waste products removed. Capillaries join up to form
veins. Veins are thin-walled vessels with valves, which carry low-pressure blood back to the
heart.
● Fluid leaks out of capillaries to fill the spaces between all the body cells, where it is called
tissue fluid. It is collected into lymph vessels which carry it back to the bloodstream.
Lungs

● Alveoli
○ Walls– one cell thick so that diffusion
happens quickly.
○ Moist surface- allow O2 to dissolve
making diffusion faster.
○ Blood is moving – so that’s concentration
gradient is maintained for O2 and CO2
○ Wall of capillary – one cell thick (or very
thin) so that’s diffusion happens quickly.
○ Red blood cells – contain haemoglobin to
transport O2 away from the lungs.
●