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The human
circulatory system
The Heart and the Circulatory System:
The cells in our body need a good supply of oxygen and nutrients. They also need to get rid
of waste substances. Our blood carries out both of these functions. The circulatory system
consists of blood vessels such as arteries, veins and capillaries and a pump called the heart.
Tasks:
1. Label this diagram of the
heart using the structures
in the table below:
2. Colour in the right atrium,
right ventricle, and
pulmonary artery with a
blue colouring pencil.
3. Colour in the left atrium,
left ventricle, and
pulmonary vein with a red
colouring pencil.
4. Show the direction of blood
flow through the heart
using arrows.
Which parts of the heart receive blood from the lungs? ________________________________
Which part of the heart receives blood from the rest of the body? ________________________
Which parts of the heart pump blood into the ventricles? _____________________________
Why does the left ventricle have thicker walls than the right ventricle?_____________________
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Blood circulation around the body:
In this section you’ll learn about the flow of
blood around the body. This will include how
many times blood passes through the heart
as it is transported around the body.
A
double
circulation:
• Blood passes through the heart twice
on every full circuit of the body.
o This is called a double
circulatory system.
• A double circulatory system
separates the blood with oxygen from
the blood without oxygen.
• Blood with oxygen is called
oxygenated blood.
• Blood without oxygen is called
deoxygenated blood.
• The pulmonary circuit pumps blood
to the lungs.
• The systemic circuit pumps blood to
the body systems (i.e. the head,
limbs, and trunk).
Blood vessels:
In this section you’ll learn about the different blood vessels that carry blood around the body.
Task:
1. On this picture colour in
the arteries in red and
the veins in blue.
Capillaries
Arteries divide into smaller and smaller blood vessels. The smallest blood vessels are called
capillaries. The capillaries are very small and penetrate every part of the body. A body cell is
never very far away from a capillary.
The function of a capillary is to take nutrients and oxygen to cells and take waste products
away. The structure of a capillary helps them do this. Capillaries have very thin walls, this
means that the substances can get in and out very quickly.
Veins
Capillaries eventually join up again and form veins. By the time the blood gets to the veins, it is
at a much lower pressure than it was in the arteries. We can see this in the structure of veins.
Veins do not have thick, strong, elastic walls. Veins have valves to stop the blood from flowing
backwards. Arteries do not have valves because the force of the heart beat keeps the blood
moving.
Questions
on
blood
vessels:
Which blood vessels carry blood away from the heart? _______________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Task:
Using the information in the last three paragraphs, complete this summary table
What is their What is the How does their structure help
job? structure of the them do their job?
wall
Arteries
Capillaries
Veins
Questions:
Why do arteries have elastic walls? _______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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What is the function of capillaries? ________________________________________________
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How is blood kept moving in the large veins of the legs? _______________________________
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If the coronary artery gets blocked, then the cells in the heart may run short of oxygen. If this
happens then they will not be able to contract (squeeze). This is called a cardiac arrest or
heart attack.
Questions:
What is the coronary artery?
_____________________________________________________
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Why does the heart need its own blood supply? ______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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6 mark Questions:
Describe the movement of blood around the body stating at the right atrium.
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In the space below write down three things you have learnt in today’s lesson:
1