GENERAL BIOLOGY 2

MODULE 11
TRANSPORT AND CIRCULATION
“Transport” and “Circulation” are interchangeable terms although the term “transport” usually
applies to structures that deliver water and substances throughout the plant body. “Circulation” as a
term is more applicable to animals. This module provides you the opportunity to gain a better
understanding of the concepts, principles, and processes of transport and circulation. You will learn
more about them as you go through the module.

Learning Outcomes
After going this module, you are expected to:
• differentiate transport and circulation;
• distinguish between open and close circulation;
• name the three blood vessels and give their function;
• list the components of blood and give the function of each;
• determine how the blood clots;
• distinguish systemic from pulmonary circulation;
• trace the path of blood through the heart and about the body;
• define pulse.

TRANSPORT
The transport system in plants is
mainly made of the xylem and phloem
tissue. Xylem tissue transports water,
mineral ions, and solutes from the roots to
the leaves. Phloem tissue transports
nutrients from the leaves to the rest of the
plant. Absorption of water plus
macronutrients and micronutrients through
the root system is possible by diffusion.
Root hairs increase the surface area for
transport. Water molecules pass through
the epidermis, cortex, endodermis and
pericycle; then they move upwards by
means of xylem vessels. Xylem is a
vascular tissue responsible for the transport of water and nutrients in plants. Phloem cells transport
substances such as products of photosynthesis, water and other compounds up and down the plant
body. Phloem tissues are adjacent to companion cells that give them support and nourishment.

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CIRCULATION

Types of Circulation
The movement of the blood as it distributes food and oxygen to the cells of the body and
removes waste minerals from them is called circulation. The system in which the process of
circulation is carried on is the circulatory system. Circulatory system provides a mechanism for the
transport of gases, nutrients and waste products going in and out of the cell. Among unicellular
organisms, they accomplish this directly across the plasma membrane, while multi-cellular organisms
adapted a sophisticated method for transport.
Most invertebrates do not have a true circulatory system making their transport process
simple. The presence of gastrovascular cavity does not only provide digestive purpose, but also aids
transport. Sponges and most cnidarians, for instance, use water from their environment as a
circulatory fluid. In this case, transport occurs via diffusion directly through their tissues toward the
gastrovascular cavity.
Most mollusks and arthropods have an open circulatory system. The system is termed
“open” because liquid moves from the heart through the arteries directly to spaces among the cells
called lacunae. Collectively these spaces form a hemocoel and the liquid moving through them is
most appropriately called hemolymph for it combines properties of blood and lymph like interstitial
fluid. Hemolymph serves both as blood and as interstitial fluid that pass a network of channels and
body cavities. Hemolymph in them is in direct contact with body cells.
All vertebrates have a closed circulatory system. This means that the blood stays inside the
heart and a set of tubes as it circulates. This body tubes are called vessels. This system provides a
distinction between the blood and interstitial fluid. The blood is confined to the vessels/tubes, in which
the blood continuously travels through the system of tubes and remains inside the tubes all
throughout.

Human Circulatory System

BLOOD VESSELS
Blood flows through the body in tubes called blood
vessels. There are three kinds of blood vessels in: those that
carry blood away from the heart to organs throughout the body
(arteries), those that bring blood back to the heart (veins), and
those very fine tubes into which an artery branches and convey
blood between arteries and veins within each organ
(capillaries). Capillaries are tiny blood vessels that allow food,
oxygen and waste to pass through it. (Rabago, et. al., 1990)

BLOOD – the life stream of the human body

The blood is the transporting medium for all body substances. It has been called the “river of
life”. This is an appropriate description because the blood supplies the cells of the body with the
materials they need for nourishment and repair, and it removes wastes from the cells. In addition, the
blood contains cells that fight disease and substances that repair cut or bruised parts of the body.
(Keen, 1987)

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The blood is made up of both liquid and solid parts. The liquid portion is called the plasma.
The solid parts are red corpuscles, white corpuscles and platelets. The word corpuscle is the Latin
word for “little body.”

Plasma is a straw-colored, sticky liquid of which nine tenths is water. The proteins in the
plasma give it its sticky quality. One of them fibrinogen is essential in the clotting of blood. Another is
serum albumin, which is necessary to normal blood tissue relationships during absorption. The third
is serum globulin, which give rise to antibodies that provide immunity to various diseases. (Velasquez
and Asis, 1993)
Red blood corpuscles (erythrocytes) are by far the most numerous blood cells. Human red
blood cells are biconcave disks, thinner in the center than at the sides. Red blood cells are small
relative to other cells and their small size also gives them the greater total surface area for gas
exchanged. It is the tasks of the red corpuscles to carry oxygen to cells in all parts of the body, and
upon reaching these cells, to give up the oxygen to them. (Keen, 1987)
The pigment hemoglobin is a protein substance that gives the erythrocytes its red color and
can combine very well with oxygen from the air in the lungs. When hemoglobin combines with oxygen,
it turns bright red. That is why blood running out of a cut is always red – the hemoglobin is combining
with the oxygen of the air.
The average life span of a red corpuscle is 120 days. Worn-out red blood cells are broken
down in the liver, where enzymes digest the hemoglobin and use its amino acids to make other
proteins. Much of the iron returns to the bone marrow, where it is used in making more red cells.
(Campbell, et. al., 1997)
How does the blood fight disease? White blood corpuscles (leukocytes) are larger than red
blood cells and have nuclei. They have no definite shape, and move about by changing their shape.
Like red blood cells, leukocytes arise in bone marrow. Their numbers increase whenever the body is
fighting an infection. They collect in the area of an infection and destroy bacteria. To destroy a
bacterium, a white corpuscle moves over to the bacterium and engulfs it. Once the bacterium is inside
the white corpuscle, it is digested. The remains of dead bacteria, white corpuscles, and tissue fluid
are what are known as pus. Since the leukocytes have the ability to destroy germs that enter the body,
they are considered as the standing army of the body. They are the soldiers of the body.
Have you experienced cutting your skin accidentally? Did the bleeding stop right away? If it
did, it was probably a small and shallow wound. With deeper wounds, the bleeding does not stop right
away. You know that when you cut yourself, the blood flows out of the wound for only a short time.
Then the cut fills with a reddish solid material. This solid is called a blood clot. (Rabago, et. al., 1990)
How did this happen? How does clot form?

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The platelets (thrombocytes) are the particles in the blood responsible for causing it to clot.
Platelets are irregularly shaped, colorless bodies, much smaller than the red corpuscles. Platelets are
not capable of moving on their own but float along in the blood stream.

When blood flows from a cut, it carries platelets. When air comes into contact with the platelets,
the oxygen in the air causes the platelets to disintegrate and release a substance called
thromboplastin and combines with calcium to form thrombin. Thrombin is an enzyme that acts on
fibrinogen. This combination forms a substance called fibrin. Fibrin is in the form of a network of tiny
threadlike fibers that trap the cells of the blood to form a dam, which holds back the further flow of
blood.
How does the blood keep moving in the body? Where is the heart located?

HEART – pumping machine

The heart is the pump that pushes blood to the lungs for oxygenation and delivers it
to different body parts. It consists of several chambers, muscles and are connected with blood
vessels. Fish have one atrium and one ventricle. Amphibians have two atria and one common
ventricle where oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mix. In mammals and birds there is a complete
separation of the four chambers of the heart by a tissue, called the septum. This allows development
of a double circulation system that provides pressure to transport blood throughout the body. This
circulation divides into the pulmonary circulation that transports blood from the heart and the lungs,
and the systemic circulation to bring blood to the heart and the rest of the body.

The power that propels the blood through the blood vessels comes from the heart. The heart
is a cone-shaped, highly muscular organ located at the center of the chest cavity, with the lower tip
slightly pointed toward the left. Since the beat is strongest near the tip, many people have the mistaken
idea that the entire heart is on the left side. Man’s heart is about the size of his fist. It is protected by
a tough sac of connective tissue, the pericardium. Pericardium protects the heart from rubbing against
the lungs and the walls of the chest. (Velasquez and Asis, 1993)

Activity 1. The Heart

Label the diagram using the bold words in the paragraph below, then color it red where
oxygenated blood is and blue where deoxygenated blood is.

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Blood first enters the right atrium of the heart. The right atrium receives from all parts of the
body (except the lungs) by way of two large veins: the superior vena cava, which drains blood from
the head, arms, and upper part of the body, and the inferior vena cava that drains the legs, and the
lower part of the body. The contraction of the right atrium pushes open the flaps of the tricuspid
valve (atrioventricular valve), pumping blood into the right ventricle. The contraction of the right
ventricle then closes the tricuspid valve, opens the semilunar valve and pushes the blood out via the
pulmonary artery to the lungs. As the blood reaches the capillaries of the lungs, oxygen diffuses
into the blood while excess carbon dioxide leaves the blood stream. The oxygenated blood
returning from the lungs in the pulmonary veins enters the left atrium, and is pumped by its
contraction through the bicuspid valve (atrioventricular valve), in the left ventricle. The contraction
of the left ventricle closes the bicuspid valve, opens the semilunar valve and sends blood spurting
out the aorta (the largest artery) to all parts of the body. This cycle is repeated.
Heartbeat
Each contraction and relaxation of the heart muscle is a heartbeat. In a heartbeat, the period
during which the right and left ventricles relax and fill with blood is called diastole and the period during
which they contract and pump out blood is called systole. (Cabral, 2002)
The sounds you hear in a stethoscope when you listen to a normal heart sound like the
syllables “lub” and “dub” repeated over and over in perfect rhythm. The “lub” is the sound of the
contraction of the muscles of the ventricles and the closing of the atrioventricular valve during systole.
The “dub” is the closing of the semilunar valve at the bases of the arteries during the diastole. (Keen,
1987)
Put your right hand on your chest a little to the left. Can you feel the beating of your heart?
Using your forefingers, press your wrist or your neck on the left and right sides below the lower jaw.
Can you feel your pulse? What is the relationship between heartbeat and pulse?
As blood is pushed from the heart into the main artery, the artery gets larger and longer. This
happens as each “push” of blood flows through all arteries in the body. As each wavelike “push”
stretches an artery, it produces a pulse.

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If you listen to your heart beating, it might be very hard for you to count the number of beats.
You can easily count your heartbeat by taking, or counting, the pulse of an artery that lies close to the
surface of the skin, as in the wrist. Each pulse beat is produced by a single heartbeat. Therefore, the
number of pulse beats equals the number of heartbeats.
Average people at rest have a heartbeat of 70 times per minute. When the body needs more
oxygen as happens when one is exercising, the heart pumps faster and harder. When a person is at
rest and the tissues require less oxygen, the heart pumps more slowly. (Cabral, 2002)

Activity 2. Crossword Puzzle

1
2
3

4
5
6
7

Across
1. Circulation that conveys blood between the heart and the lungs
3. Circulation that conveys blood between the heart and the rest of the body
4. Rhythmic stretching of the arteries
7. Relaxation phase of the heart cycle
8. The largest artery of the body
Down
1. A protective tough sac of connective tissue of the heart
2. Pumping chambers of the heart
3. Contraction phase of the heart cycle
5. Propels the blood
6. Receiving chambers of the heart

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References:

Cabral, Esperanza I. (2002). CORAZONE – “Heart 101” Health & Medicine. The Philippine Star.
Campbell, N.A., L.G. Mitchell and J.B. Reece (1997) Biology – Concepts & Connections. 2nd ed.
Benjamin/cummings Publishing Company
Gottfried S., G. Madrazo, L. Motz, J. Olenchalk, D. Sinclair, G. Skoog (1990). Biology 5th ed.
Prentice Hall Inc.
Keen, Martin (1987). The How and Why Wonder Book of the Human Body – the Science Library.
J. G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago. Volume VI.
Rabago, L.M., C.C. Joaquin, and M.A. Intong (1990) Science and Technology II – Biology.
V. P. Books Inc
Velasquez, C.C. and Consuelo V. Asis (1993). Modern Biology (Philippine Version)
https://www.britannica.com/science/blood-vessel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_muscle#/media/File:414c_Cardiacmuscle.jpg
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/diagram-showing-composition-blood_5874556.htm
www.freeexamacademy.com/plant-transport

https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/transport-system-in-plants