CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

• Multicellular organisms like humans have an

elaborate system for the transport of
nutrients, oxygen, and wastes that circulate
throughout the body. This system is called the
Circulatory System. It also provides the body
with a natural defense mechanism against
diseases.

• The circulatory system consist of the heart,

blood, and blood vessels. The heart is a
muscular organ which has the size of one’s
fist. It pumps blood throughout the body.
 HEART
• Although the protective sac called pericardium
surrounds the heart, the right and left sides of the
heart function as two completely separated
pumps.
• An interior wall called the septum, separates the
two sides of the heart. The upper section of each
side is the atrium and the lower section is called
the ventricle.
• The atrium and the ventricle is separated by a
valve. The semilunar valves separate the
ventricles from the pulmonary artery and aorta.
 BLOOD
• Blood consists mostly of watery plasma. The
plasma carries red blood cell, white blood cell,
and the platelets.
• Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the
body.
• White blood cells guard the body from
infections and diseases by killing germs and
other disease-causing microorganisms.
• Platelets help clot blood when organisms are
wounded.
 BLOOD VESSELS
• The blood vessels vary in size and structure.
Arteries, the biggest of which is the aorta,
carry blood away from the heart. These blood
vessels branch into smaller arteries called
Arterioles.
• Veins, meanwhile, carry blood to the heart.
Superior vena cava and Inferior vena cava are
the largest veins. Veins also branch into
smaller veins called venules. Capillaries are
the smallest and most numerous blood vessels
in the body.
 Pathway of Blood through the Heart
• Blood is pump by the heart for circulation
throughout the body to deliver oxygen and collect
waste. Blood carrying waste from the body cells
passes through the veins and is pushed through
the vena cava into the right atrium to the right
ventricle. Then it goes through the pulmonary
arteries to the lungs. Here, the blood collects
oxygen, and is pumped back through the
pulmonary veins to the left atrium, down to the
left ventricle and finally out through the aorta for
distribution of oxygen-rich blood around the body.