The components of the blood

and their jobs

 What is blood made up of?
• Red blood cells
• White blood cells
• Platelets
• Plasma
• Breakdown products of digestion, such as glucose,
fatty acids and amino acids
• Dissolved mineral salts
• Carbon dioxide
• Urea
• hormones
 What is plasma?

• Plasma is the liquid part of the blood

which carries everything else.
• Plasma is a straw-yellow coloured liquid
• If everything in plasma was removed,
plasma would look like this
 What do the different parts of blood
look like under a microscope?

Red
blood
cells
White
blood
cells
 What is the job of red blood cells?
• They have a round, flat disc
shape for a large surface area
• They do not have a nucleus
• They contain haemoglobin
which combines with oxygen in
areas of high concentration to
form oxyhaemoglobin
• Oxygen + haemoglobin oxyhaemoglobin
• Red blood cells carry oxygen
to the cells of the body for use
in respiration
What do white blood cells do?
• White blood cells
help the body to fight
invading bacteria

• White blood cells will

engulf and ingest
invading bacteria
 Other important jobs of the white
blood cells:

• They produce • They produce

antibodies which can antitoxins which
recognise and fight neutralise the toxins
bacteria (poisons) that
bacteria produce,
which make us feel ill
 What do platelets do?
• Platelets are fragments of cells
• The job of platelets is to help blood clot and
form a scab
• The platelets are involved in the formation
of fibrin, which is needed for clotting blood
• This is useful for stopping bleeding, and for
preventing germs from entering the body
through the cut
Summary of the composition of blood
 Questions on the blood
• What part of blood carries oxygen to cells?
• Why are red blood cells flat disc-shaped?
• What is the job of platelets?
• What do white blood cells do?
• Describe how a white blood cell carries out its
job.
• What is the straw-coloured liquid which carries
all the other parts of blood called?
 More questions on blood

• Name cell A
• Name cell B B
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