TRANS P O R T I N

ANIMALS
Concept map
A unicellular organism like Amoeba does not have a transport system and a
multicellular organism like human cannot live without one . Explain why this is so.
• In a unicellular organism, the surface area to volume ratio is large, which
means that there is a lot of surface area for the volume of the organism.
• Diffusion can occur fast enough across the cell membrane and get to all parts
of the cell for all life processes to happen effectively.
• In a multicellular organism, for each cell to get a supply of oxygen and
everything else it needs as fast as it needs it, a transport system is necessary
because the surface are is not large enough in proportion to the volume for
diffusion from the external environment to be effective.
 SOME SUBSTANCES WHICH ARE TRANSPORTED IN ANIMALS
SUBSTANCE TO BE
TRANSPORT FROM TRANSPORT TO
TRANSPORT
Dissolve food Ileum where it is absorbed Cells of the body – to be used for respiration,
store, converted to other materials
Nitrogenous waste Cells where produced Kidneys to be excreted

Oxygen Lungs where it diffused into the blood Body cells to be used for respiration

Carbon dioxide Body cells where it is produced in respiration Lungs to be excreted

Hormones Endocrine glands where they are produced Organs where their effect are needed

White blood cells, Marrow of bones where they are produced Where there are infections or invasions by
including antibodies microorganism
The circulatory system is made up of three parts
• The Heart, which is a pump.
• Blood which is the fluid being pumped and contains all the materials
to be transport around the body.
• The blood vessels, or ‘pipes’, though which blood flows to get to
and from the cells – these are the arteries, veins and capillaries.

Heart muscle has its own set of blood vessels, called coronary arteries,
to supply it with necessities of respiration, that is glucose and oxygen.
THE HEART
The heart beats continuously for years. How is heart muscle nourished and supplied
with oxygen and glucose?
• Heart muscle has its own set of blood vessels, called the coronary arteries, to supply it with
necessities of respiration, that is glucose and oxygen.

Describe the route taken by a red blood cell from the vena cava to the aorta.
• Vena cava → right auricle → right ventricle → pulmonary artery → lungs → pulmonary vein → left
ventricle → aorta.

List the three main stages of the heart beat and explain the importance of each.
• Atrial systole – pushes blood from the atria into the ventricles.
• Ventricular systole – pushes blood out of the heart, so that it can be pumped to the lungs through the
pulmonary artery, and through the aorta to all parts of the body.
• Diastole – this allows blood from the body to collect in the atria, before it is forced into the ventricles
by contraction of the muscles around the atria.
 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF BLOOD CELLS
BLOOD CELL FUNCTION

Red blood cells or erythrocytes Transport oxygen combined

• Biconcave disc shape (squeezed in from both sides) gives large surface area with haemoglobi, as
for diffusion oxyhaemoglobin, from the
• Has no nucleus so only lives about 3 to 4 months lungs to tissues where the
• New cells constantly made in the bone marrow and destroyed in the liver and oxygen is given up readily.
spleen
• Contains the red pigment haemoglobin which combines with and releases
oxygen readily
• 1 mm3 of blood contains about 5 million of theses cells

White blood cells or leucocytes Engulf disease-causing

• Two main types: phagocytes and lymphocytes organisms at sites of infection
• Phagocytes move like Amoeba by pseudopodia – can move through the Produce antibodies that kill
capillary walls to sites of infection. They are formed in bone marrow pathogens by causing them to
• Lymphosytes produce antibodies, they are formed in lymph nodes and spleen clump together, or neutralize
their toxins

Platelets or thrombocytes Help blood to clot to prevent

• Cell fragments loss
• No nucleus
• Formed in bone marrow of lone bones
Questions
1. Describe two differences between the blood leaving an arteriole and blood entering
a venule, having passed across a capillary network.
2. Why does the aorta have the thickest walls of all the vessels in the circulatory
system?
3. i. What is the pulse? Ii. What is the pulse rate?
4. Describe the route taken by a red blood cells from the renal vein to the hepatic
vein?
5. Describe the differences in composition between blood as it passes from:
i. renal artery to renal vein;
ii. Pulmonary artery to pulmonary vein.
Answers
1. Blood leaving arteriole:
- has a lot of oxygen in it as the arteriole carries oxygenated blood to body cells;
- is rich in glucose, hormones, water, vitamins, etc., which will be used by the cells for different
purposes.
Blood entering venule:
- has less oxygen, as some has been used by the cells in contact with the capillary network;
- has less of other substances, as the blood has been depleted of these when passing through the
capillary network.
2. The aorta has the thickest walls because it receives blood at the highest pressure from the
contraction of the muscles of the left ventricle. As the blood enters the aorta, its thick muscular walls
are stretched but not burst.
3. i. Each heart beat results in a surge of blood, which can be felt as the arterioles stretch to
accommodate this blood flowing at a high pressure. (This can be felt most easily at the wrist where
arterioles are closet to the skin). Each heart beat then results in one pulse.
ii. The pulse rate shows the rate at which the heart is beating, since each heart beat is felt as one
pulse.
4. Renal vein→ vena cava→ heart→ lungs→ heart→ aorta→ hepatic artery→ liver → hepatic vein

mesenteric artery → gut → hepatic portal vein

5.
Renal artery Renal vein
• Rich in oxygen • Little oxygen present
• Little carbon dioxide • Rich in carbon dioxide
present
• Rich in glucose • Little glucose present

Pulmonary artery Pulmonary vein

• Rich in carbon dioxide • Little carbon dioxide
• Little oxygen present • Rich in oxygen
Questions
1. Two functions of blood include transport and protection. List two components of
blood concerned with protection, for each, explain how it works.
2. Describe the process that leads to the clotting of blood after a cut to a blood vessel.
Answers
3. One component that has a protective function is platelets. These are involved in the clotting of blood,
which prevents entry to pathogens when there is a cut on the skin. Another protective component is
the white blood cells. These are responsible for destroying any foreign bodies that may potentially
harm the organism.
4. On the exposure to air, platelets in the blood, in the presence of calcium ions and vitamin K, cause
prothrombin, an inactive blood protein, to be converted to thrombin. The presence of thrombin causes
the conversion of fibrinogen, another inactive blood protein, into fibrin. Fibrin is made up of insoluble
fibres that trap red blood cells and form a clot.
JANUARY 2005
2005
JANUARY 2006
JANUARY 2007