OXYGEN TRANSPORT
SYSTEM
Oxygen
 In order to work and create movement, our
muscles need oxygen.
 You body needs a regular supply of oxygen
to stay alive.
 The working muscles need energy, which is
supplied by oxygen.
 As an activity becomes more demanding the
need for oxygen is greater.
How does oxygen reach the muscles?

The lungs, heart, blood and muscles all play an important part in the oxygen
transport system. The whole oxygen transport system works in a cycle.

The respiratory system and the circulatory system work together to provide
the muscles with oxygen – this enables you to exercise.
THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

Enables air to be inhaled (breathed in).

When you breathe in, oxygen enters your lungs and is absorbed into your
blood which is pumped around your body by your heart.

The oxygenated blood allows the cells within your body to use energy to help
you exercise so the muscles can produce movement.

When your cells produce energy and the muscles use the oxygen up, a waste
product called carbon dioxide is produced.

The carbon dioxide is carried back to the lungs by the blood; it is then removed
from your body when you breathe out.

Breathing is an automatic process (you do not think about it) it is controlled by
the brain.
THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
 This system consists of the heart and the blood
vessels.
 The heart is a pump, which pushes the blood
through the vessels.
 The blood flows round the body in a continuous
system.
 By contracting and relaxing the heart muscles can
pump blood around the body.
 With an improved oxygen transport system, the body will
be more able to cope with exercise. As a person becomes
fitter, less effort is needed for the same amount of work.
 A regular programme of training will improve the efficiency
of the heart and lungs.
 The size of the heart will increase. As a result the body’s
pump will become bigger and so more blood can be
pushed along the vessels per beat. There will be an
increase in the number of red blood cells and therefore an
increase in oxygen.
MORE BLOOD = MORE OXYGEN
Regular exercise lowers the heart rate, the lower your heart
rate the fitter you are. After exercise the fitter you are the
quicker your pulse will return to normal levels
 The capacity of the lungs will increase which will
give the body more oxygen with each breath. The
more oxygen you can take into your lungs the
greater your capacity will be for exercise.
 Question 1
a) Why do we need oxygen?
b) When we exercise which part of the body needs
oxygen?
c) What parts of the body are involved in the oxygen
transport system?
d) What two systems work together to produce
oxygen for the muscles?

Question 2
a) What is the function of the respiratory system?
b) What is the function of the circulatory system?
c) What effects will an improved oxygen transport
system have on the body?
d) With regular training the efficiency of the heart
and lungs will improve. What will happen to the
heart and lungs?
Question 3
Fill in the gaps, words can only be used once.
carbon dioxide
lungs
muscles
oxygenated
As we breathe, oxygen enters the ……. and is absorbed
into the bloodstream. The heart pumps this ……. blood to
the ……. to help produce movement. However, ……. is
then produced and must be absorbed back to the blood,
pumped to the heart then onto the lungs, before breathed
out.
Question 5
a) Describe what happens in order for our muscles
to get oxygen?
b) What will happen if our muscles are not supplied
with sufficient amounts of oxygen?
c) With oxygen =
Without oxygen =