The Circulatory System
The Learning Objectives
• Define the parts of the circulatory system and
what they do
• Point out the four chambers of the heart and
what they do
• Compare arteries, capillaries, and veins
Before We Get Into The
Heart of the Lesson
The Cold Heart Facts
- The heart is a muscle
- The heart is a little larger than your clenched fist
- Your heart beats about 100,000 times in one day and about
35 million times in a year. During an average lifetime, the
human heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times.
- Give a tennis ball a good, hard squeeze. You're using about the
same amount of force your heart uses to pump blood out to the
body. Even at rest, the muscles of the heart work hard—twice as
hard as the leg muscles of a person sprinting
- The heart pumps about 1 million barrels of blood during
an average lifetime—that's enough to fill more than 3 super
tankers
The Definition
The bodily system
consisting of the heart,
blood vessels, and blood
that circulates blood
throughout the body,
delivers nutrients and
other essential materials
to cells, and removes
waste products -- Also
called the cardiovascular
system.
The Circulatory System
What it consists of:
- Heart
- Blood Vessels
- Blood
What it does:
- Circulates blood throughout the body
- Delivers nutrients to cells
- Removes waste products from cells
The Heart
A hollow muscular organ
that pumps the blood
through the circulatory
system by rhythmic
contraction and dilation.
The Four Chambers Of
The Heart
Left Atrium: Takes oxygen-rich blood from the
lungs and pumps it into the left ventricle
Left Ventricle: Pumps the oxygen-rich blood
through the aorta which sends it out into the body
Right Atrium: Takes the used blood from the body
that no longer has oxygen and pumps it into the
right ventricle
Right Ventricle: Pumps the oxygen-less blood into
the lungs where it picks up oxygen again
Blood Vessels
- The part of the circulatory system that transports
blood throughout the body.
Three Types of Blood Vessels
1) Arteries: carry oxygen-rich blood away from the
heart
2) Veins: carry blood containing waste products
to different organs (kidneys, liver, etc.) and then
back to the heart
3) Capillaries: enable the actual exchange of water and
chemicals between the blood and the tissues – for
example…diffusion of oxygen within the lungs
The Four Chambers Of
The Heart
The Aorta
The largest artery in the
body, originating from the
left ventricle of the heart
and extending down to
the abdomen, where it
branches off into two
smaller arteries. The aorta
distributes oxygenated
blood to all parts of the
body.
Blood
The fluid that circulates in the heart, arteries, capillaries, and
veins of a vertebrate animal carrying nourishment and oxygen
to and bringing away waste products from all parts of the body.
The Bloody Truth
Blood consists of:
- Red blood cells: disk shaped cells that carry
oxygen to cells and carbon dioxide out
- White blood cells: cells that engulf and digest
bacteria and fungi; an important part of the
body's defense system
- Plasma: straw-colored liquid component of blood. It
is mostly water (93% by volume) and contains
dissolved proteins, glucose, clotting factors, mineral
ions, hormones and carbon dioxide
Homework
Option 1) Write an essay that details a day in the life of
a red blood cell as it travels through the circulatory
system … where did you go and what happened
Option 2) Draw the circulatory system and point out
the three different types of blood vessels, the heart and
its chambers, the lungs, and red blood cells.