The Circulatory System How it all gets around in your body!

What is it?? Advanced organisms, including you, have closed circulatory systems where the heart is connected to a complete system of vessels. The fluids of a closed circulatory system never leave the vessels!

What does this system do? How does circulatory system help you? The circulatory system carries nutrients and chemicals to all points in your body. The fluids also carry waste products and dissolved gases for your cells.

Circulation is the key ! The human circulatory system consists of the heart, blood vessels, and the blood that flows through them. The blood vessels may be veins, which carry oxygen-poor blood to your heart or arteries, which carry oxygenated blood away from your heart to the rest of your body.

It is like a transportation system! Think of the chemical compounds as cars and the circulatory system as a network of freeways, main streets, and side streets.

What does this system do? The cars can pass from one building to another using these streets in the same way.

Basic Parts Humans have a four-chambered heart. The heart is the pump for the system.

The heart consists of 2 pumps. The pump on the right side of the heart sends blood to the lungs where the blood obtains oxygen. The blood which now has oxygen then travels back to the heart where it is pumped to all parts of the body.

Basic Parts As blood is pumped from the heart, it passes through a system of arteries, and then capillaries. The capillaries are the vessels that allow for most of the transfer of compounds and dissolved gases.

Basic Parts Capillaries are very small and have thin walls to allow easier passage of compounds including nutrients, glucose, carbon dioxide, and waste products. Capillaries connect the arteries to the veins.

That’s a wrap! After the capillaries, your blood passes through veins. The veins lead the circulatory fluids back to the heart.

Interacting with other systems The circulatory system touches every organ and system in your body. The system is connected to all of your body's cells so that it can transport oxygen efficiently. When you breathe, the circulatory system carries oxygen to your cells and carries dissolved carbon dioxide back to the lungs.

Interacting with other systems Your respiratory system is all about exchanging gases with the environment (breathing). Taking in O2, Releasing CO2 You have two lungs and the exchange of gases between the circulatory and respiratory systems happens in the lungs.

Interacting with other systems Every cell that needs oxygen, needs access to the fluids in your circulatory system. The circulatory system and its fluids are super important to your digestive system because it absorbs and distributes the nutrients from your food to the rest of your body.

See it in motion ! http://www.echalk.co.uk/Science/Biology/heart/heart.htm http://www.pbs.org/wnet/redgold/journey/phase2_a1.html

FUN FACTS! The heart is the largest muscle in the body. When you take your pulse or measure your blood pressure, the blood being used is flowing through the arteries because the pressure is much higher than the veins. Your lungs can hold as much air as a basketball!

FUN FACTS Arteries carry bright red blood, and veins carry dark red blood. Why? Blood circulates through the heart more than 1000 times in one day! If you took out all of the blood vessels in your body and laid them in one line, the line would be over 100,000 miles long!!!!!

SEE THE CONNECTION? Your lungs trade air with your blood. The heart pumps used blood to the lungs to get Oxygen. The lungs take the Carbon Dioxide out of the blood. After the trading is done, the blood goes back to the heart to be distributed throughout the body.