1. The Path of Blood through the Circulatory System Mrs. Hutchinson

2. The right atrium’s where the process begins… The right atrium is a space inside the heart. It’s on the RIGHT side of your body, so it’s on the LEFT side of the picture! Blood from your body enters the heart here. When the blood enters your heart, it is full of carbon dioxide. (That’s why it’s blue in the picture!)

3. Through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle… The right ventricle is another space inside the heart. The right ventricle takes the blood from the right atrium and pumps it out of the heart. Hint: Ventricles always pump blood OUT of the heart.

4. To the pulmonary artery and lungs… The pulmonary artery carries blood away from the heart to the lungs. A A Hint: A rteries always carry blood A way from the heart!

5. Once inside the lungs… Inside the lungs, the blood does a trade-off. The blood gets rid of the carbon dioxide, and it picks up fresh oxygen to bring back to the cells.

6. Now it’s back to the heart through the pulmonary vein… The pulmonary vein carries blood from the lungs back into the heart. IN IN Hint: ve IN s always carry blood back IN to the heart.

7. To the left atrium and left ventricle… The left atrium is where the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs comes back into the heart. The left ventricle takes the blood from the left atrium and pumps it out of the heart. Where is the blood headed now?

8. The aorta is where the blood leaves the heart… The aorta is a HUGE artery that carries blood away from the heart. The blood has begun its journey to carry oxygen and nutrients to cells all over the body!

9. Bringing oxygenated blood to the cells… The aorta branches off into smaller and smaller arteries, called arterioles and capillaries. The capillaries make a trade-off with the cells. They give the cells fresh oxygen, and pick up waste and carbon dioxide.

10. Bringing waste and CO 2 away from the cells… Now the capillaries funnel the blood into bigger and bigger vessels, called venules and veins. The blood is on its way back to the heart, carrying the waste and CO 2 from the cells.

11. Through the vena cava, and we’re back to where we started in the heart! The vena cava is a huge vein that dumps blood back into the heart. The blood is dumped into the right atrium again. The process is ready to start all over again!

12. Click to watch the animations of blood pumping through the heart! Heart Animation Heart Animation--plays once