Blood Flow in the Right Side of Heart

Deoxygenated Blood from the upper body flows through the Superior Vena Cava to the right side of the heart, while blood from the lower body enters the heart into the Right Atrium through the Inferior Vena Cava. It passes through the Tricuspid Valve to the Right Ventricle and through the Pulmonic Valve into the Pulmonary Artery.

NOTE:

• The pulmonary artery, unlike other arteries, carries deoxygenated blood.
• The Mitral Valve is also known as the Bicuspid Valve.

Blood Flow in the Left Side of Heart

Oxygenated Blood from the Lungs flows through the Pulmonary Veins into the left atrium, through the Mitral Valve into the Left Ventricle. It then passes through the Aortic Valve to go into the Aorta which in turn transports the blood to the upper and lower body.

NOTE: 

• Similar to the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary vein carries not deoxygenated blood but oxygenated blood from the lungs.

TYPES OF BLOOD VESSELS

Arteries: These are the thick-walled blood vessels carrying oxygenated blood (leading to its high blood pressure) to the body.

Veins: The veins have thinner walls as compared to arteries but is almost just as thick. It carries deoxygenated blood back to the body.

Capillaries: The small blood vessels that red blood cells squeeze and release oxygen through.

DID YOU KNOW?

Red blood cell has NO nucleus. 
White blood cell has a nucleus.

How blood flows throughout the heart:

• White Blood Cells fight harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi and help to remove them from the body.
• Red Blood Cells transport oxygen from the lungs to the other parts of the body and carry carbon dioxide back to the lungs.
• Platelets help in the clotting process by gathering at a bleeding site and clumping together to form a plug that helps seal the blood vessel. At the same time, they release substances that help promote further clotting.
• Plasma is the liquid component of blood that suspends the components. It contains the protein albumin that keeps liquid from leaking out of blood vessels and into tissues. Plasma also prevents blood vessels from collapsing and clogging and helps maintain blood pressure and circulation throughout the body simply by filling blood vessels and flowing through them continuously. Plasma circulation also plays a role in regulating body temperature by carrying heat generated in core body tissues through areas that lose heat more readily, such as the arms, legs, and head.

TRANSPORT IN HUMANS

1. Understand the importance of a transport system in multi-cellular organisms.
2. Know why the transport system in an amoeba is so different from a human, and why humans cannot adopt a similar system as the amoeba.
3. Explain why the transport system in mammals is also known as the circulatory system.
4. Understand that any system is connected to other systems, both internally and externally, and the output from one part of a system (which can include material, energy, or information) can become the input to others. Such feedback can serve to control what goes on in the system as a whole.
5. Know that blood is pumped around the circulatory system by the action of the heart.
6. Know that the heart is a muscular organ which requires its own supply of oxygen and nutrients (via the coronary arteries).
7. Label and identify the principle structures of a mammalian heart, including the valves within it and the inter-connecting blood vessels & associated valves.
8. Trace the path of blood through the circulatory system, in particular the pathway of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood through the heart.
9. Know the structure and function of arteries, veins and capillaries.
10. Compare and contrast the structure of arteries and veins, and state how they are adapted for its function.