Lesson Four: Circulatory System (Part Two)

Circulatory System

(Part Two)

The Life Pump

About every two minutes, the average adult's quarts of blood through 100,000 miles of blood.

Working together, your heart, lungs, and blood vessels form a life pump known as the circulatory system.

Quite simply, this transportation system sends blood to every part of your body. When blood is pumped through your heart into your lungs, the red blood cells load up on oxygen and are then pumped back to the body full of life-giving oxygen. Then the system turns around and acts as a garbage truck, carrying toxins from throughout the body for disposal.

There are three distinct parts of the circulation system:

1- The pulmonary system moves the blood from the heart into the lungs, where red blood cells are infused with oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide, and then back to the heart

2- The coronary system provides blood specifically to the heart.

3- The systemic system moves blood throughout the body using arteries, veins, and capillaries.

Oxygen-rich blood leaves the heart in arteries and returns to the heart in veins. Capillaries connect these arteries and veins. Arteries send oxygenated blood to the capillaries. In turn, these small blood vessels deliver the red blood cells to every nook and cranny of your body. The capillaries then collect the oxygen-depleted blood and waste products and funnel it into the veins for the return trip to the heart and lungs for another load of oxygen.

During this trip from and back to the heart, your blood flows through your kidneys (renal circulation) where much of the waste is filtered from your blood and your small intestine and liver (portal circulation) where sugars are filtered from the blood and stored for later use.

Homework Time:

Q1:Talk about the distinct parts of the circulation system in few sentences.