The Circulatory (Cardiovascular) System

The Structure & Function:
What is the function of the circulatory system? The job of the circulatory system works on circulating blood, lymph, nutrients, oxygen, other gasses, and hormones throughout the body, hence the name circulatory system. The circulatory system also balances temperature and pH balance while protecting the body from diseases. The circulatory system consists of the heart, blood vessels, blood, lymph, and the lymphatic glands & vessels.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/classconnection/128/flashcards/8043128/png/insideheart1328771781022-14DEA48509547B9E19F.png
What are the names and functions of the major organs in the circulatory system? 
The names & functions of the major organs in the circulatory system are...
  • Heart (cardiovascular): The heart is an organ that pumps blood through the body, providing oxygen & nutrients to the tissues (such as muscles). The heart also works on removing carbon dioxide and other unwanted wastes (which is also what the lungs do).
  • Lungs (pulmonary): The lungs work on helping the oxygen we breathe in to enter the cells in our blood. The blood cells then transport the oxygen around the body to be used by other cells. The lungs also get rid of the CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas when we breathe out, which is used by plants for photosynthesis.
  • Arteries: The arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to the tissues (such as muscles in order to get them to function properly), except for pulmonary arteries (pulmonary means having to do with the lungs), which carry blood to the lungs to be oxygenation. 
  • Veins: The veins do the opposite of pulmonary arteries - the veins carry deoxygenated blood to the heart after the arteries carry the blood back out. In fact,  the vena cava is the largest vein in the body. Veins are not to be confused with arteries - they have much, much thinner walls than arteries. 
  • Coronary & Portal vessels (systemic): The function of the coronary vessel(s) is to bring blood to the heart. Like all the other tissues in the body, the heart needs oxygenated blood in order to function. Deoxygenated blood must be taken away.                                                                  The function of a portal vessel(s) is to circulate blood to the liver from the small intestine to the right half of the colon, then to the spleen through the portal vein, though it is sometimes specified as the hepatic portal circulation. 
The structure & function of the lungs: The structure of the lungs is made to 1.) fit your heart (did you know that the left lung is smaller than the right to fit the heart?) and 2.) to exchange oxygen with the blood cells (this exchange takes place in the Alveoli, which is part of the Bronchiolar muscle. The function of the lungs is to help the oxygen we breathe in to enter the cells in our blood. The lungs also get rid of the CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas.

Interactions With Other Systems:
Interactions with other systems: The interactions with the other systems that the circulatory system has is... 
  • The Endocrine System (the Endocrine System is an assemblage of glands that not just produce hormones, but controls the amount of metabolism in the body, growth & development, the function of the tissues, reproductive function, sleep, mood, and several other things), which produces hormones. Now as I mentioned before, the circulatory system sends hormones through the body.
  • The Muscular System (The structure & function of the muscular system is to move the body. The muscular system is attached to the skeletal system and moves the bones) contains a muscle called the cardiac muscle which is part of the wall of the heart or also known as the myocardium. This muscle helps the circulatory with its function of pumping blood, lymph & hormones around the body.

The Analogy:
https://www.picmonkey.com/
The Analogy: This analogy was to compare the circulatory system to a highway. The cars are the blood cells. A car loaded with 5-8 people is an oxygenated blood cell. A car loaded with 1-4 people is a deoxygenated blood cell. The roads that lead onto that highway are the different arteries and veins. The cities that the highway leads into are the different organs.

REDESIGN: How Can I Make This System Better?
How would you make this system better?: I would make this system better by positioning the heart somewhere else so that the left lung doesn't have to be smaller than the right lung. I would also make it so that the blood vessels were stronger (bruises happen when a blood vessel bursts and the blood clots - the hemoglobin which has iron in it changes color and turns dark purple-blue, sometimes even black which is why it is visible through the skin).
Sources:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Renal (Excretory, Urinary) System

Image
The Structure & Function:  What is the function of the renal system? The function of the renal system is the eradication of wastes manufactured by homeostasis (this word comes from two combined words in Greek: "homeo" meaning similar, & "stasis" meaning stable). The organs that are used in this process are the lungs, the liver, & the kidneys. What are names & functions of the major organs in the renal system? The names & functions of the major organs in the renal system are... Kidneys: the kidneys are organs that receive the waste from the body. The kidneys then percolate things from the waste, such as salt, urea, & excess water which is disposed from the body as urine. Skin: The skin executes its function through sweat glands. Sweat is used to cool us off as well as to get rid of unwanted oils, salt, water, and other gratuitous elements that ooze from small pores in the skin. Lungs: The lungs, an important organ in both th
Read more

Weekly Blog (9/14-9/21)

Image
                                                                                      Here is the citation of the picture:  The Volcano                                                                                                       Weekly Blog (9/14-9/21) Summary: One thing we did this week was make a paper mache volcano. A volcano is a mountain or hill, typically conical, having a crater or vent through which lava, rock fragments, hot vapor, and gas are being or have been erupted from the earth's crust.  SP8: This week our class discussed 'the rock cycle.' The rock cycle is a cycle where different types of rock turn into another type of rock. Metamorphic rock melts and becomes magma. Then it comes up a volcano and cools. This new rock is an igneous rock. The igneous rock weathers or erodes and becomes sedimentary rock. The sedimentary rock heats up and turns into metamorphic rock. Then the whole cycle starts all over again.                    
Read more