By: Lonnie, Austin, Brittny, and Amy

Your heart pumps blood through all your blood vessels.

Blood is connective tissue made up of two types of cells, cell parts, and plasma. Plasma is the liquid part of blood. Red blood cells supply your cells with oxygen. White blood cells fights bacteria,viruses and other sickness. Platelets clump together in the harmed areas.

Arteries are blood vessels that direct blood away from the heart. Arteries have thick elastic walls that contain smooth muscles.

Veins are blood vessels that direct blood back to the heart.

In the capillaries of the lungs,blood absorbs oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. The right ventricle pumps oxygen- poor blood into the arteries that lead to the lungs. Oxygen-poor blood travels back to the heart and is delivered into the right atrium by two large veins.

The types of blood are A,B,AB,and O. Antigens are: chemicals you have on the surface of your RBCs. Types A blood has antigens; type B blood has antigens; and type AB blood has A&B antigens. Antibodies are chemicals in plasma, when antibodies bind RBCs, and cause RBCs to clump together. People with type B blood make A antibodies, type O blood can be given to anyone because it’s RBCs don’t have any A or B antigens on their surface. People with type O blood are said to be universal donors.

The leading cause of death in the USA is arteriosclerosis a cardiovascular disease. Arteriosclerosis occurs when fatty materials,like cholesterol,build up on the inside of blood vessels. The fatty build up causes the blood to become narrower and less elastic. Arteriosclerosis can cause a heart attack and can cause strokes. The only way to cure arteriosclerosis is to remove fatty build up on the inside of blood vessels and block blood flow.

If all the blood vessels in your body were strung together the total length would be more than twice the circumference of the Earth!!! Wow !!