1. A Look Inside the Circulatory System
By Brittany and Katie

2. Your Introduction to the Circulatory System
We’re here to introduce the circulatory system. The circulatory system is made up of two major pieces. Without these pieces you couldn’t live because you need the heart to pump the blood around the body and you need your blood vessels to guide the blood to different places like the brain.

3. What’s in the System and How Each Piece Works
There are two major pieces, the heart and the blood vessels. The heart pumps the blood and the blood goes through the blood vessels around the body. You need both to live.

4. How to Take Care of the Circulatory System
Taking care of the circulatory system is very important. If you smoke your blood is thinner so you get less oxygen. If you get a shortage of oxygen you won’t live very long because your body needs a lot of oxygen. You will also need a monthly check-up at the doctor’s office.

5. Fun & Amazing Facts about the Circulatory System
The heart beats 70 times a minute in an adult and even faster in a child
Extra blood goes to the skin and muscles when we’re hot or working hard
The heart beats more than 2 1/2 billion times without ever pausing to rest
People once thought illnesses were caused by too much blood, so doctors used leeches to suck out the “extra” blood

6. More Facts about the Circulatory System
Did you know...
Over half of you blood is a liquid plasma, the rest is made cells, the plasma is mostly water.
Anger and excitement make the heart beat faster than normal so does eating.
Mammals and birds have hearts with 4 chambers, frog hearts have 3, and fish have only 2.
People living in high places with thinner air have more red blood cells. Their red blood cells carry less oxygen.
The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs to deliver oxygen.

7. Lots More Facts about the Circulatory System
Did you know...
A heart attack stops blood taking oxygen to the brain
The heart is positioned behind the ribcage and between the lungs
Red blood cells live about 4 months
There are about 5 million red blood cells in a droplet of blood
All the chambers in the heart have valves that control the blood flow

8. Bibliography
Bruun,Ruth. The Human Body. Random House,of Canada Limited, Toronto, 1982.
Amazing Human Body CD-ROM. New York: DK Interactive Learning, 1997.
Discovery Communications Inc. "Your Gross & Cool Body." The Yuckiest Site on the Internet, On-line. Internet. June 15, 2001.
Available:
McGann, Andrew. “The Skeletal System.” A Look Inside the Human Body. On-line. Internet. June 15, 2001.
Available:
Scholastic. The Magic School Bus Explores the Human Body CD-ROM. Microsoft Corporation, 1995.