| A | B |
|---|
| Artery | Blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart |
| Veins | Blood vessels that carry blood to the heart |
| Capillaries | a tiny blood vessel that connect arteries and veins and is where exchange of materials such as gases, nutrients and hormones between the blood and body cells takes place |
| Plasma | A straw-colored component of blood (60%) that is mostly water that acts as a solvent to dissolve materials such as waste products, salts, glucose, food molecules, vitamins, hormones and proteins that are carried by the blood to all parts of the body |
| Red Blood Cells | Also called erythrocytes are the most numerous cells in the human body. RBC’s are produced in the bone marrow and have no nucleus. The main function is to carry oxygen throughout the body. |
| Hemoglobin | An iron-containing protein that picks up oxygen in the lungs and transports it to the tissues of the body via red blood cells…gives red blood cells their color |
| White Blood Cells- (Leukocytes) | Main function is to defend the body against disease. These cells are larger than red blood cells and each has a nucleus. |
| Pathogen | Disease causing agent |
| Platelets | another component of blood whose main function is to stop the blood flow when the body has a wound (cut)….irregular shaped and when they come into contact with a broken blood vessel their surfaces become sticky and they clump together to seal the hole |
| Heart | Organ of the circulatory system which is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body….has 4 chambers and is made of cardiac muscle tissue |
| Atrium | Top chambers of the heart (2…right and left) which receive blood from the body and from the lungs |
| Ventricle | Lower more muscular chambers of the heart which pump blood to the lungs and to the body |
| Valves | are located in the heart in between the chambers…their main function is to prevent the back-flow of blood or to keep the blood flowing in one direction |
| Lungs | the organ where blood picks up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide |
| Breathing | the process by which the human body moves air into and out the lungs |
| Diaphragm | a powerful muscle in the bottom of the rib cage which helps move air into and out the body when breathing |
| Trachea | Long narrow tube that is also called the windpipe that connects the nasal cavity with the lungs |
| Larynx- (voice box) | is located at the upper end of the trachea…contains your vocal cords which produce sound |
| Bronchi | Tubes which connect the trachea to the lungs |
| Alveoli | Air sacs located at the end of the bronchioles that are surrounded by capillaries and are where gas exchange takes place |
| Neurons | Nerve cells |
| Dendrites | parts of the nerve cells that branch out…these structures receive information from other neurons and carry it to the cell body |
| Axon | The long fiber that carries information, in the form of an electrical impulse, away from the neuron |
| Myelin sheath | fatty outer layer of neurons which insulates the axon…it enables nerve impulses to travel faster along the axon |
| Synapse | a small gap between the axon of one neuron and the cell body or dendrite of another neuron |
| Neurotransmitter | chemicals that are packaged into tiny sacs at the end of each axon that acts as messengers at a synapse |
| Central nervous system | Composed of the brain and spinal cord and is the control center of the body…it interprets and responds to information received from the environment and from within the body |
| Peripheral Nervous system | composed of two types of nerve cells…sensory neurons and motor neuron |
| Sensory neurons | send information from sense organs to the spinal cord and brain |
| Motor neurons | send commands from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and other organs |
