Why we need transport, and the circulatory system
Your heart beats about 100,000 times a day, pushing blood to every one of your cells. The heart looks complicated, but blood follows one route every time. Learn the route and the labels follow.
By the end of this page you can
- Explain why large organisms need a transport system and an Amoeba does not
- Name the main blood vessels and where each one goes
- Trace blood through the heart in the right order
- Tell arteries, veins and capillaries apart
- Answer exam questions on the heart and blood vessels
Goals tick themselves off as you try the activities below.
Photo: Museum of Veterinary Anatomy FMVZ USP / Wagner Souza e Silva, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped.
A goat’s heart, made see-through, with its blood vessels filled with red dye. Even the heart muscle needs its own blood supply.
How often it shows up in past papers
Paper 1 counts come from our past-paper bank of CSEC Biology Paper 1s. Paper 2 is not included yet.
Diffusion works only over short distances
Substances spread into and out of cells by diffusion. That is fast enough over a tiny distance, but far too slow across a big body. Tap each card.
Six blood vessels you must know
Arteries carry blood away from the heart; veins bring it back. Know the vessels of the lungs, kidneys, liver, brain and gut.
Where does each one go?
Tap a vessel to see where it goes.
Carotid arteries supply the brain; jugular veins drain it. Pulmonary means lungs, renal kidneys, hepatic liver.
Follow the blood through the heart
Blood arrives from the vena cava. Drag or tap each stop into its slot.
Where does blood enter first?
Seven terms to know cold
Say what each term means before you flip the card. The three kinds of blood vessel come up again and again.
Six quick questions, then a real one
Pick an answer to see why it’s right or wrong.
An Amoeba gets all its oxygen by diffusion, but a human needs a transport system. Why?
Which organism has the LEAST need for a transport system?
Which of these is NOT transported by the blood?
The right ventricle receives blood from the
Which blood vessels have valves along their length?
In heart bypass surgery, an artery is better than a vein for carrying blood past a blockage because arteries
exam style · 3 marks
Explain why a large organism, such as a human, needs a transport system but an Amoeba does not.
Sign in to have your answer marked, or check it against the mark scheme. Sign in
Practice questions are written by My V.I.P. Academy. They are not official CXC papers.