Thursday, November 12, 2015

Sheep Heart Dissection

1. What is the purpose of the pericardium?

It's purpose is to keep the heart in place and to keep the pressure inside the heart from making it explode.

2. Observe the blood vessels connecting to the heart. How do arteries differ from veins in their structure?

Arteries have thicker walls, and a higher pressure inside of them than veins do, and unlike arteries, veins carry blood to the heart while arteries carry blood away from it.

3. Place your finger inside the auricle. What function do you think the auricle serves?

It takes in deoxygenated blood from the body and oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps them through the tricuspid/bicuspid valve to their respected ventricles.

4. Observe the external structures of the atria and ventricles. What differences do you observe?

Ventricles have thicker walls than the atria and blood flows into the atria and out of the ventricles.

5. Find the following structures. Use pictures or words to describe each.
a. Exit from the coronary sinus
b. Exit from the inferior vena cava
c. Right Atrioventricular Valve (Tricuspid Valve)

a. It empties blood into the right atrium.
b. It empties blood into the heart.
c. It prevents the backflow of blood from the right ventricle into the right atrium.

6. Draw a picture of the tricuspid valve, including chordate tendinae and the papillary muscle.Displaying IMG_0265.JPG


7. Why is the "anchoring" of the heart valves by the chordate tendinae and the papillary muscle important to the heart to function?

It's important because it prevents the bicuspid and tricuspid valves from collapsing into the atria while contracting.

8. Using pictures and/or words describe what you see.

It prevents backflow and allows blood to flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle.

9. What is the function of the semi-lunar valves?

The semi-lunar valves are the valves that prevent blood from going back into the heart after they have left it.

10. Valvular heart disease is when one or more heart valves does not work properly. Improperly functioning heart valves can lead to regurgitation, which is the backflow of blood through a leaky valve. Ultimately this can lead to congestive heart failure, a condition that can be life threatening.
a. If the valve disease occurs on the right side of the heart, it results in swelling in the feet and ankles. Why might this happen?
b. If the valve disease occurs on the left side of the heart, what complications would you expect to see?

a. The blood isn't moving through the heart so it backflows back down and gathers in the feet and ankles, causing swelling.
b. I would expect to see swelling in the lungs because of the backflow.

11. Using pictures and/or words describe what you see.

The cordae tendinae connects the papillary muscle to the bicuspid valve.

12. Describe how the left and right sides of the heart differ from each other.

The right side of the heart deals with deoxynated blood while the left side of the heart deals with oxynated blood, the walls of the left side of the heart are thicker than the right because it needs to pump blood to the body.

13. Draw and label all structures visible in the interior of the cross-section.Displaying image1.JPG

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Unit 3 Reflection

This unit was about blood, the circulatory system, the cardiovascular system, cardiovascular diseases, and a intro to the respiratory system. The cardiovascular system works by the heart pumping blood throughout the body by blood vessels called veins and arteries, they also go to the lungs to get oxygen in the body and take waste out of the body. Cardiovascular health is the health of your heart, blood, and blood vessels. Heart disease is either passed genetically or is gotten by unhealthy choices in food and lifestyle that then proceeds to cause problems within the cardiovascular system. A stroke is what happens when something is either completely blocking a artery or when there is a leak in the wall that can rupture. I can promote my own cardiovascular health by eating healthier and exercising more, lowering blood pressure and body fat, also to remove stressors from daily life. What I wonder about is how clogged up my arteries are, and I really don't want to find out. I'd say that my strengths in this unit were that I understood how the blood flows through the body and through the heart. My weaknesses though I would say were knowing all the different parts of the heart, knowing only the ones used in the flow of blood and not the others. I need to work on my health goals from unit 2, since of all my school work I've basically not been able to work on them.