How Blood Flows Through The Heart

In class, we learned about the circulatory system and how blood flows through the heart.  The heart needs to take blood from the body to the lungs so that the blood can get oxygen.  The blood travels through our body delivering oxygen and nutrients to all of our cells because cells need the oxygen to break down the nutrients.  Also, the blood will take out the waste from this process which is carbon dioxide.  This is the path that our blood takes as it comes from our body to the heart, to the lungs, back to the heart and out to the body again.

1. First, blood comes from the body and enters through the Vena Cava.  Then it goes to the Right Atrium.
2. From there it goes through the tricuspid valve into the right atrium.
3. Next, it is pumped through the pulmonary valve to the pulmonary arteries and then it goes to the lungs.  Pulmonary means lungs and arteries go away from the heart, so that’s why this valve and artery have the word pulmonary with them.
4. After the blood gets oxygen from the lungs it goes back to the heart and so it is pumped through the pulmonary vein back to the heart.  Veins go to the heart while arteries go away from the heart.
5. The oxygenated blood enters the left atrium.
6. Next, the blood passes through the bicuspid valve to the left ventricle.
7. From there the blood travels through the aortic valve to the aorta.
8. The aorta is the largest artery of the heart and the oxygenated blood goes through this large artery out to the body again to deliver more oxygen and nutrients, and the cycle continues like this.

Dissecting a Pig’s Heart

Also, we dissected a pig’s heart in class.  It was pretty interesting.  At first, I didn’t think the real pig’s heart looked anything like the diagram, however, after we studied the heart more and more, I could see the similarities between the diagram of a human heart and the heart of a pig.  Apparently, the anatomy of a pig’s heart is very similar to that of a human heart.

In this picture, you can actually see vena cava and part of the aorta – the largest artery that takes blood from the heart to the body.  Around the heart, you can also see the coronary arteries which supply the heart tissue with nutrients.  This picture is of the posterior of the heart (the front of the heart).  You can tell from the large coronary arteries that run from the left side of the heart to the right side of the heart.  We could actually find the pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein on the outside of the heart too.

When we cut the heart open, it was really difficult to find the 4 chambers of the heart, but we could find the valves.  The valves feel different than the muscle tissue of the heart.  The valves feel more solid like cartilage or like small calamari rings.  When we found the valves it was easier to find the chambers and where the blood would enter and exit the heart.

I thought the whole experience was very interesting.  I even noticed a big change in myself.  Before I actually dissected a heart, I thought that it would make me really sick and that I couldn’t handle it.  But after I did it, I thought that it was very interesting and I really liked learning about such an important organ.  It made me realize how strong it is but also how fragile it is.  This made me realize how important it is to treat our bodies right and make sure that we have a healthy heart.