The components of the blood and their jobs

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Slide 1

 

The components of the blood

and their jobs

Slide 2

 

What is blood made up of?

Red blood cells

White blood cells

Platelets

Plasma

Breakdown products of digestion, such as glucose, fatty acids and amino acids

Dissolved mineral salts

Carbon dioxide

Urea

hormones

Slide 3

 

What is plasma?

Plasma is the liquid part of the blood which carries everything else.

Plasma is a straw-yellow coloured liquid

If everything in plasma was removed, plasma would look like this

Slide 4

 

What do the different parts of blood look like under a microscope?

Red blood cells

White blood cells

Slide 5

 

What is the job of red blood cells?

They have a round, flat disc shape for a large surface area

They do not have a nucleus

They contain haemoglobin which combines with oxygen in areas of high concentration to form oxyhaemoglobin

Oxygen + haemoglobin oxyhaemoglobin

Red blood cells carry oxygen to the cells of the body for use in respiration

Slide 6

 

What do white blood cells do?

White blood cells help the body to fight invading bacteria

White blood cells will engulf and ingest invading bacteria

Slide 7

 

Other important jobs of the white blood cells:

They produce antibodies which can recognise and fight bacteria

They produce antitoxins which neutralise the toxins (poisons) that bacteria produce, which make us feel ill

Slide 8

 

What do platelets do?

Platelets are fragments of cells

The job of platelets is to help blood clot and form a scab

The platelets are involved in the formation of fibrin, which is needed for clotting blood

This is useful for stopping bleeding, and for preventing germs from entering the body through the cut

Slide 9

 

Summary of the composition of blood

Slide 10

 

Questions on the blood

What part of blood carries oxygen to cells?

Why are red blood cells flat disc-shaped?

What is the job of platelets?

What do white blood cells do?

Describe how a white blood cell carries out its job.