Why do Multicellular organisms like humans need a transport

system whereas small unicellular organisms like amoeba do

not?
 The Need for a Transport
System

To explain the need for a transport system in multicellular

organisms versus unicellular organisms. Two reasons can
be taken into consideration;
● Surface area to volume ratio.
● Distance between the cells and the external
environment.
 Surface Area to Volume Ratio
Smaller organisms have a large surface area to volume ratio. As the
size of the organism increases the surface area to volume ratio
decreases.
● Unicellular organisms like amoeba ● Large multicellular organisms like
have a large surface area to humans have small surface area to
volume ratio and so they do not volume ratio. Substances would
need a transport system. Needed therefore take a very long time to
substances can get to all parts of diffuse into the body and get to
the cell by means of osmosis and cells deep within the body at a
diffusion fast enough across the cell much slower rate than the rate at
membrane for all living process to which they are needed by the
occur. body.
 Distance between the cell and the external
Environment
● In unicellular organisms like
amoeba the cell and its
components are close to the
external environment so they get
their substances directly from the
external environment. Diffusion and
osmosis can get the food and
oxygen quickly to all parts of the
cell and remove their wastes to
sustain life processes.
● Multicellular organisms such as
humans have million of cells in
their bodies. Most of these cells
are tucked “deep” within the
body and are not close to the
external environment. This means
that substances cannot get
directly to every single cell by
osmosis and diffusion at a fast
enough rate for them to function
efficiently and sustain life.
 The Need for a Transport System

Multicellular organisms need a transport system to:

1. Get important and needed substances to every single cell.
2. To remove waste and toxic materials away from every single
cell.
Materials Which Need to be transported Around the
Human Body
Substances to be Transported From Transported to
transported
The Components of the Circulatory System

The circulatory system is made

up of the following components:
1. Blood
2. Blood vessels (arteries,
capillaries and veins)
3. The heart.
The Components of the Circulatory System

1. Blood- Transporting Fluid ( the means by which substances are

transported to and from body cells)
2. Blood vessels- pipes or tubes which carry blood around the body/ tube
which blood flows through to get to and from cells.
3. The heart- The pump- the heart acts as a pump to keep the blood
circulating through the blood vessels.
The Heart
 The Structure of the Heart

● The mammalian heart is divided into the left and right side .
● On each Sides there are two chambers an upper chamber and a
lower chamber.
● The upper chamber on each side is the atrium.
● The lower chamber on each side is the ventricle.
● The heart has a total of four chamber, the top chambers are the
atria (Singular atrium) and bottom chambers are the ventricles.
The Heart
Nb. Blood is red. Oxygenated blood
is bright red. Deoxygenated blood is
dark red. It is a convention to use
blue to represent deoxygenated
blood. It does not mean that
deoxygenated blood is actually blue.
 The Structure of the Heart

● The septum separates the two sides

of the heart ( left and right side).

Interatrial / atrial septum -

Separates the left and right atrium

Ventricular septum/ Interventricular

septum- Separates the left and right
ventricle.
 The Structure of the Heart

Valves separate the upper chambers of

the heart from the lower on each side.
Between each atrium and each ventricle
there is an atrioventricular valve.

The right atrium and right ventricle are

separated by the tricuspid valve

The Left atrium and left ventricle is

separated by the bicuspid valve.
 The Structure of the Heart

At the base of the

pulmonary artery and the
aorta there are semilunar
valves.

Pulmonary semilunar valve

Aortic semilunar valve

The right side of the heart is often denoted
as blue to indicate that it transports
deoxygenated blood and The left side of
the heart is often denoted as red to
indicate that it transports oxygenated
blood.
The walls of the heart are made up of a special type of muscle called the cardiac muscle,
which contracts and relaxes regularly throughout life. This specialized muscle can beat
up to 70 times a minute for up to a hundred years or more without tiring.
Draw arrows on your
diagram in your
notebooks to show the
movement of blood
through the heart.
The heart muscle is nourished and
supplied with glucose and oxygen by
the coronary arteries (it supplies the
heart muscle with necessities for
respiration- glucose and oxygen). What
do you think will happen if the coronary
artery gets blocked?
The Flow of Blood Through The Heart -Flow Diagram
 Important Questions

1. As blood flows through the heart oxygenated and deoxygenated blood never

comes into contact. How is this avoided?

2. Which chambers of the heart have the thinnest walls? Which chambers have thick

walls? Why is there a difference?

3. Which of the ventricles have thicker walls? Why is this so?

4. What is the role of the valves within the heart?

5. Why does the aorta have the thickest walls of all the vessels in the circulatory

system?
Important Points to Note

The septum prevents

the mixing of
deoxygenated and
oxygenated blood in
the heart.
Important Points to Note

The walls of the atria are less

muscular than the walls of the
ventricles. The ventricles have
more muscular walls than the
atria because they have to
pump blood at higher pressure
over great distance.
Important Points to Note

The left ventricle is thicker and

has a more muscular wall than
the right ventricle because the
left ventricle needs to pump
blood to the rest of the body
while the right ventricle pumps
blood only to the lungs.
Important Points to Note

Valves prevent the backflow of blood thus

ensuring that blood flow in one direction
through the heart.
● The bicuspid and tricuspid valve
(atrioventricular valve) prevent the
backflow of blood into the atrium when the
ventricle contract.
● Semilunar valves ( pulmonary & aortic
valve) prevent the backflow of blood into
the ventricles when they relax.
Important Points to Note

The aorta has the thickest

walls because it receives blood
at the highest pressure from
the contraction of the left
ventricle.
 Pulmonary Circulation
and Systemic Circulation
Pulmonary Circulation
Blood moves between the heart and
lungs.
Deoxygenated blood flows from the
heart through the pulmonary arteries to
the lungs and back to the heart in the
pulmonary veins as oxygenated blood.
NB. the right ventricle pumps blood into
the pulmonary circulation.
 Pulmonary Circulation
and Systemic Circulation
Systemic Circulation
Blood moves between the heart and the
rest of the body.
Oxygenated blood flows from the heart
through the aorta and other arteries to all
the other organs of the body and then
back to the heart through the vena
cava.
NB. the left ventricle pumps blood into
the systemic circulation.
 The Blood Vessels
Activity
1. Name the blood vessels.
2. Draw and annotate a diagram of each blood vessel.
3. Using a table Compare the blood vessels under the headings:
● Function (State the function of each vessel)
● Structure ( structure of the wall)
● Whether or not valves are present
● Type of blood transported (oxygenated vs deoxygenated)
● Pressure of blood being transported.
4. Explain how the structure of each blood vessel helps it to carry out
its functions.
Structure of the Heart Function

Atrium

Ventricle

Atrioventricular valves

Semilunar Valves

Tendons

Septum

Coronary Artery

Pulmonary Artery

Aorta

Vena Cava

Pulmonary Vein