Blood is a vital fluid that circulates through the body, delivering essential substances like oxygen and nutrients to the cells and carrying away waste products. It is also involved in regulating body temperature, fighting infections, and maintaining homeostasis.
Platelets: These cell fragments are involved in blood clotting and help to stop bleeding when a blood vessel is injured.
Plasma: This is the liquid component of blood, composed mainly of water, but also containing proteins, hormones, and waste products.
Blood Types
Human blood is classified into different blood types based on the presence or absence of certain antigens on the surface of red blood cells. The most common blood type system is the ABO system, which includes blood types A, B, AB, and O. Additionally, blood is also classified by the Rh factor, resulting in eight main blood types (A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, O-).
Functions of Blood
Blood performs several critical functions in the body, including:
The Living Environment: Students understand that cells are the basic unit of life, that all life as we know it has evolved through genetic transfer and natural selection to create a great diversity of organisms, and that these organisms create interdependent webs through which matter and energy flow. Students understand similarities and differences between humans and other organisms and the interconnections of these interdependent webs.
Biodiversity: Students compare living things based on their behaviors, external features, and environmental needs.
Describe how living things can be sorted in many ways, depending on which features or behaviors are used to sort them, and apply this understanding to sort living things.