Digestive System
What’s the first step in the digestion process? It all starts with the mouth. Food goes in, you chew it up, swallow it, then what happens? The process of turning that food into energy and proteins and other things necessary for life begins. But it all starts with the mouth. The Start of Digestion: Mouth to Stomach Does the sight or aroma of […]
Digestive System Organs
[Figure 1] Specifically, our energy comes from what? The respiratory and circulatory systems work together to provide cells with the oxygen they need for cellular respiration. Cells also need glucose for cellular respiration. Glucose is a simple sugar that comes from the food we eat. To get glucose from food, digestion must occur. This process is carried out by the digestive system. Overview of the Digestive System […]
Respiratory System Disorders
[Figure 1] Does making ATP start with the lungs? The importance of a nice pair of healthy lungs is obvious. We all need oxygen to get into our lungs, so the oxygen can be transferred to the blood, so it can be transported around our body, so each cell can receive its fair share of oxygen, allowing oxygen to serve […]
Regulation of Breathing
What allows you to take a deep breath? Deep breath in…now blow out those candles. We’ve all done that. Taking that deep breath in is an active process. You can usually feel your chest move. Why? Obviously, muscles in your chest are doing the work. Regulation of Breathing To understand how breathing is regulated, you first need to understand […]
Breathing
[Figure 1] Grapes. Why? What do these have in common with a breath of air? Below are the parts of the lungs where oxygen moves from the lungs into the blood. If the alveoli below were purple, they could resemble a bunch of grapes. Of course, as the alveoli are in the lungs, they must be very small to provide […]
Respiratory System Organs
[Figure 1] Are all noses alike? It all starts with the nose. OK, in humans maybe not the nose pictured above, but one similar to the nose below. Though the passage of air is probably similar in cows and humans. Air comes in and then where does it go? [Figure 2] Organs of the Respiratory […]
Respiratory System
[Figure 1] Where does oxygen get into blood? Red blood cells are like trucks that transport cargo on a highway system. Their cargo is oxygen, and the highways are blood vessels. Where do red blood cells pick up their cargo of oxygen? The answer is the lungs. The lungs are organs of the respiratory system. The respiratory system is the […]
Blood
[Figure 1] What exactly is blood? All your cells need oxygen, as oxygen is the final electron acceptor during cellular respiration. How do they get this oxygen? From blood. Blood cells flow through the vessels of the human circulatory system. But what exactly is blood? It does transport oxygen, but also has other functions. Blood Blood is a fluid connective tissue. […]
Cardiovascular Diseases
[Figure 1] Eat healthy, exercise, and don’t smoke. Why? Normally blood needs to flow freely through our arteries. Plaque in an artery can restrict the flow of blood. As you can probably imagine, this is not an ideal situation. And eating right, exercising, and not smoking can help keep your arteries healthy. Cardiovascular Disease Diseases of the heart and blood vessels, […]
Circulatory System
How does oxygen get into the blood? The main function of the circulatory system is to pump blood carrying oxygen around the body. But how does that oxygen get into the blood in the first place? You may already know that this occurs in the lungs. So the blood must also be pumped to the lungs, and this […]
