Life In The Blood - Week Six

I apologize with the lack of school posts, In the last two weeks a number of our little people have been back and forth to the hospital including a trip to BC Children's. While there have been lack of posts there is plenty of work being done. 

 My plan was to cover the human body in a month but it just wasn't enough time. I am hoping to wrap this up at the end of October.

Topics we covered this week were, our circulatory system, arterioles, venues, oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.  This came really easy to them  because they have an excellent understanding of the heart. [[A topic that is next week]].

 The blood that flows through this network of veins and arteries is whole blood, which contains three types of blood cells:

1. red blood cells (RBCs)
2. white blood cells (WBCs)
3. platelets

In babies and young kids, blood cells are made within the bone marrow (the soft tissue inside of bones), particularly in the long bones like the humerus (the upper arm bone) and femur (the thigh bone). But, as kids get older and approach adulthood, blood cells are made mostly in the bone marrow of the vertebrae (the bones of the spine), ribs, pelvis, skull, sternum (the breastbone).

The cells travel through the circulatory system suspended in a yellowish fluid called plasma, which is 90% water and contains nutrients, proteins, hormones, and waste products. Whole blood is a mixture of blood cells and plasma.

 In the photo below Natalie and Presley created the make up of blood. 

Red blood cells [[ Mike N Ike's]] (RBCs, also called erythrocytes) are shaped like slightly indented, flattened disks. RBCs contain the iron-rich protein hemoglobin. Blood gets its bright red color when hemoglobin picks up oxygen in the lungs. As the blood travels through the body, the hemoglobin releases oxygen to the tissues.

The body contains more RBCs than any other type of cell, and each has a life span of about 4 months. Each day, the body produces new RBCs to replace those that die or are lost from the body.

White blood cells [[Scottish mint]](WBCs, also called leukocytes) are a key part of the body's system for defending itself against infection (this system is called the immune system). They can move in and out of the bloodstream to reach affected tissues.

Blood contains far fewer WBCs than red blood cells, although the body can increase WBC production to fight infection. There are several types of WBCs, and their life spans vary from a few days to months. New cells are constantly being formed in the bone marrow.

Several different parts of blood are involved in fighting infection.

Corn Syrup was used for the Plasma. A liquid that carries nutrients, hormones, and proteins through the body.  

 This weeks coffee table books.

The interactive notebooking Natalie and Presley are doing is a little over Rachael and Jude's heads so we've been doing lots of hands on learning.

Rachael and Jude putting the pieces in the right places using the anatomy apron. 

     This a fantastic wood puzzle building the layers of the human body.  Jude has been really enjoying this puzzle and seeing how fast he can get it.

 We have been going over the names of different bones, even right down to the youngest two littles. In the photo below Seamus was asked "Where are your Phalanges? Smart little cookie knew right away but also pointed to the toes!