General information for learners on 'Blood'
You have fluid that runs through your whole body and that is called blood.
We cannot survive if we do not have blood. Our blood helps with all our bodily functions like taking oxygen to all the parts of our body and also vitamins and minerals so it is very important that our blood is healthy.
Your blood is also important to pick up the waste that your body no longer needs and take it to the places where it must be like to the lungs, the kidneys and your liver.
The heart is the center of the circulatory system (the system where your blood flows in your body)
Blood can also help your body to fight off infections that can make you sick.
If you look at blood you see the colour red, but blood is also made up of plasma which is a clear liquid and this plasma carries the blood platelets and hormones throughout the body.
Blood is made up of different parts
Red blood cells
The red blood cells carries the oxygen where it must be and then it takes the carbon dioxide back to the lungs that you can exhale it.
One drop of blood contains millions of red blood cells.
There is a chemical in the red blood cells that is called hemoglobin and this is the part of the cells that carries the oxygen that you inhaled from the lungs to the rest of the body.
The red blood cells are made in the bone marrow.
White blood cells
These are the cells in your blood that fights off infections. It can be caused by anything from a flue virus to a splinter that get stuck in your finger. If you have any type of infection your body will increase the production of white blood cells.
Blood platelets
This is the part of the blood that helps the blood clot. If you cut yourself the blood platelets will stick together to form a clot that the blood stops flowing.
There are 4 main blood groups A, B, AB and O
