Blood Cell Basics
Students make a proportional model of blood out of red gelatin, a plastic bag, and rice. They learn about the different components that make up blood and investigate what happens when the arteries and veins experience buildup from cholesterol. They will then work in pairs to brainstorm ways to clean our clogged arteries.
Figure 1. Normal red blood cells.Copyright Medline Plus, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ medlineplus/ency/imagepages/1218.htm
Engineers have developed ways of administering blood transfusions when someone loses a lot of blood in an injury or surgery. They have developed artificial blood, which provides an alternative to a blood transfusion when real blood is either not available or there is not time to test for blood type. Also, engineers have developed equipment for detecting blood diseases like diabetes.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Identify the different composites of blood and their functions.
- Describe the relative amounts and size of the components of blood.
- List several possible complications associated with the circulatory system and how engineers have helped combat such problems.