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Introduction to the circulatory system

Your circulatory system has three main parts:

  1. Heart which pumps blood around your body.
  2. Blood vessels which carry the blood.
  3. Blood.

Watch: The circulatory system

Look! The heart is working hard to pump blood around the body.

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The heart

Your heart is a very strong muscle which contracts (gets smaller) and relaxes to pump blood around your body. A heart beat varies from person to person - for an average person it beats 60-100 times a minute. You feel this when you feel your

This is the journey that blood takes:

Image caption,
Heart - Lungs (pick up oxygen) - Heart (again) - Rest of your body (to drop off the oxygen) - Heart (again)
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Watch: How the heart pumps blood

Check out the muscular heart and its extraordinary pumps.

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Watch: Blood vessels

Image caption,
If we could join all of our blood vessels together, they would wrap around the world twice!

Blood vessels carry blood. There are three types:

  1. Arteries carry blood away from the heart.
  2. Veins carry blood back to the heart.
  3. Capillaries are tiny vessels which carry blood into your organs and tissues.
Image caption,
If we could join all of our blood vessels together, they would wrap around the world twice!

Watch and learn about the magnificent blood vessels in your body.

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Watch: Blood

Image caption,
Red blood cells drop off oxygen around our bodies and pick up carbon dioxide.

Blood is made from four parts:

  1. Red blood cells which transport oxygen.
  2. White blood cells which protect against disease.
  3. Blood platelets which help the blood to clot and form scabs to repair a cut.
  4. Plasma which is a yellowy liquid that carries these cells and important nutrients around your body.
Image caption,
Red blood cells drop off oxygen around our bodies and pick up carbon dioxide.

There are different types of blood cells with different jobs.

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Watch: Circulation summary

To extend your learning, have a look at

This video recaps all the key learning points about the circulatory system.

Here's what you need to know about the circulatory system.

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Activity 1: Fill in the gaps

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Activity 2: Circulatory systems quiz

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Activity 3: Create a booklet

Create a booklet or leaflet explaining each part and the role it plays within the circulatory system.

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Teaching resources

Looking for more teaching resources to share with your students? This short film explains how the heart and circulatory system work, taking a close look at the four chambers, two sides, and the valves of the heart.

成人快手 Teach has thousands of free, curriculum-linked resources to help deliver lessons - all arranged by subject and age group.

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