Heart Dissection Lab Q's

1)  What is the purpose of the pericardium?
-It protects and stabilizes the heart. It keeps the heart lubricated and also prevents it from getting too big.

2)  Observe the blood vessels connecting to the heart. How do arteries differ from veins in their structure?
-arteries are elastic and thick. The walls of arteries contain smooth muscle fiber that contract and relax.

3)  What function do you think the auricle serves?
-They contain oxygenated (left auricle) and deoxygenated(right auricle) blood that are cycled through to either the left ventricle from the left auricle and the right ventricle from the right auricle.

4)  Observe the external structures of the atria and ventricles. what differences do you observe?
-The ventricles are thicker and more muscular than the atria because they pump more blood, further.

5)  Why is the "anchoring" of he heart valves by the chordae tendineae and the papillary muscle important to heart function?
-It ensures that the valves close properly in order for there to not be any leaks that can be fatal.

6)  What is the function of the semi-lunar valves?
-they make sure that the blood is going in the right direction. They prevent the backflow of blood from the arteries to the ventricles during ventricle diastole. The semi-lunar valve also helps maintain pressure on major arteries.

7)  If valvular heart disease occurs on the right side of the heart, it results in swelling in the feet and ankles. Why might this happen?
-The right side of the heart is responsible for pumping blood to the whole body. If the valve is leaking, then the blood isn't able to reach the feet as much.

8)  If valvular disease occurs on the left side of the heart, what would you expect to see?
-You would expect to see lower oxygen in the blood, creating tiredness.


9)  Describe how the left and right sides of the heart differ from each other.
-the right side of the heart is thicker and more muscular because it pumps blood to the whole body, whereas the left side of the heart is thinner because it pumps up blood through the lungs.

Heart Dissection Video Walkthrough

Unit 3 Reflection

•Put it all together. What was this unit all about?
This unit was about the circulatory system, the heart, blood, cardiovascular diseases, and the respiratory system. So the main theme of this unit was the flow of how certain things go in the body.

•How does the cardiovascular system work?
The cardiovascular system is made up of blood vessels and the heart. The heart circulates oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood through the body and the lungs. Blood vessels include veins, arteries, and capillaries.

•What is cardiovascular health? What causes heart disease and stroke? 
cardiovascular health depends on blood pressure, LDL and HDL levels, and cholesterol levels. Some things that cause heart disease and stroke are plaque build up in arteries (AKA atherosclerosis), lack of exercise, high blood pressure. Other factors that can cause these risks are smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol.

•If you can, upload the video of your heart chalk walk

•What can you do to promote your cardiovascular health?
To promote cardiovascular health you can exercise, eat healthy, keep your blood pressure down, and don't smoke.

Reflect on your learning process and self growth
This unit was very interesting, although there were many different things that we had to remember and to learn.

•Interpret how things went this unit by discussing either of the following, or both:
◦Your strengths and weaknesses.
Some strengths from this unit for me would have to be that I thought it was interesting so it kept me engaged. The only bad thing about it was that there was a lot of information to remember and  it is hard for me to stay focused for long periods of time.

These could be skill based or content based. For example: What topics were difficult to understand and what topics do you still not fully understand? What did you learn about managing the demands of the class or how you work in collaborative settings? In other words, are you a better student today than yesterday? Why?
I definitely work better in a collaborative setting. Learning and doing labs with other people helps me to bounce ideas off of them and hear ideas that I might not have thought of myself. Some topics that were difficult to understand was remembering all the different types of White Blood cells and there functions. I would mix them up. I believe that I am a better student than I was yesterday because I am able to reflect on what went well as opposed to what didn't and will now hopefully be able to fix what did not go well.

•What goals do you have for the remainder of the semester?
For the remainder of the semester, I hope to keep my grade in the B+ or better range.