Heart Webquest

1. How does the heart change as it develops in a fetus? At first, the heart is just a tube. It grows so fast that it needs more space, so it bends and twists back, forming the familiar shape. During the next phase, the two atria are partly separate but there is just one big ventricle. The next phase begins when the two atria are completely separate and the ventricles are just beginning to separate. Finally, the ventricles separate completely and the heart is developed.
2. What is the largest vessel that is attached to the heart, and what does it do? The largest vessel attached to the heart is the Aorta, and it is responsible for delivering blood to the body.
3. What is pulmonary circulation? Pulmonary Circulation is the flow of blood through the heart to the lungs and back to the heart. The function is taking the waste products that contain molecules CO2 and other substances and turn it into blood through the lungs then the blood returns to the heart to through the left side and goes through to the rest of the body.
4. The sound you hear when you listen to your heart with a stethoscope is actually what? The doctor places the stethoscope on the chest to hear the sound of the heart. The normal heart sounds, lub and dub, can be heard. Any unusual sounds can also be heard.
5. Distinguish between systole and diastole phases of the heart. Diastole is the relaxation of the cardiac muscles after having contracted and pumped out the blood into the arteries.
Systole is the contraction of the ventricles of the heart which pushes the blood out of the heart.
6. Distinguish between an artery and a vein. Arteries carry blood away from the heart to the other parts of the body. Arteries also have thicker walls as the blood pressure is much higher having a closer proximity to the heart. Veins carry the blood back from the other areas of the body to the heart.
7. What is a sphygmomanometer? An instrument for measuring blood pressure, typically consisting of an inflatable