AP Bio Circulatory System Study Guide

Ultimately most of this chapter is stuff you should know for the test, but here are some of the things that will be emphasized…

-What is the reason for a Circulatory system? Why not just use diffusion?

-Differences between Open and Closed Circulatory Systems (CS) including pros and cons of each.

-General overview of the vertebrate CS (what groups have what # of chambers) and the advantages of 2->3->4 ch hearts. Also, why haven’t 4 ch hearts evolved in fish?

-Be able to trace the route of blood flow through our CS and know the cardiac cycle.

-Be able to distinguish Diastole from Systole and why there are these pressure differences (as well as why pressure diminishes the farther the path gets from the heart).

-be familiar with terms like myogenic, SA node, semilunar valves, etc

-Be able to describe the sequence of events that occur in the initiation of a heartbeat.

-Be able to structurally/functionally distinguish arteries, veins and capillaries.

-Be able to discuss the relationship of cross sectional area, speed and pressure within blood vessels (fig 42.11).

-Be able to describe measuring blood pressure (since you did it in class and all….)

-Be able to describe the mechanisms at work that dictate fluid movement in capillary beds.

-Be able to distinguish the basic blood cell types (though I will not emphasize this as much as the book).

-Know how a clot forms.

-Know the different kinds of cardiovascular diseases.

-Know the commonalities of all respiratory surfaces.

-Know why gills don’t work on land and lungs don’t work in water…

-Be able to describe a counter current exchange system, how it works, and why it’s a good evolutionary adaptation.

-Be able to distinguish the basic respiratory systems described in the book (lungs, trachea, etc).

-Know the anatomy of our lungs. This includes all the names of parts and the descriptions of them.

-Know what makes a bird’s respiratory system so much better (and cooler) than ours.

-Know about partial pressure and how it relates to respiration.

-Definitely know about the Bohr shift and how our body elegantly matches supply and demand between blood and tissues.

-Its also worth reading about Pronghorns because they are just that cool.

-Hope all of this helps. Remember this is just a broad description, but it should point you in the right direction.