Creating a human blood circulatory system working model with syringes for a biology project is a great hands-on way to demonstrate how blood circulates throughout the body.
Using syringes, tubes, and colored water, you can simulate how the heart pumps blood through arteries, veins, and capillaries.
Materials Needed:
- Syringes (at least 4 large ones for heart chambers)
- Plastic tubing (clear tubing to represent arteries and veins)
- Colored water (use red food coloring for oxygenated blood and blue for deoxygenated blood)
- T-connectors or Y-connectors (to connect tubes)
- Plastic or cardboard (to create the body frame or torso representation)
- Small water pump (optional, to automate blood flow)
- Hot glue or adhesive (to secure parts)
- Scissors/cutter (for cutting tubes)
- Valves (optional, one-way valves can be made from simple materials or purchased)
- Markers or labels (to explain different parts of the circulatory system)
Model Overview:
The model will simulate how blood moves through the heart, lungs, arteries, veins, and back to the heart. Syringes will represent the heart chambers, and clear tubes will represent the blood vessels. You’ll create a simple pumping system using syringes to mimic how blood moves through the body.
Video Steps to Build the Model:
1. Build the Frame (Body or Torso)
- Cut the Body Shape: Using cardboard or plastic, cut out a basic shape of the human torso to represent where the heart and blood vessels will be located.
- Draw the Circulatory System: Use markers to draw and label the major parts of the circulatory system on the frame: heart, arteries, veins, and lungs.
- Heart: Place the heart in the center.
- Arteries: Draw arteries moving away from the heart (in red).
- Veins: Draw veins moving toward the heart (in blue).
- Lungs: Represent the lungs on either side of the heart where gas exchange happens.
2. Set Up the Syringe “Heart”
- Four Syringes as Heart Chambers:
- Use two syringes to represent the right atrium and right ventricle (for deoxygenated blood).
- Use the other two syringes to represent the left atrium and left ventricle (for oxygenated blood).
- Connect the Syringes:
- Attach the right atrium syringe to the right ventricle syringe using tubing.
- Similarly, connect the left atrium syringe to the left ventricle syringe.
- You can use T-connectors or Y-connectors if needed to split or join the tubes.
3. Add Blood Vessels (Arteries and Veins)
- Arteries: Attach clear tubing to the left ventricle syringe (for oxygenated blood) and run it through the model to represent the aorta, which will supply blood to the body.
- Veins: Attach tubing to the right atrium syringe (for deoxygenated blood) to represent veins, bringing blood back to the heart.
- Pulmonary Circulation: Add tubing from the right ventricle syringe to simulate the pulmonary artery, carrying blood to the lungs. From the lungs, another tube should connect to the left atrium, simulating the pulmonary veins bringing oxygenated blood back to the heart.
4. Add Valves (Optional)
- Heart Valves: To prevent backflow, you can insert one-way valves between the syringes or tubes where blood would normally flow in one direction.
- DIY Valves: Simple one-way valves can be made using a small piece of flexible plastic or balloon material inside the tube that allows water to flow in only one direction.
5. Color the Water for Oxygenation
- Red Water (Oxygenated Blood): Fill one set of tubes (connected to the left ventricle and arteries) with water colored red to represent oxygenated blood.
- Blue Water (Deoxygenated Blood): Fill the other set of tubes (connected to the right atrium and veins) with blue-colored water to represent deoxygenated blood.
6. Simulate the Blood Flow
- Manual Pumping with Syringes:
- Pull and push the syringes to simulate the contraction of the heart chambers.
- When you pull the right atrium syringe, it draws in “deoxygenated” blue water (deoxygenated blood) from the veins.
- Push the right ventricle syringe to move the blue water into the pulmonary artery (towards the lungs).
- Similarly, pull the left atrium syringe to bring in red water (oxygenated blood) from the pulmonary veins, and push the left ventricle syringe to move red water into the aorta (to the body).
- Show Circulation: As you pump the syringes, water will flow through the clear tubing, showing how blood circulates from the heart to the lungs (for oxygenation) and back out to the body.
8. Label the Parts
- Arteries: Label the tubing that carries red water as arteries.
- Veins: Label the tubing that carries blue water as veins.
- Lungs: Mark where the pulmonary circulation occurs for gas exchange.
Key Concepts:
- Right Side of the Heart: Pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs through the pulmonary artery.
- Left Side of the Heart: Pumps oxygenated blood from the lungs to the body through the aorta.
- Blood Circulation: Demonstrates the flow of blood from the heart to the lungs and back, and then to the rest of the body.
This working model provides a clear, visual representation of the human circulatory system, making it easier to understand how blood is pumped by the heart, oxygenated in the lungs, and circulated throughout the body.