Blood Types

In class today, we started talking about blood types. There's blood type A, B, AB, and O. All the types are different, but all have the same basic structure. Below is a picture of a blood cell. There are different types of blood cells and different parts of a cell.
Types

-Reb Blood Cells: they transport oxygen to, and remove carbon dioxide from, the body tissues

-White Blood Cells: fight infections

Parts

-Platelet: help the blood clot (Ex. you get a cut and it scabs over)
-Plasma: contains salts and different types of protiens

We also learned that there are different blood grouping systems. As I stated in the beguining, there are four types of blood types which go in to groups. The four groups are A, B, AB, and O. The following will show and tell you how they are in these groups.
Group A
In group A, there's A antigens present and B antibodies.

Group B
In group B, there's B antigens present and A antibodies.

Group AB

In group AB, there's A and B antigens present and NO antibodies.

Group O
In group O, there's NO antigens present and A and B antibodies present.

We also talked about people with certain blood types can only recieve blood from someone with a certain blood type. People with certain blood types can only give to other people with certain blood types. Look below for a better example.

Some people may be asking, "Why do we need to know this?" or "What does this matter? I know I'm not going to become a scientist or a science teacher." Well, what if you do become a scientist. You will have to know which blood type will go to which person after a blood drive. If you don't know what blood type the blood is, the wrong blood will go to the wrong person. That person will then have their original blood cells fighting the new blood causing the red blood cells to break and contents leak out which are toxic.

One thing that may be difficult would be figuring out which blood type will work for which person when they distribute the blood. If you need help with this you can study the table above. If you still need more help, go in and ask for extra help or ask Mr. Finley for help.

For more information you can go to the website we used in class today.

www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/landstiener./readmore.html

EM.

5th Blog