AS EDEXCEL BIOLOGY UNIT 1 NOTES CARDIAC CYCLE & HEART RATE

THE CARDIAC CYCLE: an ongoing sequence of contraction (systole) and relaxation (diastole) of the atria and ventricles that keeps blood continuously circulating around the body. 1. VENTRICULAR DIASTOLE, ATRIAL SYSTOLE. Ventricles relaxed. Atria contracts, increasing pressure inside the chamber. Blood is pushed into the ventricles. Slight increase in ventricular pressure as they received blood from contracting atria. 2. VENTRICULAR SYSTOLE, ATRIAL DIASTOLE. Atria relaxes, and ventricles contract: this increases pressure. Pressure becomes higher in ventricles than atria - AV valves shut to prevent backflow. Pressure also higher than in aorta and pulmonary artery. SL valves open, and blood is pushed out. 3. VENTRICULAR DIASTOLE, ATRIAL DIASTOLE. Ventricles and atria relax. High pressure in aorta and pulmonary artery closes SV valves to prevent back-flow. Blood returns to heart and atria fill due to high pressure in vena cava (VC) and pulmonary vein. Pressure in atria increases, and ventricles continue to relax. Pressure falls below pressure of atria, so AV valves open. Blood can flow through into ventricles. Atria contracts, and the process being again. INVESTIGATION: EFFECT OF CAFFEINE ON DAPHNIA HEART RATE. 1. Create range of caffeine solutions with different concentrations. ALSO MAKE A CONTROL SOLUTION CONTAINING NO CAFFEINE. 2. Transfer one daphnia to a cavity slide and place onto platform of microscope and focus on the Daphnia heart. 3. Place a drop of one caffeine solution on Daphnia, and count the number of beats in 10secs. Multiply by 6 to get beats per min (heart rate). 4. Repeat process 10 times for each concentration, using a different Daphnia EVERY TIME.

HEART RATE INCREASES AS CAFFEINE CONCENTRATION INCREASES - THIS SHOWS A POSITIVE CORRELATION. IS IT ETHICAL TO USE INVERTEBRATES FOR THIS EXPERIMENT? Many believe it is unethical to using invertebrates - they have no way to give consent, and maybe subjected to painful investigations. Some believe it is more acceptable to use invertebrates - they may feel no or little pain during experiments as they are less complex than us. Some also believe it is unethical to cause suffering to ANY living organism.