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Blood components, clotting and blood groups – smear, cell count, transfusion, tissue fluid

BiologyHuman & Animal PhysiologyAges 13–14Virtual lab

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Use with my class

Six screens on blood. Smear: tap red cells, the five kinds of white cell, platelets and plasma to see their structure, how each is adapted to its function and how many there are per mm³. Cell count: count red or white cells in a haemocytometer using the line rule and work out the number per mm³ of blood. Clotting: platelets, thrombin and fibrin seal a cut, with or without Ca²⁺ ions and factor VIII, while phagocytes engulf bacteria. Blood groups: type blood with anti-A, anti-B and anti-D sera, check donor–recipient compatibility and follow haemolytic disease of the newborn. Self and non-self: HLA antigens and graft rejection. Tissue fluid: how tissue fluid and lymph form, and oedema.

Lesson: Blood: components and functions, clotting, ABO and Rh blood groups, transfusion, immunity, tissue fluid and lymph

What it shows

Blood is plasma carrying red cells, white cells and platelets. Each part is adapted to its job: red cells are biconcave, have no nucleus and are packed with haemoglobin to carry oxygen; phagocytes engulf microbes; lymphocytes make antibodies; platelets start clotting, when thrombin turns soluble fibrinogen into a fibrin mesh. Antigens on red cells set the ABO and Rh groups, and HLA proteins mark every other cell as self. At the arteriole end of a capillary blood pressure pushes fluid out to form tissue fluid; most returns at the venule end and the rest drains as lymph.

How to use

Choose a Screen with the tabs. Smear: tap a cell, then name the cell marked ?. Cell count: press Count for me or tap cells, Record square, then type the cells per mm³. Clotting, Self and non-self and Tissue fluid: change the settings and press Run. Blood groups: add the antisera to each sample, then choose its group.

Parameters you can change

  • Screen Smear, Cell count, Clotting, Blood groups, Self and non-self, Tissue fluid
  • Blood sample Healthy adult, Person with anaemia, Person living at high altitude, Person with a bacterial infection
  • Cells counted Red cells, White cells
  • Ca²⁺ ions in the blood
  • Haemophilia (no factor VIII)
  • Bacteria enter the cut
  • Part Blood typing, Transfusion, Rh disease
  • Donor O−, O+, A−, A+, B−, B+, AB−, AB+
  • Recipient O−, O+, A−, A+, B−, B+, AB−, AB+
  • Kidney donor Identical twin, Brother or sister, Parent, Unrelated person
  • HLA mismatches 0–6
  • Immunosuppressant drugs
  • Blood pressure at arteriole end 2–8 kPa
  • Plasma protein 20–90 g/L
  • Lymph vessels open

Questions to explore

  1. Why does a red blood cell have no nucleus and a biconcave shape?
  2. Why does stored blood with citrate not clot, and why does haemophilia slow clotting?
  3. Why can a person with group O− give red cells to anyone, but receive only from O−?

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