The main blood vessels — answer key

1. MQ1 · Practice

Model answer. Blood goes from the right side of the heart to the lungs in the pulmonary artery: it carries blood away from the heart, so it is an artery, even though its blood is deoxygenated.

A full answer includes

• The pulmonary artery.

Also accept

• the pulmonary artery

Watch for

• “The pulmonary vein, because the blood is deoxygenated.” — The name depends on direction. Away from the heart is an artery: the pulmonary artery.

2. MQ2 · Practice

Model answer. Blood reaches a kidney in the renal artery and leaves it in the renal vein. The ureter carries urine to the bladder; it is not a blood vessel.

A full answer includes

• (1) renal artery; (2) renal vein; (3) ureter.

Also accept

• (1) renal artery; (2) renal vein; (3) ureter

Watch for

• “The ureter carries blood out of the kidney.” — The ureter carries urine. Blood leaves the kidney in the renal vein.

3. MQ3 · Practice

Model answer. The hepatic portal vein carries blood, with the nutrients absorbed from the gut, from the stomach and small intestine straight to the liver.

A full answer includes

• The hepatic portal vein.

Also accept

• the hepatic portal vein

Watch for

• “The hepatic artery.” — The hepatic artery brings oxygenated blood from the aorta. Blood from the gut comes in the hepatic portal vein.

4. MQ4 · Practice

Options as numbered on the pupil sheet: 1 — pulmonary vein; 2 — pulmonary artery; 3 — aorta; 4 — renal vein; 5 — ureter; 6 — vena cava; 7 — renal artery.

Model answer. A carries dark red blood from the heart up to the lungs: the pulmonary artery. B brings bright red blood back: the pulmonary vein. C brings blood from the body into the heart: the vena cava. D takes bright red blood from the heart down the body: the aorta. H carries blood from D into the kidney: the renal artery. J carries blood from the kidney to C: the renal vein.

A full answer includes

• A: pulmonary artery.
• B: pulmonary vein.
• C: vena cava.
• D: aorta.
• H: renal artery.
• J: renal vein.

Also accept

• A pulmonary artery; B pulmonary vein; C vena cava; D aorta; H renal artery; J renal vein

Watch for

• “B is the pulmonary artery, because it carries oxygenated blood.” — B brings blood back to the heart, so it is a vein: the pulmonary vein.

5. MQ5 · Practice

Options as numbered on the pupil sheet: 1 — the right side of the heart; 2 — the kidney; 3 — the vena cava; 4 — the aorta; 5 — the renal vein; 6 — the renal artery.

Model answer. Blood leaves the left side of the heart in the aorta, enters the kidney in the renal artery, leaves in the renal vein, and returns in the vena cava to the right side of the heart.

A full answer includes

• Left side of the heart → aorta → renal artery → kidney → renal vein → vena cava → right side of the heart.

Also accept

• aorta, renal artery, kidney, renal vein, vena cava, right side of the heart

Watch for

• “Kidney → ureter → vena cava.” — The ureter carries urine to the bladder. Blood leaves the kidney in the renal vein.

6. MQ6 · Practice

Options as numbered on the pupil sheet: 1 — hepatic portal vein; 2 — renal vein; 3 — hepatic veins; 4 — hepatic artery.

Model answer. X comes from the aorta into the liver: the hepatic artery. Y carries blood from the liver to the vena cava: the hepatic veins. Z carries blood from the stomach and small intestine up into the liver: the hepatic portal vein.

A full answer includes

• X: hepatic artery.
• Y: hepatic veins.
• Z: hepatic portal vein.

Also accept

• X hepatic artery; Y hepatic veins; Z hepatic portal vein

Watch for

• “Z is the hepatic artery, because it brings blood into the liver.” — Two vessels bring blood into the liver. Z comes from the gut, not the aorta: it is the hepatic portal vein.

7. MQ7 · Practice

Model answer. The hepatic artery brings oxygenated blood from the aorta. The hepatic portal vein brings blood that has passed through the capillaries of the stomach and small intestine, so it is deoxygenated and, after a meal, rich in absorbed nutrients such as glucose and amino acids.

A full answer includes

• Hepatic artery: oxygenated blood, from the aorta.
• Hepatic portal vein: deoxygenated blood from the gut, carrying absorbed nutrients (after a meal).

Also accept

• hepatic artery: oxygenated, from the aorta; hepatic portal vein: from the gut, less oxygen, absorbed nutrients

Watch for

• “Both bring oxygenated blood straight from the heart.” — The hepatic portal vein's blood has already been through the gut's capillaries, where it gave up oxygen and took in nutrients.

8. MT1 · Apply

Model answer. M is the ureter, which carries urine, so it is joined to the bladder. K is the renal artery, which brings blood from the aorta, so it is joined to an artery from the aorta; L, the renal vein, is joined to a vein leading to the vena cava.

A full answer includes

• M goes to the bladder (the ureter).
• K is joined to a branch of the aorta (the renal artery).

Also accept

• M to the bladder; K to the aorta's branch

Watch for

• “L is joined to the aorta, because it is the largest tube.” — L leads to the vena cava: it is the renal vein. The vessel from the aorta is the renal artery, K.

9. MT2 · Apply

Model answer. A drug absorbed from the small intestine travels in the hepatic portal vein straight to the liver, which breaks some of it down before the blood leaves in the hepatic veins for the heart and the rest of the body. A drug injected into an arm vein goes to the heart first and reaches the body before it passes through the liver.

A full answer includes

• A swallowed drug is absorbed in the small intestine and carried in the hepatic portal vein straight to the liver.
• The liver can break some of it down before the blood reaches the rest of the body; an injected drug goes to the heart first.

Also accept

• hepatic portal vein takes it to the liver first; the liver breaks some down

Watch for

• “The drug is digested by enzymes in the blood of the hepatic artery.” — The hepatic artery brings oxygenated blood from the aorta. Absorbed substances reach the liver in the hepatic portal vein.