Facts for kids: What is blood made of?

Blood is made up of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Red blood cells look like doughnuts.

Ever fallen over, cut your knee and wondered “what is blood made of?”

Blood is made up of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, which carries molecules of oxygen around your body. The oxygen is used by your body to release energy. Hemoglobin contains iron, which gives your blood its distinctive red colour. Red blood cells also carry carbon dioxide, produced as waste by your cells.

White blood cells protect you from pathogens such as viruses, infections and bacteria. They identify, destroy, and remove harmful pathogens, damaged cells, cancerous cells, and foreign matter from the body. You can see evidence of the white blood cells when you have a cut and it is surrounded by a reddish, sometimes painful, border.

Platelets help the blood to clot. They repair holes in your blood vessels when there is a rip or tear, like when fall over onto the ground. Platelets stop the bleeding by clotting the blood into a solid. Without platelets simple cuts and scrapes wouldn’t easily form into scabs.

Finally, there is plasma. It’s a yellow colour, is made up of about 90 percent water, and contains nutrients, salts, gases, proteins, and waste such as carbon dioxide. About 55 percent of your blood is plasma. White and red blood cells float in it

Short answer: Blood is a mixture of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The cells are made by the marrow inside your bones, while plasma is mostly made from what you eat and drink.

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