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Learning strategies

Master blood vessels with diagrams and arteries and veins quizzes

Author: Molly Smith, DipCNM, mBANT • Reviewer: Dimitrios Mytilinaios, MD, PhD
Last reviewed: October 30, 2023
Reading time: 4 minutes

Recommended video: Arteries and veins histology [14:07]
General histological features of arteries and veins.

So, you want to learn about the blood vessels of the body? Blood vessels, including arteries, veins, and capillaries, are long tubular structures of varying sizes which form extensive networks through the body.

Their purpose? Carrying blood from the heart to supply bodily tissues, and returning oxygen poor blood from these tissues back to the heart. These vessels of the body are quite literally at the heart of our anatomy, so understanding their structure and function is essential!

In this article, we’ll be helping you to learn the blood vessel types and their histological structures by delving deep into their layers. Prepare yourself for a flurry of diagrams, videos and quizzes.

Fill in the blank blood vessel diagram, available to download below
Contents
  1. Blood vessels of the body
  2. Arteries and veins diagrams
    1. Worksheets to label 
  3. Consolidate your knowledge with interactive quizzes
  4. Sources
+ Show all

Blood vessels of the body

The vessels of the body include arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules and veins. This is in fact the order in which blood circulation occurs. 

Arteries and veins contain three layers:

  • Tunica externa (outer layer) - comprised of elastic and collagen fibres
  • Tunica media (middle layer) - comprised of smooth muscle and elastic fibres
  • Tunica intima (inner layer) - comprised of a basement membrane and endothelium

Veins also contain valves, which prevent the backwards flow of blood. Capillaries contain only an endothelial layer, which facilitates their function as an area of exchange of various materials. 

Finished watching? Great. Next, we’ll be using our blood vessels diagram to help you encode these structures in your memory. 

Arteries and veins diagrams

Now you’re familiar with the blood vessels of the body, it’s time for an arteries and veins labeling quiz. 

Observe the blood vessels diagrams above, where you can see the structures of arteries and veins clearly labeled. Spend a while piecing these diagrams together in your mind, trying to link the labeled names with the functions you learned about in the video.

Worksheets to label 

Once you think you’ve got a good idea of the associated structures, you can try to label the arteries and veins yourself using our blank blood vessels diagram worksheet. This exercise is a great way to get an idea of your memory. Download the labeled and unlabeled diagrams using the links below.

DOWNLOAD PDF WORKSHEET (BLANK) DOWNLOAD PDF WORKSHEET (LABELED)

Consolidate your knowledge with interactive quizzes

In filling out the worksheet above, you may have realised that you still need a bit more practice with this topic. That’s totally normal! Practice makes perfect, and when it comes to learning something new and remembering it for an exam, repeated exposure is crucial for encoding it in your memory. That’s where our interactive blood vessels quizzes come in.

With these arteries and veins quizzes, you can continue revising what you’ve begun, or even use them to learn a topic from scratch! Powered by an intelligent algorithm, they identify your weak spots based on your wrong answers and give you more questions on those topics accordingly. The result? You’ll know exactly what you need to work on, and once you’ve mastered it (we’ll also show you your percentage and points for each quiz). 

Finally, you can choose between several different quiz types. If you want to hone your identification skills, try our basic and advanced identification quizzes. To prepare for a clinical exam, head for our question banks. And for a mix of everything, try “intelligent mix”!

Try a blood vessels anatomy quiz now!

For more interactive learning material about the arteries and veins, coronary arteries and veins of the heart, click on the following links.

Blood vessels Explore study unit
Coronary arteries and cardiac veins Explore study unit


Are you a fan of labeled diagrams and quizzes? Don’t miss our free anatomy quiz guides on lots of popular exam topics!

Sources

Layout: Molly Smith

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