Welcome to our study with Apologia’s Human Anatomy and Physiology. Today, we are on lesson 7 – the blood. No matter what curriculum you are using these resources for learning about blood can be a big help to you!
Just the idea of studying blood can make most people queasy. This week, we tried to focus on the important role of blood to our bodies with different hands-on activities to take some of the gross factors out.
DIY Blood
One activity my daughter’s co-op class did with this study was to make their own fake blood. OK. I admit. This does sound pretty gross, but the kids loved it! Here a pretty life-like fake blood recipe you can try at home.
- 1 cup corn syrup
- Red fruit punch
- 2 tablespoons of red food coloring
- 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup
- 1 tablespoon of powdered cocoa
- 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and mix for 10-15 seconds. Take out some blood on a spoon or on a white towel to check the color and thickness. Adjust your ingredients as needed. Remember the corn syrup adds thickness and the cornstarch makes the blood not so transparent. The chocolate syrup and cocoa make the blood darker.
DIY Blood Model
Looking at blood, it just looks like simple red goo. The truth is that blood is very complex and is made of lots of different components. You can make a model of the major components of blood in your kitchen. Use these supplies to represent different parts of the blood.
- Karo Syrup – plasma
- Lima Beans – white blood cells
- Red Candies – red blood cells
- Lentils – platelets
Pour all ingredients into a clear glass jar. Our photos didn’t turn out, but Creekside Learning did a great job on this project. Check out their link for some other blood study ideas, also.
Blood Study Resources
Here are some other blood study resources we found to be helpful (some may be affiliate links):
Blood Cells Experiment Early Elementary
Blood Smears PowerPoint Slides
Blood Cell Basics Elementary and Middle School
Human Blood Lesson YouTube Video
The Blood Typing Game Online Game
White blood cell chasing a bacteria – video
Oxygen transport via hemoglobin – video
What is Hematology?– video
Cancer Cells vs Healthy Cells– video
Role of Protein in Clotting-video
This is part of the Science Saturday series where we partnered with MeetPenny.com to share our journey through Apologia’s Anatomy and Physiology. Don’t forget to check out MeetPenny.com for downloads and inspiration for studying anatomy and physiology!

I was looking at the model of blood picture thinking it looked familiar, and then I saw the caption, that’s why it’s familiar. I’ve pinned it before.
Julie at Creekside Learning took such a better picture of her blood model than I did and was sweet enough to let me use it. She has such great hands on science ideas!
Love that blood model. Definitely have to try the fake blood–these are great activities for a co-op. Thanks for posting!
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