This activity features actual photomicrographs of coronary artery disease in young people aged 18 – 24 years of age. Students will observe the image of coronary artery cross sections and use a unit square grid to estimate the amount of open space (lumen), available for blood flow. They will notice the lumen in some of the blood vessels has been reduced as a result of atherosclerosis. Students will then infer what might happen to the heart muscle supplied by these arteries. This activity will provide student background information for a more in-depth study of the development of atherosclerosis.
Coronary artery, unit square grid, arteries, artery, arterial, anatomy, atherosclerosis, stroke, limb loss, pulmonary embolism, heart attack, organ damage, aneurysm
