Heather and Ashleigh:

January 13, 1997



Dear Mr. D Hi!! How are you? We are fine. We as in Heather and Ashleigh.



Heather: Thanks for writing back to us. How was your weekend? I lost that calorie info so tonight I will print it out again. Ashleigh is going to call and remind me. How come your blood looks blue but isn't blue?

Mr. D: Your *blood* does not ever *look* blue. The blue things you see under your skin are veins. Veins are really whitish in color but because the blood is dark and the skin difuses the light, the veins *look* blue.

Ashleigh: Thank you again for writing back. Thank you for the answers. I will tell Mr. Johnson about this. I do not even know if he knows about the blood thing. I like the way you think too.

Heather: So when you bleed the blue blood does not meet the air and turn red ?

Mr. D: No, the dark red blood *may* pick up a little oxygen and brighten up a slight bit, but your blood is *never* blue.

Ashleigh: I forgot to say something : Thank you for all of the technical talk. (Ha Ha) You could have just said veins instead of venous and arteries instead of arterial but that is okay. I was just telling you that.

Sorry this letter isn't as long but we have to go to class.

Your tired Keypals,

Heather and Ashleigh

Mr. D: Thanks for writing. You both brighten my day.



January 15, 1997



Heather: I think I understand about the veins and blood.

Mr. D: Are you sure?

Ashleigh: Okay, so your veins are really a whitish color. Right ? So if your veins aren't the color we see, arteries are red right? Doctors see that the arteries are red or are they a different color too ? I will translate this to you: Are the arteries the color we think they are (red) or are they a different color ?