Download Activity Name - Perkins School for the Blind

Activity Name: Blood Flow Through the Heart
Author: Sarah Hughes, Head of Science, New College Worcester,
United Kingdom
Target Subject: Biology
Purpose: to illustrate the flow of blood in the heart and the function of
the heart valves
Background Information: Biology textbooks usually feature a
complicated diagram illustrating the flow of blood in the heart as well
as the names of the 4 chambers and the major arteries and veins.
This activity offers an opportunity to study the chambers, valves and
blood flow with hands on, and an interactive method.
Preparation: on a white board or tray, use Wikki Stix™ to create an
outline of the heart and the major arteries and veins. Use short
pieces of Wikki Stix™ to indicate the valves. The blood is represented
by red beads in strings as well as a few beads separated.
Materials:
White board or tray
Small beads
String
Wikki Stix™
Procedure:
1. After reading about the chambers of the heart, the function of the
valves, and the pattern of the blood flow, examine the tactile drawing
of the heart.
2. Practice opening the closing the "valves".
3. Insert the beads representing the blood into the tactile drawing
following the instructions of your teacher.
4. Allow the "blood" to flow through the valves into the chambers of
the heart by opening and closing each valve as needed.
Additional activities:
Examine a 3D model of the heart that opens for the chambers to be
examined. These models can be purchased from science teaching
catalogs or borrowed from a cardiologist's office.
Use a stethoscope to listen to the heart beats that correspond to the
opening and closing of heart valves.
Resources:
Hughes, Sarah, Making Models. New College Worcester, England,
United Kingdom, 2009.
Miller, Kenneth R. Ph.D. and Joseph s. Levine, Ph.D.
Biology:Foundation Edition, Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.,
2010, page 787.
About Sarah Hughes
As the Head of Science at New College Worcester (NCW), Sarah
Hughes is a Qualified Teacher of Visually Impaired learners.
NCW is a Specialist School for Visually Impaired young people (aged
11 to 19 years) in Worcester, England. Sarah joined the school from
a large mainstream High School in September 2007. When offering
advice to teachers and support staff of visually impaired students she
is always conscious of the fact that things are very different for a
teacher in a specialist setting compared to one in a mainstream
classroom with 30 students (and only one visually impaired student).
In mainstream schools many teachers are regularly using technology
to show animations and interactive whiteboard presentations. Since
learning to teach visually impaired students, Sarah has introduced
and developed the use of models in teaching and learning. These
successfully complement the use of ICT in her classrooms.