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Animals including Humans
Year 6
Lesson 1
LI: describe the function of the heart.
Input
What do you know
about the heart?
Where is it located?
What is it made of?
Why do we need it?
What is its size?
The heart
•The heart made of a special muscle that never
tires (gets tired).
•It beats itself without the brain having to
control it.
•It started beating before you were born and
will continue until death.
•The size of a human heart is similar to your
clenched fist.
• It is protected by the ribs.
The function of the heart
•The heart is a powerful pump that sends
the blood to every part of the body.
•Sometimes your heart changes its speed,
getting faster or slower, depending on
how much oxygen your body your body
needs.
Inside the heart
•The heart divided into two halves
separated but a wall of muscle.
•Each side of the heart is split into 2
chambers:
•The upper chamber is called the atrium
•The lower chamber is called the ventricle.
•There are valves that prevent the
backflow of blood.
How the heart works
•Blood enters the right side of the heart via the Vena Cava (a
vein) and enters the right atrium.
•The right atrium contracts (gets smaller) pushing the blood
into the right ventricle (the bottom of the heart)
•When the right ventricle contracts, the blood is pushed to the
lungs via the pulmonary artery.
•At the lungs the blood picks up oxygen.
•The blood is returned to the heart by the pulmonary vein and
enters into the left atrium.
•Left atrium contracts sending the blood down into the left
ventricle.
•When the left ventricle contracts, the blood is sent to the rest
of the body via the aorta (artery).
What the heart looks like
When you see a heart on
paper it is reversed !
Activity
Your task is to now label a heart with the
following:
1. Left ventricle
2. Right ventricle
3. Right atrium
4. Left atrium
5. Pulmonary artery
6. Aorta
Plenary
Listen to a heart beating.
What do you notice?
Why does the heart make the noise
it does?