Higher:
Can explain the process of respiration and oxygen transfer; that oxygen is transported in red blood cells through veins, arteries and the heart
Middle:
Is able describe in simple terms the involuntary actions of the lungs and the heart to enable oxygen to pass around the body in red blood cells
Lower:
Can identify where the lungs and the heart are in a body; that the involuntary action of breathing passes oxygen around the body in the bloodstream
Higher:
Explains that the right side of the heart is more developed than the left as it is passing blood around the whole body and the left just to the lungs
Middle:
Describes the heart as being larger on one side than the other and having four chambers that take blood in and through, as the heart pumps
Lower:
Knows that the heart pumps with an involuntary action that passes the oxygenated blood around the body
Lesson Recap Slide: Think back to the last lesson. What is the function of blood vessels?
Lesson Starter: Explain what you already know about the heart.
Ask children to talk about the sound the heart makes, compare the difference between strenuous exercise with rest and calm; ask pupils to think about their heartbeat while they sit, ask them to jump up and down for 30 seconds and check their heartbeat again.
Presentation - Starter Slide
Answer questions and take part in activities during the presentation. Stop the presentation at the relevant slides: Talk Partners; AfLs; Songs. Take part in the Choral Response Questions activity (see Assessment section) after the Keywords/Rocket Words slide.
Key Concept:
During this unit, each lesson contains a key concept question housed in the '30 Second Challenge' slide. To help children master this content so the knowledge moves from their short term memory to their long term memory, at the beginning of the follow on lesson the question from the previous lesson is revisited.
The questions covered during this unit include:
1. What is the function of blood?
2. What is the function of blood vessels?
3. Explain how your heart moves blood around your body.
4. Explain the difference between your blood pressure and your pulse.
5. Explain how cigarettes harm your body.
6. What are the different food groups? Explain what you can do to eat a balanced diet.
Expert Film: Kevin Mantle, a personal trainer at Norfolk Health & Fitness, discusses the four chambers of the heart and its function.
Discuss with pupils what they have learnt from the presentation and from the Expert Film. Do they know how a heart can be stopped and started in a hospital operation?
How we deliver the Gatsby Benchmarks:
2 - Learning from career and labour market information: Pop along to Developing Experts career’s zone to find out about jobs in your area.
4 - Linking curriculum learning to careers: This unit showcases careers that relate to heart and health. Access our 360° virtual work tours.
7 - Encounters with Further and Higher Education: Pop along to Developing Experts career’s zone to find out about training providers in your area.
Presentation - Expert Film
Skills
Model how the heart works
Creating a scientific drawing
Answering questions during the web presentation
Presenting a talk of how the heart functions
Workstation Activities
Modelling the Heart
Handout
AfL
Success Criteria
I can explain how the blood pumps around the heart.
I can create an accurate drawing of the heart to scale and name its parts.
Questions to Ask
Look at children's models and drawings of the heart and listen to their presentations. Have the children labelled the different parts of the heart and explained their function correctly? Are their drawing accurate and to scale? Do their diagrams show the direction that the blood pumps through the heart? Can the children explain that the heart's main job is to pump blood around the body?
Mission Assignments - Elaborate
Modelling the Heart
Ask the children to do the following:
1. Take the plastic bottle and half fill with water.
2. Cut a balloon in half and stretch the base over the opening of the plastic bottle.
3. Poke 2 small holes into the balloon with a skewer or pair of scissors.
4. Insert the straws through the holes in the balloon top.
5. Place the mouth end of the balloon over the end of one of the straws and tape into position. This acts as a valve in the heart and only lets the water travel in one direction.
6. Push your fingers up and down on the surface of the balloon stretched over the plastic bottle. This simulates the pumping action of the heart. You will start to see the water pumping out.
Once the children have created their heart models ask them to work in pairs to prepare a brief presentation which they can share with the class which provides an overview of how the heart works and what they need to do to keep it healthy.
Ask the children to complete the Handout by making a scientific drawing of the heart to use as part of their presentation. Explain to the children that they are going to make and label a model of the heart and label all of the parts correctly.
Questions to Ask
How does the heart work? What direction does the blood flow through the chambers of the heart?
Modelling the Heart
Plastic bottles with wide neck
Water
Balloons
Skewer or pencils
Straws
Sticky tape
Handout
What are the main parts of the human circulatory system?
Describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood.
The Science Behind the Science
The heart is a muscular organ situated between the lungs in the middle part of the chest. It is approximately the size of a clenched fist. It beats more than 100,000 times per day to continuously circulate five litres of blood around the human body. Tiny electrical signals are responsible for making the heart contract and pump blood. Arteries take blood away from the heart, veins return blood to the heart and tiny capillaries distribute blood to tissues and organs.
The heart is made up of four chambers: the right atrium, the right ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle. The atria are located at the top of the heart and the ventricles are located at the bottom of the heart.
Blood without oxygen enters the heart through a vein called the vena cava. The deoxygenated blood enters the right atrium and is pumped into the right ventricle. It then leaves the heart via the pulmonary artery and is pumped to the lungs. Blood containing oxygen enters the heart via the pulmonary vein. The oxygenated blood enters the left atrium and is pumped into the left ventricle. It then leaves the heart through an artery called the aorta and is pumped around the rest of the body. Heart valves are used to stop blood flowing the wrong way through the heart.
Identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system, and describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood.
Planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary
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