Young students will often have a fascination with the circulatory system because of their natural curiosity about blood. All children have at some point injured themselves where they bled and so blood is something they know is in their bodies, although rarely do they understand its function. Also many students will have a fear of blood, and understanding its function may lessen that fear. Knowing the purpose of the circulatory system will also help children to understand why it is so important to take care of their hearts.
To introduce my class to the circulatory system, I would first ask students to give me a "thumbs up" if they had ever cut themselves. I would then pick one student to describe what happened. I would then explain to the students that today we would be learning why blood is in our bodies and why it is so important.
When explaining the circulatory system, I think the most important thing for students to understand is that the circulatory system is a delivery system. Like the postal service delivers mail, the blood stream delivers all the things that they need to work, nutrients and air etc., to our organs. There are quite a few similes that you could use to help young students understand this concept. I would explain it to my class as being like a giant factory that works all day and night. The heart of course is the center where all the blood moves out of. From this central office, the blood delivers food and other energy sources to all the other parts of the body so they can continue working and doing their job. I would then show the class a simple anatomical drawing of the circulatory system so that the students are able to see how it was spread over the entire body. Evan-Moor has published some simple and informational 81/2'x11" cards of the Human Body that work well for a visual resource for this lesson, (Moor, 1998).Then I would remind them of the important function of the heart within the circulatory system, and how it was the headquarters for the entire system.
Explaining to the class that the heart is a muscle, I would have everyone flex and relax a muscle. Using the fist is especially meaningful as it is a very similar shape and about the same size as our actual heart. I would explain that the heart's job is to pump like this all the time to move the blood all over the body so that it could reach all the parts of the body. . I would also tell them the basic structure and function of the heart. The heart has two pumps, one pumps blood to the lungs where it receives oxygen. The other then pumps blood all over the body. I would show them an anatomical chart of the heart alone so that they could see the valves and chambers.
At this point in the unit I would have the students partake in a physical activity to illustrate how our heart works. One of the best things about teaching the circulatory system is the heartbeat. This is because it is tangible evidence to young students that there is something going on inside of their bodies all the time. Because of this I would have do a few exercises that allow them to hear and think about heartbeats. Using our ability to hear this system will make it more realistic for the students.
I would have the students find their heart beat and practice counting the beats. Then I would have them perform a few different activities such as running in place, touching their toes, walking around the room, and sitting reading a book. We would then compare how our heartbeats differed for each of the activities. We would talk about how being active and exercising keeps our heart in shape and then I would show a list of foods that were beneficial to the hearts health. I would have this list on a piece of large chart paper in the room. To keep students thinking about all the systems throughout the unit I would encourage them to add to the lists of food for each system as they discovered other foods that weren't listed on the chart initially. These charts could also be displayed during the presentation of final projects.
I would then prepare students for a drawing project that they would complete with a partner. I would once again show them a simplified anatomical drawing of the heart. I would show how one part pumps blood to your lungs so that oxygen is taken into the blood. Then we would look at how another part pumps the blood into the main artery to be taken to all the parts of the body. One side pumps the oxygenated blood into the body and the other is where the blood returns to the heart.
I would explain to the students that with their partner they were now going to create a paper cut picture of the heart. Then I would have the students look at Matisse's paper cut artwork
Jazz.
I would have the students look at how the artists used paper to make a picture. Keeping the art and anatomical drawings of the heart up I would explain to the students that they needed to make a picture of the heart. I would instruct them to use red for the side where the oxygenated blood was pumped out into the arteries and blue for the side where the veins brought the blood back. After distributing colored construction paper and large white or oak tag paper for them to use, along with scissors and glue, the students would be encouraged to use the resources for reference and inspiration, and with their partner create a paper cut picture of the heart.
Once the students had completed their pictures, the class would gather for a culmination of the activity. Students could share what they created, and are always encouraged to share how their partner contributed or helped them through the process. We would review what we had learned about the heart and the circulatory system. I would then have the students return to their seats and write and draw a reflective entry in their journals.
The following is a list of possible alternative activities to use to illustrate the circulatory system. There are many possibilities besides those listed below, but I would keep it to a few activities that really help to illustrate the concept of what the circulatory systems function is within the body.
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· Have students find their own pulses. Have them count their pulse and find the rhythm.
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· Use a stethoscope to hear and compare heartbeats. You can use a tube from a paper towel as a stethoscope if it is not possible to obtain a real one.
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· Vary exertion in physical activity and graph the change in pulse.
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· Dramatize the blood's trip through the body.
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· Create drawings of the heart on it's own labeling the major parts