The Beating Heart

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

If you have ever felt the “thudding” inside your chest, that's your heartbeat!

In the previous lessons in our Heart and Lungs series, found under Related Lessons in the right-hand sidebar, information about the lungs and the diaphragm working together to bring much-needed oxygen into the body was discussed; but did you know that the heart is located between the lungs? Because of the heart’s location, oxygen is able to be transferred from the lungs to the heart. When the heart receives the oxygen, it sends it out to the body through the blood. The heart has been created as a specialized pump in order to circulate — or cycle — the blood throughout the body.

• How does the heart act like a pump inside the body?
• Does our body just “pump it up” and let it run?

Let’s see what Dr. Jo has to teach you about this very interesting organ!

The heart is an incredible part of the body that can do incredible things. When blood leaves the heart, it travels through special tubes, known as the arteries. When the blood returns to the heart, it travels back through special tubes, known as veins. By using this network of tubes within the body, the heart can send oxygen and nutrients out to all parts of the body.

• Do you remember from earlier in the lesson when you were told that electrical impulses are produced in your heart that make the muscle cells of your heart contract?

This form of electricity does not come from a power outlet in the wall of your home. Instead, there is a small bundle of cells inside your heart that give off electrical impulses in a rhythmic pattern, giving your heart a steady beat.

• Do you think you would be able to live and function without your heart?

Get pumped up and continue on to the Got It? section for a quiz!