The Heart and Lungs

Key Stage 2: Year 5 Science

by Mrs. Chapman, 2005 Greet School, Birmingham

Unit 5a: Keeping Healthy

Introduction
1 The human body 2 What does the heart do? 3 Heart key facts 4 Heart health 5 What do the lungs do? 6 Lungs key facts 7 The circulation 8 Pulse and exercise 9 Pulse rate data 10 How do I look after them? Heart and lungs quiz Links for further study
Unit 5a Keeping Healthy: The Heart and Lungs Year 5 Science by Mrs. Chapman

The human body

Your body is very special. We need to look after our bodies to stay healthy. Although we may look still and quiet on the outside, our body is constantly moving and changing inside. Can you find the brain, the heart and the lungs?

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What does the heart do?

Your heart, made of muscle, pumps blood around your body via blood vessels (tubes). The heart is inside your chest, protected by bones - the ribs and breast bone. When the heart pumps, it beats - we measure the heartbeat via the pulse - easily found on your wrist and neck. Blood carries oxygen to the parts of the body that need it.
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Heart key facts

Your heart is about the size of your fist. In most adults it beats about 70 times a minute (70 bpm). In children and small animals, the heart beats faster. The first heart transplant was in 1967. You cannot normally live for more than 5 minutes if your heart stops beating. Heart disease is the number 1 killer in the western world! Doctors examine your heart by taking the pulse (to see how fast its beating), ECGs (special electrical rhythm charts), x-rays and scans including ultrasound (like an unborn baby scan). Back to Introduction

Heart health

Heart on chest x-ray

Man having a chest x-ray

Ultrasound output ECG graph output

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What do the lungs do?

Your lungs receive the air you breathe in through your nose. When you breathe in, the lungs puffout or inflate, and deflate when you breathe out. From the air, they take the useful part - oxygen (a gas), and convert it for use in the body via the bloodstream. The blood swaps carbon dioxide (the waste material) for oxygen in the lungs. This is why the lungs are often said to convert gases.

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Lungs key facts

You have 2 lungs. Your lungs are protected by your ribcage. Close-up, they look like a wet sponge. The left lung is smaller - to accommodate your heart (see the x-ray showing the heart). Your lungs are particularly vulnerable to breathing-in nasty substances - toxic chemicals, smoke from fires and cigarette smoke all damage your lungs.
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The circulation
Blood (with oxygen and nutrients) goes round our bodies via the heart. We call this circulation (from the word circle). The heart sends blood to the lungs first to collect the oxygen from the air weve just breathedin, then it goes to where its needed (this is shown in red). The blood then returns to the lungs via the heart (this is shown in blue) with carbon dioxide - the gas that we breathe out. This is described as a figure of 8. Back to Introduction

Pulse and exercise

When you exercise parts of your body need an increased blood supply (more oxygen and nutrients) so your heart beats faster. You also breathe faster to get more oxygen into your lungs, and to get rid of the carbon dioxide. You also get hot and sometimes flushed (or red faced). What parts of the body need an increased blood supply when running? Take your resting pulse and produce a bar chart of your groups results. What is the most common range for pulse?

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Pulse rate data

After 2 min

After 1 min

Jumping

Miss B Mr A Mrs C

Rest

100

200

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How do I look after them?

By doing exercise regularly: our hearts get fitter and bigger - better at pumping blood and not needing to work so hard or fast. our lungs get stronger and have increased capacity so we are able to take in more oxygen in a single breath. we will feel healthier.

How can we check that exercise is good for our hearts or lungs? What else could we check to see if exercise is good for us?

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Heart and Lungs Quiz

Are they True or False? Your heart pumps blood around your body. The heartbeat of smaller animals and children is slower than adults or big animals. Your blood carries carbon dioxide to all the parts that need it . Your lungs exchange gases. Blood travels around the body in a figure of 8. Your pulse tells you how much air you are breathing. Athletes have a slower resting pulse than unfit people. The ribs are bones that protect the heart and lungs. Exercise and eating healthily are good for your heart.

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Heart and Lungs Quiz

Your heart pumps blood around your body.

True

The heartbeat of smaller animals and children is slower than adults or big animals.
False the smaller the animal the faster the heartbeat.

Your blood carries carbon dioxide to all the parts that need it .
False the blood carries oxygen to all the parts that need it.

Your lungs exchange gases.

True

Blood travels around the body in a figure of 8.

True

Your pulse tells you how much air you are breathing.
False pulse tells us how fast your heart is beating.

Athletes have a slower resting pulse than unfit people.

True

The ribs are bones that protect the heart and lungs.
True

Exercise and eating healthily are good for your heart.

True

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Useful links for further study

http://www.schoolscience.co.uk/content/4/biology/abpi/heart/index.html

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