Get ready to follow the path of blood through the mighty heart! In this activity, you’ll become an expert in how blood travels through the heart’s chambers, taking a trip from the atriums to the ventricles. Here’s how to embark on this heart-pumping adventure:
Materials:
A large diagram of the heart (printed or projected)
Different colored markers or crayons
Labels or sticky notes
Instructions:
Start with a diagram of the heart that clearly shows the atriums, ventricles, valves, and blood vessels.
Choose two colors: one for oxygen-rich blood and another for oxygen-poor blood.
Begin at the right atrium. Use your oxygen-poor blood color to draw a line from the body through the right atrium and into the right ventricle. This is where blood comes in from the body carrying waste and carbon dioxide.
Now, the blood needs to go to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Draw a line from the right ventricle out to the lungs.
Switch to your oxygen-rich blood color! Draw a line from the lungs to the left atrium to show the oxygen-filled blood returning to the heart.
Next, trace the path from the left atrium through the mitral valve and into the left ventricle. This is where the powerful left ventricle pumps the blood out to the whole body.
Finally, using the oxygen-rich color, draw the journey from the left ventricle through the aorta and out to the body.
Label each part of the heart as you go along with sticky notes.
Trace the Blood Flow
Tips:
Take it step by step, and make sure to pause and check if you’re following the right path.
Remember, the right side of the heart deals with the blood going to the lungs, and the left side pumps blood to the rest of the body.
Use your labels to mark the one-way valves that make sure blood flows in the right direction.
Once you’ve completed your colorful journey through the heart, you’ll have a beautiful map that shows exactly how blood flows from one chamber to another. Great job, heart explorers!
