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Slide 2 Every second of every day something incredible happens in side your body. One of your bodys organs, the HEART, works day and night to constantly pump blood into your lungs where it loads up with oxygen and then pumps blood out to the rest of the body. THE HEART Slide 3 WHERE IS YOUR HEART? The heart is in the center of your chest. Your heart is not right under the skin but it lies behind your breast bone, inside your ribcage, and between your lungs. The breast bone and the ribcage help protect your heart. Slide 4 Slide 5 HOW BIG IS YOUR HEART? Your heart is about the size of your fist. As you grow your body and fist grow, so does your heart. Slide 6 WHAT DOES THE HEART LOOK LIKE? THE HEART IS A MUSCLE, JUST LIKE THE OTHER MUSCLE IN YOUR BODY. THE HEART HAS 4 CHAMBERS, WHICH YOU CAN THINK OF AS ROOMS. THERE ARE 2 ATRIA AND 2 VENTRICLES Slide 7 WHAT DOES THE HEART DO? The heart pumps thousands of liters of blood through your body everyday. The blood is pumped out of your heart in two directions. First it sends blood without oxygen to the lungs to get oxygen. It then pumps blood containing oxygen around all the parts of the body. After delivering its oxygen, the blood returns to the heart to start the process all over again. Slide 8 Slide 9 WHY DOES OUR HEART BEAT Our heart beats or make a sound every time it sucks blood in and pushes blood out. When you are a baby the heart beats about 120 times per minute. At seven years old your heart beats 90 times per minute. By the age of 18, the heart beats around 70 times a minute. Does your heart beat more or less as you get older? Slide 10 WHAT CAN YOU DO TO KEEP YOUR HEART HEALTHY Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. Exercising 60 minutes would be even better. Eating healthy foods Visiting your doctor once a year Slide 11 HOW DO WE FIND OUR HEART BEAT OR PULSE