Unit 5a: Keeping Healthy

The Heart and Lungs

Key Stage 2: Year 5 Science

by Mrs. Chapman, 2005 Greet School, Birmingham

Introduction11 The human body22 What does the heart do?33 Heart key facts44 Heart health55 What do the lungs do?66 Lungs key facts77 The circulation88 Pulse and exercise99 Pulse rate data1010How do I look after them?Heart and lungs quizLinks 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 it’s beating), ECGs (special electrical rhythm charts), x-rays and scans including ultrasound (like an unborn baby scan).

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Heart health

Man having a chest x-rayHeart on chest x-ray

ECG graph output

Ultrasound 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

puff-out 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 we’ve just breathed-in, then it goes to where it’s 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’.

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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 group’s results.

• What is the most common range for pulse?

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Pulse rate data

0 100 200

Rest

Jumping

After 1min

After 2min

Miss BMr AMrs C

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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 QuizAre 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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