5-Day Interactive Curriculum
A comprehensive, hands-on journey designed to teach students about the heart's function, structure, and importance through play and science.
Students will understand that the heart is a tireless muscular pump, designed to keep oxygen-rich blood flowing continuously throughout the body. They will explore its role in meeting the body’s oxygen demand and learn how physical activity changes circulation needs.
Cardiac muscle, pumping action, four chambers, circulation basics.
Discussion 1: Heart as a Pump (8 min)
The heart is about the size of your fist and never rests—it beats around 100,000 times a day! Its four chambers keep oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood separate. Students compare this to a water pump system and discuss why constant pumping is essential for survival. The teacher introduces vocabulary: atrium, ventricle, and circulation.
Activity 1: Heartbeat Balloon Pump (15 min)
Goal: Show how the heart squeezes blood. Connection: "This is just like your ventricles pushing blood out."
- 1 empty plastic water bottle (cut in half near the top) per group
- 1 balloon
- 1 straw
- Tape
- Water (colored with red food coloring for 'blood')
- Cut the top off the water bottle.
- Stretch a balloon across the wide opening like a drum skin. Tape edges so no air escapes.
- Poke a hole in the side of the bottle and insert a straw. Seal with tape.
- Fill the bottle halfway with water.
- Push down on the balloon 'drum' → water shoots out of the straw.
Make it fun (Activity 1)
Challenge: 'Can you make the blood squirt farther with a stronger squeeze?' Game: Measure which group can pump out the most water in 30 seconds.
Discussion 2: Oxygen Demand (7 min)
Students brainstorm which organs use the most oxygen (brain, muscles, liver). Teacher explains oxygen demand increases during activity, linking this to why athletes’ hearts are larger and stronger. The teacher emphasizes that the brain, though small in weight, uses up to 20% of oxygen, while muscles rapidly increase their demand during exercise. Older students explore how oxygen debt during intense activity is repaid by faster breathing and heart rate afterward.
Activity 2: Clay Heart Model (20 min)
Goal: Learn 4 chambers and blood flow. Make it fun: Partner quiz: 'Point to the chamber that pumps the hardest.' Swap models between groups and test each other.
- Red & blue clay
- Toothpicks
- Labels/arrows
- (Older) Tiny clay 'valves'
- Sculpt 4 chambers:
- 2 small 'rooms' (atria) on top
- 2 big 'rooms' (ventricles) on bottom
- Use red clay for oxygen-rich side, blue for oxygen-poor.
- Add arrows showing blood flow.
- Place toothpicks with labels: RA, RV, LA, LV.
Activity 3: Pulse Hunt Challenge (10 min)
Goal: Learn how to find and measure your pulse, then see how it changes with exercise. Make it fun: Call it the 'Pulse Hunt Challenge' — kids cheer when they first feel their pulse. Turn it into a mini-race: Which group shows the biggest increase in heart rate? Freeze Dance Twist: Play music, kids dance 30 seconds → freeze → take pulse.
- Stopwatch or timer (teacher phone works)
- Whiteboard/chart to record results
- Optional: Student recording sheet (Resting HR / Active HR)
- Show students how to place two fingers (not thumb) on wrist or neck to find pulse.
- When they feel it, they raise a hand ('treasure found').
- Count beats for 15 seconds, multiply ×4 = Resting Heart Rate (BPM). Record.
- Do 30 seconds of jumping jacks or running in place.
- Immediately measure again for 15 seconds ×4 = Active HR.
- Write a few results on the board and compare resting vs. active.
- Briefly explain: 'Your heart pumped faster because muscles needed more oxygen'.
Students share one new fact about how their heart works like a pump.