At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
With the understanding that arteries take blood away from the heart, veins bring blood back to the heart, and capillaries are the juncture vessels through which blood-borne substances can diffuse, challenge the students to answer the questions:
The entire class should review a diagram of the circulatory system. Make special note of the diagram’s coloring of the blood filed vessels. Vessels colored in red contain oxygenated (oxygen-carrying) blood, while vessels colored in blue are deoxygenated. Ask the students to answer the following question:
By making a list of all of the things that they believe to constitute blood, students should eventually organize their answers on the front board into the main two components of blood:
Review the importance of oxygen, asking the students:
Allow the students’ answers to reveal that oxygen is needed by all body cells for a special process (cellular respiration), which produces most of the body’s energy.
Assist the students to understand that oxygen is obtained by red blood cells at the capillaries of the lungs and then carried to the capillaries of all organs/body parts so that it can be delivered to all cells. Additionally, review that carbon dioxide is a by-product gas that is produced by all cells, but toxic to the body if not removed through the lungs.
Procedure 1: Cardiovascular Model Preparation (one 45 minute class period)
In this part of the lesson, students will make a large scale model of the circulatory system. The students will use their model to emulate normal cardiovascular flow and blood gas exchange.
Divide the class into 4 groups and assign each group one of the following tasks
Hint: As per the resource diagrams: a) the lungs should send blood to the left atrium of the heart, b) the left ventricle should send blood out to “the body”, c) “the body” should send blood out to the right atrium of the heart, and d) the right ventricle should send blood out to the lungs.
Procedure 2: Cardiovascular Model Implementation (one 45-minute class period)
Note: The model implementation design can be accomplished in various ways, as determined by you and/or the students. In fact, it may be more practical to circulate one set of materials at a time (for example, just oxygen and carbon dioxide). If a more scripted procedure is desired, then feel free to use the description below and/or the attached “Examples of Students Roles for Procedure 2”.
Procedure 3: Model Implementation- Cardiopulmonary Disorders (one 45-minute class period)
Please see Project Rubric.
Resources (Normal Cardiovascular Pathway)
Resources (Disorders): The following sites provide useful images/animations for visual appreciation of heart defects.
"Red blood cells" thumbnail image from 3D4Medical.com
This lesson was designed by Orlando Santiago.
New York, United States
March 15, 2012 - 8:25pm
November 11, 2014 - 12:07am
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