Subject: Science

Grade: 5^th

Time needed: 45 minutes

1. Objectives:

Students will:

1. Be able to visualize how a red blood cell travels through the human body.
2. Be able to imitate the flow of blood through the heart with a large model.

• Large area of empty floor space
• Masking tape
• 8 large boxes
• 20 red and 20 blue balloons
• Body part signs to wear around students necks
• Yarn
• Large labels of parts for model
• Red and blue markers

Introduction:

Bring the students down to the art room and have them sit on the floor around the heart and lung model. After everyone is settled, ask the students what they observe on the floor. Call on students with raised hands. They should notice that the heart is modeled along with the lungs, the upper body, and the lower body.

Motivation:

1. Teacher preparation is very important for this lesson. To begin, make sure you have all of the needed supplies.
2. With the masking tape, create a large model of the heart and lungs on the floor. Be sure to include an area for the upper body, as well as the lower body. Making a scale representation on graph paper is very helpful. See attached.
3. After the model is created, make arrows with masking tape to represent the flow of the blood through the systems. With a marker, color the arrows of the oxygen-rich blood red and the oxygen-poor blood blue.
4. Next, place printed labels inside the model in the correct areas. The labels that should be used include the right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, left ventricle, right lung, left lung, lower body, and upper body.
5. Place two large boxes in the upper body area, as well as in the lower body area. Label one red and the other blue in each area. These boxes will be used for deposit and retrieval of blood cells.
6. In both lung areas, one box, labeled red, is to be inside of the lung, while another box, labeled blue, is to be outside of the lung.
7. Mark "start" areas in the right and left atria. This is were students will begin their journey.
8. Lastly, place 5 red balloons in the boxes labeled red and place 5 blue balloon in the boxes labeled blue.

Once everything is set up, the lesson is ready for students to engage in.

To Motivate Students:

1. Ask for a volunteer to be the right lung and a volunteer to be the left lung. Have them put their labels around their necks and stand quietly in the lung areas.
2. Ask for a volunteer to be the lower body and a volunteer to be the upper body. Again, have them place their labels around their necks and stand quietly in their areas of the model.
3. Next, ask for a student to be the red blood cell. Have them place their label around their neck and stand quietly at the start in the right atrium.
4. Many students will want to take part. Assure them that they will all have a turn if there is time remaining. Also, tell the students that they have to be cooperative throughout the explanation so there will be time for them to participate.

Content to be covered:

During this activity, students will imitate the flow of a red blood cell through the heart and around the body.

Student Activities:

1. Give the student in the right atrium a blue balloon. Ask the class what they think the blue balloon represents. Students should answer that it represents a red blood cell that is oxygen-poor and is carrying waste or carbon dioxide.
2. Have the "red blood cell" student slowly walk into the right ventricle and stop. Ask the students where the "red blood cell" should go next? Could they go back to the right atrium? The students should answer, "No, they can not go back to the right atrium because the valve will not allow it". 
3. Have the student then slowly walk to one of the lungs, either the right of left.
4. Once they are in the lung, have the student stop. Ask the class what they should do next. Prompt the students by asking what happens to the blood in the lungs? The class should respond by saying they should give the blue balloon to the lung and pick up a red balloon.
5. Next, have the "red blood cell" student give the "lung" student the blue balloon and pick up a red balloon from the box.
6. Ask the students what the "lung" student should do with the blue balloon. They should answer that they should put the balloon in the box outside the lung. Then ask students why the box is outside the lung instead of inside? They should answer because when we breathe we expel carbon dioxide out of our lungs.
7. Have the "red blood cell student" travel to the left atrium and stop. Ask the students where they should travel next. They should answer to the left ventricle.
8. Have the student travel to the left ventricle and stop. Ask the students if the "red blood cell" student could travel back to the left atrium. The students should answer no. Then ask them why not. They should answer that the valve will not allow the blood to travel back into the left atrium.
9. Next, ask the students where he/she is to go next. They should answer to the upper or lower body.
10. Have the student travel to the upper or lower body and stop.
11. Once the student has traveled to the body, ask the class what they should do with the red balloon and why. The class should answer give it to the "upper/ lower body" student because the cells need oxygen.
12. Then, ask the class what the "upper/lower body" student should give to the "red blood cell" student and why. They should answer that they should give them a blue balloon because they are depositing their waste into the blood.
13. Then have them return to the right atrium where they began their journey.
14. Ask the students where they should travel to next. They should answer to the right ventricle and then to the lungs.
15. Ask for another volunteer to be another red blood cell. Have them place their label around their neck and stand at the starting spot in the left atrium.
16. Walk the students again through the steps above using both students at the same time. Have one travel to the upper or lower body and the other travel to the right or left lung. This will show the students how both sides of the heart beat in symphony.

Independent Practice:

Switch student's roles and pick a new right lung, left lung, upper body, lower body, and two red blood cells. Do this until everyone has had a turn participating. Have students watching make sure that the others are correctly going through the model and carrying or giving the correct color of balloons.

After each student has had a chance to participate, ask students what would happen if the person who's heart we were walking through was exercising? How would that effect the way we were traveling through the person's body? The students should answer that they would be moving faster because the cells are in need of more oxygen while the body is exercising. If there is time remaining, have students demonstrate the exercising heart.

Congratulate the students for doing sure a wonderful job and have them give themselves a round of applause.

This lesson is very interactive and if students do not cooperate or do not control their behavior, the lesson could be a disaster. It is very important to emphasize before begin the lesson what is expected of the students. Tell them that they are to stay under control of themselves and their bodies and that if they cannot that they will not be able to participate.

• Some students could very easily visualize how a red blood cell travels through the human body, but some still struggled by the end of the lesson. It was evident who "got it" by how they were able to travel through the model. Others had confused looks on their faces while participating and needed much more guidance. All students have different learning styles, and this lesson was very beneficial to those students who learn through seeing and doing.
• It was very evident which students could imitate the flow of  blood through the large model. Those who felt comfortable had no problem completing the cycle of blood, while those that were not comfortable needed much more guidance from their classmates, as well as myself.

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