The Circulatory System

Maura's Aunt Kathleen came to our class as an expert visitor to talk to us about the heart and lungs. It was a great way to kick off our study of the circulatory system - on Valentine's Day!  She is a nurse, and she works in a Respiratory Intensive Care Unit at Thomas Jefferson Hospital.  She taught us how to use a stethoscope to hear our heartbeat.  She also brought stethoscopes and real doctor hats and gloves for our AFS Friendship Hospital!

Here is some interesting information from our discussion...

Your heart is a little bigger than your fist.

Your heart is a muscle that is always pumping.

You don’t need to tell your heart to pump.

Your blood carries oxygen.

Veins carry blood to your heart.

Arteries take blood from the heart to your body.

There are 4 chambers in your heart.

The dark blood from your veins goes into the right side of the heart.

There are white and red blood cells in your blood.

Platelets help to stop bleeding.

White blood cells fight infection.

Red blood cells bring oxygen to your body.

The blood can never go backwards in the heart.

When you exercise you make your heart beat faster.

Exercise makes your heart stronger.

Your right lung has 3 lobes, and your left lung has 2.

Jogging, jump rope, treadmill, running and jumping, skipping, ice skating, dancing, swimming, soccer, and basketball are all good activities for your heart.

Eating fruits and vegetables makes your heart healthier

Thank you so much Kathleen for helping us with our body study!