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This clip is an introduction to the human heart. We find out about its location within the body and its function as a pump. The heart sits within the chest cavity between the lungs and is about the size of a fist. Essentially it is a muscle which functions as a really powerful pump. The heart takes in blood low in oxygen from the body. It pumps it through the right side of the heart and on to the lungs. In the lungs the blood passes through very small blood vessels and absorbs oxygen. The freshly oxygenated blood is pumped back through the heart and on to the rest of the body where the oxygen provides fuel for muscles and organs.

Students could conduct a relay race to help them understand the role and function of the heart. The gym or playground could be organised into three sections to represent the heart, the body and the lungs. In the body there could be a selection of empty buckets or tubs representing blood low in oxygen and in the lungs section, balls to represent oxygen. Students should then take it in turn to pick up a bucket in the body section and run to the centre where the heart is, they then pass the bucket to another player who will run to the lungs and collect a ball in the bucket. That player should then run back to the heart and return the bucket, now filled with oxygen, which will then be handed back to the body. This could be continued until all of the buckets are full.

Students could then apply the understanding they have developed through this game to draw a diagram of the flow of blood through the heart and around the body. They could use different coloured pens to show blood low in oxygen and oxygen-rich blood.