The Heart
Actually, this project
has several parts, each of which could take a day or two and could be repeated.
Objectives
Children participating will be able to recognize the heart and
its functions
and they will be able to recognize a picture of a heart
Children ages 2-2 ½ years can imitate vertical and horizontal strokes FM II
and ages 3-4 can use texture to describe an object Cog. I
Materials
Model of heart;
stethoscope; picture and illustrations of heart; lamb hearts and a beef heart;
felt pens and paper; popsicle sticks.
Procedures
1. Gather children at the table and show them the model and
pictures of the heart. Explain that the heart is a strong muscle about the size
of a fist which pumps blood through their body. Using the model and pictures,
describe the arteries (red) and the veins (blue).
2. Have the children look at the inside of their wrists and elbows. Point out
the veins. With a blue pen, trace a few veins on their arms (with an arrow
pointing up, toward the heart). Draw some arteries with red pen (arrows
pointing down) to represent blood going into arms and hands with food and
oxygen to keep their tissues alive and growing.
3. Have each child put one hand on the table, palm up. Press your finger on the
heel of each child's hand. A white fingerprint will appear and quickly
disappear. Explain that when you press their hands, the blood gets pushed away
from that spot. Then the blood returns quickly to make the spot pink again.
Tell the children that the blood is in every part of their body. Ask them if
they have ever had a cut or scratch. Where? When the skin gets broken, some
blood comes out. (Children are likely to report injuries all over, lots of
blood, and confirm your point in elaborate, gory detail, from their personal
experiences.)
4. Let children take turns listening to their own and others' heartbeats with
the stethoscope. The "thump" is the sound of the heart pumping blood
in and out.
5. Give each child or pair of children a lamb heart and a popsicle stick. Let
them explore the cavities with the stick. Cut the beef heart and show the
children the ventricles, auricles, veins, and arteries.
6. After cleaning up the hearts, give the children a pre-drawn body outline and
let them draw the heart, arteries, veins, with blue and red felt pens. Review
and refer to the pictures in the model. |