Anatomy of the Human Heart for Kids

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Mavi was so excited about this.  He has always been so curious of the human heart and how it works. Because he reads some biographies, he would encounter terms like “died of heart attack” LOL and most probably triggered his curiosity and enthusiasm in learning about the heart.    So I worked hard to create learning materials for our study and I’m so happy that they turned out pretty good, and Mavi loves it!

Objectives why we study the human heart:

Learn how the heart works

Learn why it is one of the most important organs in the body

Learn its functions

Learn how to avoid getting heart diseases

Learn how to maintain a healthy heart

Learning about the human heart might be too advanced for a 7 years old.  But Mavi was persistent, and because I created the materials suitable for his age (lots of graphic presentation) he was engaged the entire time we talked about this important internal organ.  Another advantage of learning this at home is that I get to filter “complex” concepts.  This means, I set aside information that he can’t absorb yet and save it once he’s old enough to understand complex functions of the heart.

So let me share with you how we worked on our human heart.  Links to the materials used are provided by the end of the post, including where to buy heart models.

The Human Heart and its Parts

It’s always been a practice that we always start learning about different parts of our subject.  And in Mavi’s case, he learns and absorbs everything with the use of 3-part cards.  We’ve been using this technique since he was 3 years old and so far he’s used to learning this way.  The retention is great, he can remember the parts by working on these cards over and over again. 

Of course, having a heart model adds up to the fun in learning. It’s the closest we can visualize what the heart really looks like, unless we dissect a pig’s heart

Aside from the 3 part cards, we also used the definition booklet that comes with it, so handy whenever I need to describe each part, its function and how it works. We took turns in reading and discussing the parts. 

Afterwhich, Mavi worked on the activity sheets.  It’s basically making his own heart anatomy booklet (less the description).

How the Human Heart Works

This is for Mavi to understand how the blood flows in and out of the heart.  To demonstrate how this works, we used our materials mentioned below, plus pipe cleaners to trace the flow of blood.

In this part, we used the materials Human Heart and Cardiovascular Information Diagrams to learn how the heart works.  I created diagrams to see how the blood flows in and out of the heart, and the blood distribution.

As you see, we used pipe cleaners to demonstrate the blood flow in the left ventricle (blue pipe cleaners) and the red pipe cleaners for the right ventricle. 

So now, Mavi knows which part of the heart is responsible for distributing oxygen in the lungs and the part which distributes blood to the rest of the body.

Heart Diseases

I just have to include this to answer Mavi’s question about “heart attack”.    Included in my Cardiovascular Information Diagrams, is a presentation of the different heart diseases.  One main focus of our study is the coronary heart disease which is the main cause of a heart attack.  Here, I pointed out which part of the heart is affected and how is causing the problem.

Our model comes with arteries showing the progression of fatty residue that limits the flow of blood flow.  See how Mavi discovered that there’s no enough space for the blood to flow when the walls of the artery is covered with fats.

Now his question is, can he still eat fatty foods? Now that’s another story and will be included in my Circulatory System post next month.

By the way, if you wish to demonstrate this with your kids, you can either use a straw or a hose, tissue rolls can also be used, and for the fatty residue playdough would be best.

And that’s about it, our human heart study.  I hope you find this post helpful!

Materials Used:

Cardiovascular System Bundle Pack

Cardiovascular System Information Diagrams

The Human Heart

The Cardiovascular System

Where to buy Heart Model (US):

Tedco Human Heart Anatomy

Learning Resources Human Heart Model

Heart Conditions Model

Where to buy Heart Model (UK/Europe):

Eason’s  (if not available online, visit the store)

Hamley’s  (if not available online, visit the store)

4D Human Heart Anatomy

Learning Resources Human Heart

I know you’ll be needing this for later, so here’s a pinnable image for you!

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Continent Study of South America

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Map and Flags. Whenever we worked a geography lesson at home(for elementary only!), I always start with maps and flags because I wanted him to memorize the location and flags of certain cities from that continent.  We travel a lot, crossing countries and continents almost every year and so knowing all these is really important.  The Montessori Continent Puzzle is from Tower High Learning.

Pinning flags in the map is an activity Mavi loves since we started geography year ago.   I printed the map from Super Teacher and used our pin maps from South American Flags (pin maps, 3 part cards, mini flags and all).

Landmarks.  We identified the famous landmarks of South America and their location on the map.  I also showed Mavi some photos of my Dad (Mavi’s grandfather) in Brazil when he visited Christ  the Redeemer.  Mavi was fascinated that his grandfather reached South America during his travels!

Galapagos Islands and its animals.  Using the Safari Toobs Galapagos, we talked about the unique animals that inhabit the islands.  I created identification cards (as reading materials for Mavi) so he will learn what makes those animals unique.

 

Animals and their Habitats. I love talking about animals and their habitats. My Mavi has always been fascinated with at different animals living in each continent. To start off, we review the different animals living in South America, these cards are from my South American Animals.  There’s so much information from these cards, like it indicates the class of the animal (mammal, reptile, bird etc), the habitat in which they thrive and the kind of foods they eat.  We also matched them with our animal figures from Safari Toob Rainforest.

We also talked about the colourful animal coverings and patterns of the South American animals and compared them to those in Africa.  Just by looking at the animals’ coverings, you will know in which habitat they thrive.  Most colourful animals like that of Macaw birds and poisonous frogs lives in rainforests, while those that are grayish, thrives in deserts.

Because we looked into the animals of South America, we examined the green iguana which mostly lives in that continent.  We haven’t worked on reptiles before, so this was a good start of learning the different parts of a reptile and differentiate it from birds,  fish, frogs and mammals.

Plants.  Talking about habitats led us to discuss plants of South America.  These plants mostly grow in the tropical areas of the continent and the cold mountains of Andes.  These cards are from the Plant Atlas.

 

Culture.  I’ve collected important fact about South America and included it in our learning  cards for our South America in a Nutshell.  These cards are for older children who love to read and learn about the culture, lifestyle and religion of the people of South America.

The cards provide information how people dress up, what foods they eat, the products they export to other countries and the richness of each South American countries. 

Because South America has brought us dances like Tango and Samba, Mavi and I watched a few videos online to see how these dances are being performed.

 

We also watched the festivals celebrated in South America, like the Tango Festival and the Carnaval in Brazil.

Other materials that we used are the following:

Natural Resources of the World – information about the different natural resources found in each continent.

Animal Habitats – contains collection of animals that thrive in the different biomes of the world. 

Major Rivers of the World – pictures and facts cards of the longest and most important rivers of each continent.

Another fantastic geography lesson we had early this year was the study of Africa. Click here or the image below for ideas and list of activities

And don’t forget to pin this for later! You will definitely be needing this!

Learning materials used:

South America in a Nutshell.  More about it here.

Animals of South America

Landmarks of South America

Flags of South America

Plant Atlas

Animal Habitats

Major Rivers Around the World

Safari Toobs Rainforest

Continent Map from Tower High Learning or from Amazon

Safari Toobs Galapagos

Sorting Musical Instruments

Yesterday, we started our Montessori-inspired activities for Music.  This is in preparation for our Montessori Music post this coming Friday, the 17 of July for 12 Months of Montessori Series. 

Now, I just wanted to highlight this activity, of sorting musical instruments.  There are a lot of instruments out there, but I think it is important for a child to identify the groups or families of these instruments to understand how they work.

The Helpful Garden has this amazing file of musical instruments!  It was created as a Montessori 3-part cards, but in our activity, we sorted them out according to their categories.  So I started off by presenting the instruments to Mavi and how these instruments make sounds.  (We also watched videos on how these instruments are being used)

Percussion Instruments

These are the instruments that make a sound when you hit, shake or scrape them.  A sound is produced because the instrument vibrates and produces sound waves.

Stringed Instruments

These instruments make sound by making the string vibrate, like plucking, hitting or bowing it.

 

Keyboard Instruments

These are instruments that produces sound using a keyboard.  There are two types of keyboard instruments:  those making sounds by vibrating the strings like the piano, and those that make sounds by vibrating the column like the pipe organ.

 

Brass Instruments

These are metal wind instruments.  Originally, these instruments are made of brass, but these days other metals are often used.  The sound is produced by blowing wind into the instrument’s mouthpiece.

Woodwind Instruments

These are wind instruments that are made of wood.  Just like the Brass Instruments, music is produced by blowing wind into the instrument’s mouthpiece causing the the column of air inside it to vibrate.

Sorting Musical Instruments

With the materials presented, it was time for Mavi to sort out the instruments.  The key here is to check the instruments and identify their feature whether they have strings, keyboard, made of metal, wood or something that you need to hit to produce sounds.

He was confused at first, as you can see he forgot to place the Bass Instruments

Finally, he spotted his mistake and made another column for the Brass. 

Watch out for my post this Friday for a complete list of our Montessori-inspired Music activities!