Circulatory System Lab

After showing students a great video, courtesy of They Might be Giants called "The Blood Mobile", the classroom becomes a  working model of the circulatory system.  Students belong to 5 different groups: heart chambers, valves, lungs, muscles, and blood cells.  The room has" blood vessels"  (blue and red tape) to show the path the blood cells must follow.

The students who are heart chambers (left and right atrium and ventricle) have balloon pumps and the pump the cells through.  The student valves put their arm across the path way and raise their arm to let blood cells pass.  All chambers and valves must say their name out loud to each blood cell.

Blood cell students are given an oxygen molecule and start on the red tape at the front of the room. They are pumped through the left atrium, let through the mitral valve, pumped through the left ventricle, and let through the aortic valve.  Then students go to the muscle where they give their oxygen to the student muscles (so they can burn fuel) and are given carbon dioxide.  They then travel the oxygen poor path (blue) to the right side of the heart where they are pumped through to the lungs.  When they arrive at the lung, they give their carbon dioxide (to breath out) to the student lungs and are given oxygen.  Then, they circulate again until it is time to switch stations.

Carbon Dioxide (above) and Oxygen (below) molecules easily made from die cut circles, glue and a sharpie.

Here are the links for the lab sheet the students fill out.  As a class we trace through the blood's path on the heart on the inside of the lab sheet with our fingers.
Human Body Lab 2: The Circulatory System
Human Body Lab 2: The Circulatory System Answers