You’ve been to great parties: the host or hostess always circulates, chats with everyone, delivers tasty treats and drinks, and is happy to relieve you of your trash. You may have referred to an exceptional host as warm-hearted or big-hearted. Have you ever thought about how your heart is like the perfect host?
Think about it . . .
A good hostess never takes a break, and neither does your heart. If you use the average of 80 beats per minute, your heart beats about 115,000 times a day or about 3 billion times during your life.
The consummate host has every detail and action coordinated so an event runs smoothly. Likewise, individual cardiac muscle cells are connected by intercalated discs that coordinate synchronized muscle contraction so your heart beats smoothly, through all kinds of activities and events.
Like a hostess with a silver tray serving nutritious (let’s hope) appetizers and beverages, your heart circulates about 5 liters of blood containing red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma to every cell, carrying life-sustaining oxygen and removing carbon dioxide.
The consequence of too many parties and too much party food and drink could be heart disease. Cardiovascular disease is as complex as the cardiovascular system itself. Coronary artery disease narrows the heart’s arteries, arrhythmias cause the heart to beat irregularly, and heart failure is a condition in which the heart is not pumping blood efficiently. These heart conditions can be visualized with detailed anatomical diagrams and EKG strips to help students understand the causes and effects of a disease.
Let us help with a free, introductory lesson on cardiac diseases. It includes labeled diagrams and EKG strips so students can become acquainted with cardiac pathology.
Your heart keeps the party going, day in and day out. Understanding all the processes involved requires a multifaceted approach to teaching the cardiovascular system. Models are a good way to introduce and review the structure of the heart and circulatory system. Carolina offers:
A life-size, detailed human heart model that is dissectible into 2 parts
A complete human cardiovascular system model that is half life-size, depicting arteries, veins, and the major organs involved in circulation
For a more hands-on approach, have students dissect a sheep heart to investigate the anatomy of a mammalian heart. At the microscopic level, students can explore the cellular structure of the human aorta, vena cava, veins, arteries, and blood with circulatory system microscope slides. This is also a good time to discuss blood types and engage students with a blood typing activity using synthetic blood or Carolina® Blood Typing Cards. Everything is ready for you–just add blood and stir. That’s an easy recipe for learning.
Carolina has what you need to supply your classroom, facilitate student learning, and make your job easier. Ready to party hearty? And remember: every host or hostess deserves a gift. Give your heart some exercise and good nutrition.
The cardiovascular system is complex and has many working parts. The heart is the main source of power within the cardiovascular system, circulating blood throughout the body and allowing for oxygen and nutrients to reach tissues. A healthy heart beats an average of 100,000 times per day. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs so that the red blood cells can exchange carbon dioxide (CO2) waste for oxygen (O2). The left side of the heart pumps blood to the head and body.
A heart that is functioning properly has its own electrical system of atrioventricular nodes (AV nodes) that controls the nerve impulses that signal the heart muscle to contract. When the heart does not work properly, a person may have a cardiovascular disease.
Coronary artery disease is a disease in which plaque builds up on the insides of the heart’s arteries. This can restrict blood flow to the heart and lead to heart attack. Risk factors include high blood pressure, family history of coronary artery disease, smoking, diabetes, and increased age in men and women.
If the atrioventricular nodes of the heart are not working properly, the heart will beat irregularly; this type of cardiovascular disease is called an arrhythmia. These electrical impulses can be seen on an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) and typically follow a particular pattern known as the PQRS wave.
Risk factors for arrhythmias include previous damage to the heart (possibly from heart attack or heart failure), use of alcohol and other drugs, and irregular concentrations of some minerals like potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
The term heart failure is used any time the heart is not pumping blood as efficiently as it should. Heart failure can be caused by a number of things. Congestive heart failure is caused by a build-up of fluid around the heart, preventing it from being able to adequately expand and contract. Another form of heart failure occurs when a chamber (or chambers) of the heart enlarges, which results in the heart having a volume of blood that is too large to effectively pump to the lungs or throughout the body. When this happens, the heart muscle grows and becomes larger to compensate for the increase in blood volume that passes through its chambers. The heart will also compensate by pumping faster. All of these adaptations allow the heart to pump blood adequately at first, but eventually the heart muscle can no longer keep up and begins to wear out. Risks for heart failure include other heart diseases and high blood pressure.
Essential question: What is the structure and function of the cardiovascular system?
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