Cardiovascular Health Objectives 1. Students will understand the cardiovascular system and the functions of the heart. 2. Students will understand the positive attributes of doing a cardiovascular fitness plan. 3. Students will understand how to determine where and how to take a pulse. 4. Students will understand how to calculate the Target Heart Rate. 5. Students will understand how to trace and diagram the important components of the circulatory system. Materials needed for this lesson 1. Chalkboard or transparency 2. Writing Materials Background information and notes Students will learn about the cardiovascular system and the function of the heart. Without the heart, oxygen and nutrients would not get transported throughout the body to vital organs and muscles. The right side of the heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart receives the blood from the lungs and pumps the blood carrying oxygen and other important nutrients throughout the body. Wastes are carried away in the blood. This process is called circulation, and the heart is responsible for circulating blood through arteries to the organs and back to the heart via veins. In order to emphasize the importance of a healthy heart, students will trace the cardiovascular system, take their pulse, identify their target heart rate, and construct a cardiovascular fitness plan.
Presenting the Lesson Begin the discussion by revealing to the student that the cardiovascular system includes one of the most important organs in the body--the heart. Explain to students that the heart is a muscle and it is important to exercise all muscles to keep them healthy and strong. Exercise helps the heart function better and prevents it from working as hard or as fast to supply the same amount of blood throughout the body with the same amount of force. The stronger and the healthier the heart, the less likely the heart will be stressed from doing extra work. A healthy heart can be conditioned by exercising the heart so that it reaches its target heart rate. Complete the Diagram Worksheet, the Pulse Activity, and the Target Rate Activity to show how the heart functions and the process of circulation. Now that students understand the importance of exercising the heart, introduce the concept of using a cardiovascular fitness program as a way for students to stay healthy. Cardiovascular fitness programs involve doing a scheduled physical activity or exercise to make your heart and cardiovascular system stronger. Fitness programs help to increase muscular strength, increase endurance, improve the quality of life, and extend life. Explain the importance of a cardiovascular fitness program. Emphasize that exercise makes your heart stronger by making your heart beat harder and faster. Also, explain that doctors recommend that people exercise at least three times a week for at least 20 minutes each time. Ask students to identify activities that they could incorporate into a cardiovascular fitness program. Brainstorm with students how they could fit certain activities into their days. List their answers on the chalkboard. Some strategies include: - Exercises: jumping jacks, yoga, Pilates, lifting weights, jump rope - After-school activity: cheerleading, swimming, sports - Extra-curricular activity: martial arts, dancing Learning Activity: Diagram Worksheet To familiarize the students with the components of the cardiovascular system, have the students trace the diagram provided. This exercise highlights the circulation process and emphasizes the important body parts including the arteries, veins, bloodstream, lungs and the parts of the heart.
Diagram Worksheet To view the following activity in motion visit: (Copyright by Leif Saul, http://www.biologyinmotion.com/cardio/index.html) Read each text box to understand the circulatory system. Box 1 discusses the parts of the heart. Box 2 describes the flow of blood through the body. Box 3 and 4 illustrate the complete circulatory system.
Now trace the arrows in the diagram so that you can understand how the heart pumps blood through the circulatory system.
Fun Fact: Arteries are colored blue because the blood in the arteries hasn t reached the lungs yet to get oxygen. Blood is blue in color until oxygen is added to it. After the blood has reached the lungs and becomes www.kensbiorefs.com/humphy.html oxygenated, the color changes to red. Arteries are red because after the blood travels through the body, it returns back to heart in the veins that have oxygenated blood. www.kensbiorefs.com/humphy.html
Learning Activity: Finding Your Pulse Preparation: Introduce the concept of a pulse by stating that a healthy heart should take less than 60 seconds for circulation to occur. Complete the Pulse Activity to show students how long it takes for the heart to pump blood through the body. Directions: 1. Explain to students that a pulse can be calculated by determining the number of times a heart beats in one minute. 2. Have students feel their pulse on their wrist or on their neck at the baseline of their jaw using the tips of the index and middle finger. Note: Do not use the thumb because it has its own pulse. 3. Starting at the same time, have them count to themselves the number of beats for 15 seconds and multiply that amount by four. Have students record their pulse. 4. Take the average of the class s pulse and compare it to the average for children their age: Ages 1-10 70-120 beats per minute Ages 10 and up 60-100 beats per minute *Note: You may want to review the concept of ranges with students. 5. For the next ten minutes, have students engage in a game or activity that gets them moving around (i.e., have them run in place, do jumping jacks next to their desks). Have students record their pulse. 6. After ten minutes of physical activity, have them re-take their pulses. 7. Take the average of the class s pulse and write it on the board again. 8. Discuss the following questions with the class. What happened to your pulse the second time in comparison to the first time? What does this tell you about the heart as it relates to doing high energy activities? Pulse (Example Beats/Minute) Beats/Minute Pulse (before activity) 65 Class average (before activity) 72 Pulse (after activity) 95 Class average (after activity) 93
Learning Activity: Finding Your Target Heart Rate Directions: 1. Explain to students that there is a formula used to determine if our hearts are working at a level that is safe during exercise. 2. Explain that there is a limited amount of work that our hearts can do safely. We want to make them beat faster but not too fast. 3. The formula used to determine the safe level is called the Target Heart Rate. 4. The first step in finding the Target Heart Rate is to find the Maximum Heart Rate. The formula for this is 220 minus your age. Example: 220 10 = 210 5. The next step is to figure out the Target Heart Rate, which is where we want our heart rate to be when we are being physically active. The Target Heart Rate is a range instead of a steady rate. When being physically active and doing highenergy activities, it is necessary for our pulse to fall into this range to give our heart a hard enough workout. This will make the heart stronger without working it too hard. 6. To figure out the low end of the Target Heart Rate range, take the Maximum Heart Rate divided by 2. Example: 210 2 = 105 7. To figure out the high end of the Target Heart Rate range, divide your previous result by 2 again and add that number to the previous result. Example: 105 2 = 52.5 105 + 52.5 = 157.5 Target Heart Rate for 10 year old is: 105 157.5 beats per minute 8. Have students look at the results of taking their pulse in Activity 1. Did their pulse fit within the Target Heart Rate the first time they took it before doing a physical activity? What about after doing a physical activity? *Optional: The Target Heart Rate is 50-75 percent of the Maximum Heart Rate. If your students can calculate percentages, use percentages instead of the whole number formulas used above. Example: Target Heart Rate 1 = Max Heart Rate x.5 Target Heart Rate 2= Max Heart Rate x.75 Since it is not always practical to stop and take your pulse for a whole minute during exercise, there is a short-cut. Using stopwatches or a clock with a second hand, have students count the number of beats using their wrist or neck for 10 seconds. Then multiply that number by 6. Repeat the 10 minute game or exercises. But, this time have the students use the short-cut method three times during the exercise and raise their hands if they are in the Target Heart Range. 2004-2007 The Keren Emrich Foundation DBA Road of Life, www.roadoflife.org
Learning Activity: Cardiovascular Health Worksheet Students will choose one activity and design a weekly workout schedule. Use the time worksheet to plot their current schedule and identify times to incorporate their fitness schedule. Ask students to present their respective cardiovascular fitness programs to the class. Discuss why they chose that activity and how they plan to incorporate this in their weekly schedule. 2004-2007 The Keren Emrich Foundation DBA Road of Life, www.roadoflife.org
Cardiovascular Health Worksheet Time Activity Location 7:00 7:30 AM 7:30 8:00 AM 8:00 8:30 AM 8:30 9:00 AM 9:00 9:30 AM 9:30 10:00AM 10:00 10:30AM 10:30 11:00 AM 11:00 11:30AM 11:30 12:00 PM 12:00-12:30 PM 12:30 1:00 PM 1:00 1:30 PM 1:30 2:00 PM 2:00 2:30 PM 2:30 3:00 PM 3:00 3:30 PM 3:30 4:00 PM 4:00 4:30 PM 4:30 5:00 PM 5:00 5:30 PM 5:30 6:00 PM 6:00 6:30 PM 6:30 7:00 PM 2004-2007 The Keren Emrich Foundation DBA Road of Life, www.roadoflife.org
2004-2007 The Keren Emrich Foundation DBA Road of Life, www.roadoflife.org