1
www.rubytuesdaybooks.com/scienceKS1
©
Your Heart,Lungs and Blood
This resource has been prepared for teachers who are teaching young students about
their hearts, lungs and blood.
Air rushes from
your nose and m
outh down
your windpipe into
your lungs.
Your blood carries the oxygen to every part of your body w
here it is needed.
In your lungs, oxygen is absorbed,
or soaked up, into your blood.
How does oxygen get into your body?
Air
WindpipeInside
a lungLung
When you’re running a race, your brain
tells your muscles to m
ove your bones fast!
You won’t get very far, though, unless
you can breathe.
To create energy, your muscles and other
body parts need a ga
s called oxyg
en.
You take in oxygen when you breathe in
air through your nose and mouth.
The faster you run, the m
ore oxygen your body needs to create energy.
So your brain tells you to breathe faster and faster until you are puffing and panting!
Pu
ffing
an
d P
an
ting
As blood flow
s through your body, it also collects a gas called carbon dioxide. T
his gas is poisonous to your body. Y
our blood carries this gas to your lungs. Y
ou then use your lungs to breathe the gas out.
2
Heart
Vein
Artery
At the end of a race, you w
ill probably feel your heart beating fast. W
hy?
It’s your heart’s job to pump, or push,
your blood around your body.
Then your blood can carry oxygen from
your lungs to your m
uscles and other body parts.
Your heart usually beats, and pumps,
about 80 times each m
inute.
When you do exercise, it m
ust beat faster to deliver m
ore oxygen to make m
ore energy.
That’s w
hy when you m
ove around fast, your heart beats fast, too.
You
r Bea
ting
Hea
rt
Your blood has m
any im
portant jobs to do. For exam
ple, it delivers nutrients from
your food to where they
are needed in your body. T
ogether, nutrients and oxygen give you energy.
Your blood travels
around your body through thousands of
kilometres of tubes
called veins and arteries.
3
What Is Blood M
ade Of?
What Is Blood M
ade Of?
The m
ain ingredient in your blood is a w
atery liquid called plasm
a.
Your blood also contains red blood cells and w
hite blood cells.
Your white blood
cells attack germs
and help you fight illnesses.
Red blood cells
deliver oxygen to cells that need it.
Oxygen
Red blood cell
Inside a blood vessel
White
blood cells
Red blood cells
4