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Science lesson plan · 7th grade (Year 8 in England) · 30 minutes

Follow blood through the heart and lungs

Human body and health

CCSS NGSS.MS-LS1-3England: KS3 Biology: Gas exchange systemsEngland: GCSE Combined Science: Organisation

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Follow blood through the heart and lungs.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Heart, blood and circulation

Leads to: Heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output

Materials: Stopwatches, Body diagrams, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Heart, blood and circulation). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Omar counts 16 pulse beats in 15 seconds. What is the pulse rate in beats per minute? → 64Prompt: How many lots of 15 seconds are there in one minute?
  2. What does blood carry to every part of the body? (undigested food / air bubbles / bones / oxygen and nutrients) → oxygen and nutrientsPrompt: Cells need these to release energy.
  3. Blood and circulation: which statement is NOT true? (Capillaries are tiny blood vessels where substances pass to and from cells. / The heart is on the far left side of the chest. / Veins carry blood back to the heart. / Red blood cells carry oxygen.) → The heart is on the far left side of the chest.Prompt: One of these is a famous myth.

Hook · 3 min

  • Ask everyone to find their pulse, then jump for 30 seconds and find it again.
  • Share the objective: Follow blood through the heart and lungs. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Following blood from the lungs to the body: where does blood go straight after the lungs?
  • Step 1: lungs → pulmonary vein → left atrium → left ventricle → aorta
  • Step 2: So the answer is: pulmonary vein
  • Answer: pulmonary vein
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Following blood from the body to the lungs: where does blood go straight after the right ventricle? (vena cava / pulmonary artery / lungs / right atrium) → pulmonary arteryPrompt: This side of the heart carries blood low in oxygen.
  2. What is the job of the valves in the heart? (to stop blood flowing backwards / to add oxygen to blood / to make blood cells / to slow the heartbeat) → to stop blood flowing backwardsPrompt: They work like one-way doors.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Humans have a double circulatory system. What does that mean? (only half the blood reaches the lungs / blood passes through the heart twice on each full trip round the body / blood flows both ways in each vessel / we have two hearts) → blood passes through the heart twice on each full trip round the bodyPrompt: One loop goes to the lungs, one to the body.
  2. Following blood from the body to the lungs: where does blood go straight after the right atrium? (pulmonary artery / vena cava / lungs / right ventricle) → right ventriclePrompt: This side of the heart carries blood low in oxygen.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Heart, blood and circulation.
  • Use concrete materials: stopwatches.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-7.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Follow blood through the heart and lungs

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Following blood from the body to the lungs: where does blood go straight after the pulmonary artery?

    • A. right ventricle
    • B. right atrium
    • C. vena cava
    • D. lungs

  2. Question 2

    Why is the wall of the left ventricle thicker than the right?

    • A. It pumps blood to the lungs only
    • B. It holds more blood
    • C. It pumps blood all round the body, so it needs more force
    • D. It is older

  3. Question 3

    Following blood from the lungs to the body: where does blood go straight after the left ventricle?

    • A. aorta
    • B. lungs
    • C. pulmonary vein
    • D. left atrium

  4. Question 4

    Which blood vessel carries oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart?

    • A. pulmonary vein
    • B. vena cava
    • C. pulmonary artery
    • D. aorta

  5. Question 5

    Following blood from the lungs to the body: where does blood go straight after the left atrium?

    • A. lungs
    • B. left ventricle
    • C. aorta
    • D. pulmonary vein

  6. Question 6

    Humans have a double circulatory system. What does that mean?

    • A. we have two hearts
    • B. blood flows both ways in each vessel
    • C. blood passes through the heart twice on each full trip round the body
    • D. only half the blood reaches the lungs

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Answer key: Follow blood through the heart and lungs

  1. 1. D. lungs

  2. 2. C. It pumps blood all round the body, so it needs more force

  3. 3. A. aorta

  4. 4. A. pulmonary vein

  5. 5. B. left ventricle

  6. 6. C. blood passes through the heart twice on each full trip round the body