When resting, blood goes from the heart to the lungs and back in about six seconds. An animation of the heart starts simply by showing blood flow through the two halves. It builds in complexity slowly over the course of five slides,...

If I want to build up my heart, where should I start? Science scholars use statistics in a sports physiology setting during an insightful experiment. Groups measure resting and active heart rates and develop a scatter plot that shows the...

A stroke can severely impact a patients' speech, motor skills, and quality of life—if they survive the event in the first place. Learn what happens to the brain during a stroke, and how you can help if someone you see is experiencing a...

The key to curing cancer could be swimming around in your aquarium! Young biologists meet the zebra fish and learn about its contributions to medicine in the 149th installment in a series of science videos. The content includes how fish...

Have your class follow the step-by-step directions in this resource to dissect a sheep heart and gain a better understanding of this amazing organ. Working in small groups, pupils look for specific parts of the heart during their...

Explore the circulatory system with a cardiovascular pump activity that promotes discovery and discussion as class members create a functioning model of the heart. Continue the learning process through a web quest showcasing the body's...

What happens in the muscles during anaerobic and aerobic exercise, and how does this affect the heart and our overall health? A cross-curricular lesson that introduces learners to the lifelong benefits of exercise, including the ability...

It's time to play Jeopardy! Learners review body systems as they play a fun game, choosing one of 30 questions ranging from 100 to 500 points, including a hidden Daily Double.  A 100 point question: How many bones are found in an adult...

From cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength to body composition, discover the primary components of fitness, as well as what factors affect them and examples of how we see these fitness components in sports today. While based on...

With a partner, youngsters measure their pulse and breathing rates, both at rest and after running in place for a minute. While this activity is not novel, the lesson plan includes a large-scale classroom graphing activity and other...

What a festive way to examine what happens to the heart in different gravitational situations! Small groups place a water-filled balloon in different locations (on a table top, in a tub of water, and held in a vertical position), drawing...

Find out how we describe the force created by the blood against the walls of the vessels in a heart-pumping lesson! As part of a unit on the heart and circulatory system, cardiology kids use a blood pressure monitor to find their...

An all-encompassing, fully interactive, gorgeously animated model of the heart can be used to teach cardiac anatomy, physiology, and even a touch of epidemiology.

Break hearts with this lesson plan: chicken or sheep hearts, that is! Your class examines the external and internal structure of the heart with a dissection activity. A handy anatomy resource provides the necessary materials for...

Teach your exercise enthusiasts to read their pulse rate at the radial artery and multiply by four to calculate beats per minute. Learners perform a variety of activities, recording their heart rates after one minute of each. Though this...

Anatomy and physiology fans imitate how blood flows from place to place in the circulatory system. After constructing and calibrating their own measurement cups, learners discover that different sizes of vessels transport various volumes...

Circulate this news: the heart is a pump containing one-way valves! Following the previous lesson on the external structure of the heart, learners now take a look at the inside. They use a three-color diagram to label a black-and-white...

Basic muscle anatomy is explained by animated kids. Introduce your elementary school class to types of muscle and where they are found in the body. Best for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.

Meredith Vieira explains how our children are "eating themselves to death." Bad nutrition combined with a sedentary lifestyle leads to dangerous diseases. Dave Zinzenko, the editor of Men's Health, talks about his journey out of...

Despite slightly older animation, this fascinating video shows the path each red blood cell takes as it carries oxygen throughout the body. From the first pump of the heart pushing red blood cells to the lungs to pick up oxygen to the...

No more beating the pavement to find a virtual model of the human heart. See one in continual real-time motion, and layer it to highlight electrical impulses, blood flow, and valve activity. 

Where is the heart? What does it do? What other organs help it carry out its function? Here is a hearty little video that answers such questions! With a casual tone and colorful animation, elementary and middle schoolers will fall in...

Pump up your class while studying the cardiovascular system with this pair of activities. In one, learners record heart rates during different actions. In the second, they read kid-friendly heart health articles online and then write a...

Learners design a pumping device that will effectively pump fluid through a model "cardiovascular system." They explore the effects of too much and too little pressure on a circulatory system.