Animals, including humans: Circulation and health
Learning about the circulatory system by exploring the roles of the heart, blood and blood vessels and using models to demonstrate how they work together.
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Animals, including humans: Circulation and health
Unit outcomes
Pupils who are secure will be able to:
- Recall factors that improve someone’s health and those that impact health negatively and suggest improvements to someone’s health.
- Describe the circulatory system as the heart and blood vessels transporting blood around the body and recall that the heart is a pump that pushes blood through the circulatory system.
- Describe the pathway of blood through the circulatory system, including passing through the heart twice in a complete circuit through the body.
- Describe some of the functions of blood, including transporting substances like oxygen, water and nutrients around the body.
- Recall what is meant by heart rate and research using multiple websites to find reliable animal masses.
- Identify the pattern between animals’ size and heart rate and quote values as evidence.
- Describe how different exercises affect heart rate and explain why heart rate changes during exercise.
- Describe what happens to heart rate during and after exercise and compare two sets of heart data to identify a link between heart rate and fitness.
When working scientifically, pupils who are secure will be able to:
- Evaluate the trustworthiness of secondary sources that provide health advice.
- Evaluate the model blood by considering a strength and a weakness when representing blood and suggesting improvements.
- Compare class values and recognise when they do not match.
- Use identified patterns to predict new values.
- Write a method for an enquiry with consideration of equipment, the different versions of the changed variable and how to complete the measured variable.
- Choose a suitable title and axis labels with units for the line graph and plot points on the line graph.
Suggested prior learning
Animals including humans: Digestion and food
Get startedLessons
Lesson 1: Factors affecting health
Lesson 2: The heart and circulatory system
Lesson 3: Blood
Lesson 4: Heart rate
Lesson 5: Investigating exercise and heart rate
Lesson 6: Heart rate and fitness
Key skills
Key knowledge
Equipment list
Equipment needed across all lessons in this unit.
This list does not include equipment which is usually readily available in the classroom (e.g pencils, A4 paper etc)
Full equipment list for the subject
Quantities marked × will update. Items without quantities are unaffected
- Modelling the circulatory system (2 large red hoops; 2 large blue hoops; 1 large hoop of another colour; chalk for drawing on the ground; 5 bowls or containers; at least 30 red beanbags, balls or pieces of card; at least 30 blue beanbags, balls or pieces of card; at least 20 beanbags, balls or pieces of card in green and yellow). ×1
- Modelling blood (small, transparent bottle or tube with a lid; cooking oil to fill container halfway; red liquid food colouring; white mini marshmallows or beads; small chopped up pieces of light-coloured paper; teaspoons of sugar and salt; some water; mixture of small beads or cake sprinkles). ×1
- Sticky notes ×30
-
Devices for internet research
×15 - Sticky tack ×15
-
Stop watches.
×8 - Rulers ×15
The equipment below is optional
- Lab coat and stethoscope ×1
-
Counters and dice for a board game
×8 - Calculators ×8
- Pulsometers, data loggers or smart watches for measuring heart rate ×15
-
Graph paper
×30
Equipment list
Quantities marked × will update. Items without quantities are unaffected
- Modelling the circulatory system (2 large red hoops; 2 large blue hoops; 1 large hoop of another colour; chalk for drawing on the ground; 5 bowls or containers; at least 30 red beanbags, balls or pieces of card; at least 30 blue beanbags, balls or pieces of card; at least 20 beanbags, balls or pieces of card in green and yellow). ×1
- Modelling blood (small, transparent bottle or tube with a lid; cooking oil to fill container halfway; red liquid food colouring; white mini marshmallows or beads; small chopped up pieces of light-coloured paper; teaspoons of sugar and salt; some water; mixture of small beads or cake sprinkles). ×1
- Sticky notes ×30
-
Devices for internet research
×15 - Sticky tack ×15
-
Stop watches.
×8 - Rulers ×15
The equipment below is optional
- Lab coat and stethoscope ×1
-
Counters and dice for a board game
×8 - Calculators ×8
- Pulsometers, data loggers or smart watches for measuring heart rate ×15
-
Graph paper
×30
Related content
Unit resources
Knowledge organiser – Science Y6: Animals, including humans: Circulation and health
Aimed at pupils, a triple page which gives key facts and definition from the unit Circulation and health.
Vocabulary display – Science Y6: Animals, including humans: Circulation and health
A display version of the key vocabulary from the unit 'Circulation and health'.
Cross-curricular opportunities
English: Spoken language; Writing – composition; Reading.
Mathematics: Number – number and place value; Measurement; Statistics.
Design technology: Cooking and nutrition.
RSE: Mental wellbeing; Physical health and fitness; Healthy eating; Drugs, alcohol and tobacco; Health and prevention.
Physical education.
British values: Rule of law; Mutual respect.