Research Questions-

- There is no proper educational/instructional model for the heart on the current market
specifically for elementary and middle schoolers
- People know the way that blood flows through the 4 chambers in the heart but no actual
model that can demonstrate real way it flows so maybe we could make a model that shows
how blood flows everywhere, maybe including the lungs or something like that (I have an
idea that I can explain later)

**Construct a dynamic heart model & test its effectiveness in classroom settings
**Hybrid models (virtual and real-world dynamic model)

How the blood flows-

The heart has two upper chambers—the left and right atriums—and two larger lower
chambers—the left and right ventricles. A series of valves act like doorways to control
blood flow in and out of these chambers. The cardiac conduction system sends out
electrical impulses to make the heart muscle contract and relax. Those pulses set the
rate and rhythm of your heartbeat.
Steps for the flow of blood-

1. The blood first enters the right atrium.

2. The blood flows through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle.
3. When the heart beats, the ventricle pushes the blood through the pulmonic
valve into the pulmonary artery.
4. The pulmonary artery carries blood to the lungs where it “picks up” oxygen.
5. It then leaves the lungs to return back to the heart through the pulmonary vein.
6. The blood enters the left atrium.
7. It drops through the mitral valve into the left ventricle.
8. The left ventricle then pumps blood through the aortic valve and into the aorta.
The aorta is the artery that feed the rest of the body through a system of blood
vessels.
9. Blood returns to the heart from the body via two large blood vessels called the
superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. This blood carries little oxygen,
as it is returning from the body where oxygen was used.
10. The vena cavas pump blood into the right atrium and the cycle begins all over
again.

Parts of the heart and the circulatory system that are most important to keep
in mind for the model-

1. Heart - muscular organ pumping blood - what we intend to show

2. Blood vessels - passageways through which blood flows, the three types
are arteries, veins, and capillaries (more on that later on)
3. Blood - made up of red and white blood cells, plasma and platelets
4. Lungs - help to supply oxygen to the blood and remove carbon dioxide
from it as well through the help of alveolus.
5. Valves - doorways that open up and close to regulate the flow of blood in
order to prevent it from flowing in another direction and to prevent clots
6. Aorta- the main artery that carries blood away from your heart to the
rest of the body
7. Vena Cava - the largest vein in the body, it has two parts - the superior
vena cava and the inferior one
8. Superior vena cava brings blood in from above the heart so the head,
neck, arms, and chest
9. Inferior vena cava brings blood in from below the heart - legs, feet,
abdomen and pelvis regions
10. Pulmonary artery - brings deoxygenated blood from the heart to the
lungs for purification - goes against its group’s nature as an arter
11. Pulmonary vein - brings oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart
after purification - goes against its group’s function as a vein
Circulatory System circuits -

Your circulatory system has three circuits. Blood circulates through your heart and
through these circuits in a continuous pattern:

● The pulmonary circuit: This circuit carries blood without oxygen from the
heart to the lungs. The pulmonary veins return oxygenated blood to the heart.
● The systemic circuit: In this circuit, blood with oxygen, nutrients and
hormones travels from the heart to the rest of the body. In the veins, the blood
picks up waste products as the body uses up the oxygen, nutrients and
hormones.
● The coronary circuit: Coronary refers to your heart’s arteries. This circuit
provides the heart muscle with oxygenated blood. The coronary circuit then
returns oxygen-poor blood to the heart’s right upper chamber (atrium) to send
to the lungs for oxygen.

The types of blood vessels -

There are three main types of blood vessels:

● Arteries: Arteries are thin, muscular tubes that carry oxygenated blood away from the
heart and to every part of your body. The aorta is the body’s largest artery. It starts at the
heart and travels up the chest (ascending aorta) and then down into the stomach
(descending aorta). The coronary arteries branch off the aorta, which then branch into
smaller arteries (arterioles) as they get farther from your heart.
● Veins: These blood vessels return oxygen-depleted blood to the heart. Veins start small
(venules) and get larger as they approach your heart. Two central veins deliver blood to
your heart. The superior vena cava carries blood from the upper body (head and arms) to
the heart. The inferior vena cava brings blood up from the lower body (stomach, pelvis
and legs) to the heart. Veins in the legs have valves to keep blood from flowing
backward.
● Capillaries: These blood vessels connect very small arteries (arterioles) and veins
(venules). Capillaries have thin walls that allow oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients and
waste products to pass into and out of cells.

Structure of the Heart -

The heart can be found at the chest's center, underneath the sternum in a thoracic compartment. It
comprises four chambers and several valves that regulate the normal flow of blood within the
body.

Two chambers called atria are located in the upper portion of the heart with the left atrium
receives oxygen-rich blood and the right receiving oxygen-free blood. The valves that separate
these chambers are called atrioventricular valves, composed of the tricuspid valve on the left and
the mitral valve on the right.

On the other hand, ventricles are chambers found on the lower portion of the heart; they pump
oxygen-enriched blood into the body's organs, reaching even the smallest cells. Similar to the
atria, valves also separate the ventricular chambers. Collectively-termed as semilunar valves,
these are comprised of the pulmonary and aortic valves.The heart also has a wall that is
composed of three layers: the outer layer epicardium (thin layer), the middle layer myocardium
(thick layer), and the innermost layer endocardium (thin layer). The myocardium is thick because
it is made up of cardiac muscle fibers.

The heart structure is made more complex because of the mechanisms that allow blood to be
distributed throughout the body and return to the heart. Facilitating this continuous process are
two types of blood vessels: veins and arteries. The vessels that bring oxygen-free blood back into
the heart are called veins; those that bring oxygen-rich blood away from the heart and to other
body parts are called arteries.Functioning in the left ventricle, the largest artery is called the
aorta. The aorta is considered a main artery in the body. It further splits into two smaller arteries
called common iliac arteries.With regular functioning, the heart can continuously supply a
sufficient amount of oxygen to all parts of the body.

Direction of blood flow in the heart -

Blood flows through the heart in two directions at the same time. Deoxygenated blood enters the
right side of the heart and is pumped towards the lungs to pick up oxygen. Then that oxygen-rich
blood re-enters the heart on the left side and is pumped out to the cells of the body.

If we could also show how a heart stroke occurs through the heart model as well, I think
that would also be really cool. I will add details about heart attack below..

- myocardial infarction
- Happens when a part of the heart does not recieve enough blood
- Heart also needs blood to be pumped to itself in order to function as well
- Usually occurs when a blood clot blocks blood flow to the heart
- Without the blood, the tissue loses oxygen and dies
 - Tissue being able to survive without oxygen depends on where it is found but the heart is
one of the most delicate places in the body and tisssue can die between a range of 15
seconds to 2 minutes
-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WufDTu_LpV0

Here is a link to a small model though not what I envisioned for our model. Hopefully,
we will be able to make a better one but for reference I have placed it here. Also the
video is in hindi but there are subtitles in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqMBLWABMAE

Here is a very basic one, I thought maybe we could draw inspiration as to what kind of
materials we could use to construct our model.

Also, Crash Course has a series of videos on the circulatory system…