Visualizing the Circulatory System

     We are currently discussing the circulatory system in Gr 8 science as we near the end of our Cells & Systems unit. Today my students had an opportunity to learn some interesting facts about this system through some activities:

The Box of Mystery
When students arrived, I had a large Rubbermaid storage bin on the table. After taking a few guess about what was inside, we blindly pulled items from the box until each student had an item (they were all containers of various shapes and sizes). Without giving any insight, I asked students to find somewhere in the school to fill their container with water, return to class, and dump their water into the storage bin.

The result? Approximately 6 quarts of liquid, which I then explained was the average amount of blood in a human body! They were pretty surprised!

The Big & The Small
Students then got to compare two different widths: a hose with a width of approximately 3cm, and a human hair (stuck between two pieces of tape). I explained that the width of the hose was approximately how wide their aorta is at the top of their heart and that the their capillaries got so small that it could take 10 of them to be as wide as a human hair!

Time for a Walk
Last, but not least, I had students measure out how many yards it was from one end of our school to the other using the floor tiles as a reference. After they completed this task, I had them multiple their appropriate answer by 84,507 (in order to get them to a final total of 12,000 miles). I explained that if they were to walk from one end of the school to the other 84,507 times, then they would have travelled as far as their blood travels in one day!