Human Heart Info


Human Heart





Your heart is rally a muscle. It's located a little to the left of the middle of your chest, and it's about the size of your fist. There are lots of muscles all over your  body in your arms, in your legs, in your back, even in your behind.
But the heart muscle is special because of what it does. The heart sends blood around your body. The blood provides your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. It also carries away waste.
Your heart is sort of like a pump, or two pumps is one. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart does the exact opposite: It receives blood from the lungs and pumps it out to the body.
We Got the Beat
How does the heart beat? Before each beat, your heart  fills with blood. Then its muscle contracts to squirt the blood along. When the heart contracts, it squeezes --try squeezing your hand into a fist. That's short of like what your heart does so it can squirt out the blood. Your heart does this all day and all night, all the time. The heart is one hard worker !
Heart Parts
The heart is made up of four different blood- filled areas, and each of these is called a chamber. There are two chambers on each side of the heart. One chamber is on the top and one chamber is on the bottom. The two chambers on top are called the atria (say: ay tree-uh). If you are talking only about one, call it an atrium. The atria are the cambers that fill with the blood returning to the heart from the body and lungs. The heart has a left atrium and a right atrium.
Chamber parts

 The two chambers on the bottom are called the ventricles (say: ven-trih-kulz). The heart has a left ventricle and a right ventricle. Their job is to squirt out the blood to the body and lungs. Running down the middle of the heart is thick wall of muscle called the septum (say: sep-tum). The septum's; job is tp separate the left dise and the right side of the heart. The atria and ventricles works as a team the atria fill with blood, then dump it into the ventricles then squeeze, pumping blood out of the heart. While the ventricles are squeezing. the atria refill and get ready fir the next contraction. So when the blood gets pumped how does it know which way to go?
Well your blood relies on four on four special valves inside the heart. A valve lets something in and keeps it there by closing --think of walking through a door. The door shuts behind you and keeps you from going backward.
Two of the heart valves are the mitrul(say: my-trul) valve and the tricuspid (say: try-kus-pid) valve. They let blood flow from the atria to the ventricles. The other two are called the aortic (say: ay-or-tik) valve, and they are in charge of controlling the flow as the blood  leaves the heart. These valves all work to keep the blood flowing forward. They open up to let the blood move ahead, then they close quickly to keep the blood from the flowing backward.
It's Great to Circulate
 You probably guessed that the blood just doesn't slosh around your body once it leaves the heart. It moves through many tubes called arteries and Veins, which together are called blood vessels. These blood vessels are attached to the heart. The blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart are called arteries. The ines that carrt blood back to the heart are called veins.  
The movement of the blood through the heart and around the body is called circulation (say:sur-kyoo-lay-shun), and your heart is really good at it- it takes less then 60 seconds to pump blood to every cell in your body.
 Your body needs this steady supply of blood to keep it working right. Blood delivers oxygen to all the body's cells. To stay alive, a person need healthy, living cells. Without oxygen, these cell would die. If that oxygen-rich blood doesn't circulate as it should, a person could die.  The left side of your heart sends that oxygen-rich blood out to the body. The body takes the oxygen out of the blood and uses it in your body's cells. When the cells use the oxygen out of the blood and uses it in your body's cells. when the cells use the oxygen, they make carbon dioxide and other stuff that gets carried away by the blood. It's like the blood delivers lunch to the cells and them has to pick up the trash ! The returning blood enters the right side of the heart. The right ventricle pumps the blood to the lungs for a little freshening up. In the lungs, Carbon dioxide is removed from the blood and sent out of the body when we exhale. What is next ? An inhale of course, and a fresh breath of oxygen that can enter the blood to start the process again. And remember, it all happens in about a minute. 
Pretty Cool---It's My Pulse !
Even though your heart is inside you, there is a cool way to know it's working from the outside. It's your pulse. It's your pulse. You can find your pulse by lightly pressing on the skin anywhere there's a large artery running just beneath  your skin. two good places to find it are on the side of your neck and the inside of your wrist, just below the thumb.
You will know that you've found your pulse when you can feel a small beat under your skin. Each beat is caused by the contraction (squeezing) of your heart. If you want to find out what your heart rate is, use a watch with a second hand and count how many beats you feel in 1 minute. When you are resting you will probably feel between  70 and 100 beats per minute. When you run around a lot, your body needs a lot more oxygen-filled blood. Your heart pumps faster to supply the oxygen filled blood that your body needs. You may even feel your heart pounding in your chest. Try running in palace or jumping rope for a few minutes and taking your pulse again- Now how many beats do you count in 1 minute?
Keep Your Heart Happy
 Most kids are born with a healthy heart and it's important to keep yours in good shape. Here are some things that you can do to help keep your heart happy.
  • Remember that your heart is muscle. If you want it to be strong, you need to exercise it. How do you do it? By being active in a way that gets you huffing and puffing, like jumping rope, and dancing, or playing basketball. Try to be active every  day for at least 30 minutes! An hour would be even better for your heart !
  •  Eat a variety of healthy foods and avoid foods high in unhealthy fats, such as saturated fats and trans fats( reading the labels on foods can help you figure out if your favorite snacks contain these unhealthy ingredients)
  • Try to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
  • Avoid sugary soft drinks and fruit drinks.
  • Don't smoke. It can damage the heart and blood vessels.