Circulation and health
Exploring the heart and circulatory system through models and enquiries and considering how lifestyle choices affect our health.
- Subjects >
- Science >
- Upper key stage 2 >
- Year 6 >
-
Animals: 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: Digestion and food
Get startedLessons
Lesson 1: Factors affecting health
Knowledge
- To identify factors that affect our health and how to reduce their negative impact.
Working scientifically
- To evaluate sources of information.
Lesson 2: The heart and circulatory system
Knowledge
- To summarise the key structures and purpose of the circulatory system.
Lesson 3: Blood
Knowledge
- To identify the key roles of blood.
Working scientifically
- To evaluate a model.
Lesson 4: Heart rate
Knowledge
- To explore the relationship between animal size and heart rate.
Working scientifically
- To interpret patterns in data.
Lesson 5: Investigating exercise and heart rate
Knowledge
- To investigate the relationship between exercise and heart rate.
Working scientifically
- To write a method.
Lesson 6: Heart rate and fitness
Knowledge
- To describe the relationship between heart rate and fitness.
Working scientifically
- To draw a line graph.
Key skills
Related content
Unit resources
Knowledge organiser – Science Y6: Circulation and health
Aimed at pupils, a triple page which gives key facts and definition from the unit Circulation and health.
Vocabulary display: Circulation and health
A display version of the key vocabulary from the Circulation and health unit.
Cross-curricular opportunities
English: Spoken language, Reading, Writing – composition.
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.