Reading Across Learning
Sciences
Scenario:
The class has started a biology unit on the functions of the heart and are addressing the following
outcomes and experiences:
I have explored the structure and function of organs and organ systems and can relate this to the
basic biological processes required to sustain life.
SCN 3-12a
I can select and use the strategies and resources I find most useful before I read, and as I read, to
monitor and check my understanding.
LIT 3-13a
In introducing the actual content the teacher has used the attached text. Below are some reading
strategies the teacher can use to help the learners read and understand the text.
Asking Questions:
This strategy can be used to activate prior knowledge. Learners are likely to have some knowledge of
the heart already. Before they begin reading the text ask them to write a list of questions that they
hope the passage will answer for them. Once they have read it they can see if their questions have
been answered and if not they could think about where they will need to look next for further
information.
Making Pictures:
Ask learners to use the information from the passage to draw a diagram of a heart. Ask them to
create a comic strip using a programme like Comic Life to demonstrate how the heart works.
Making Comparisons:
Ask the learners to think about the role the heart plays in relation to the other vital organs. They could
create a factfile or information wall comparing the various organs showing their role, etc.
Looking for Patterns:
Paste the text of the story into a Wordle like the one below:
What can a tool like this reveal about the function of the heart? What key words are identified? Do
these surprise us?
Extending Vocabulary:
Ask the learners to write down all new and unfamiliar vocabulary when they read the passage for the
first time. Pair learners up to compare their lists. Ask them to add their new words to a classroom
word wall and set them the challenge of finding meanings for the new vocabulary. They can add the
meanings to their word wall and vocabulary books.
Summarising:
Story telling Round Robin - Have one learner who has read the article tell it to another who then
passes it on (similar to Chinese whispers) until the final person retells the article to a class as a whole
– see how much of the key information remains. Ask learners to rewrite the article in no more than six
sentences.
Assessing progress and achievement in the Sciences
Successful learning at the third level includes:

developing knowledge and understanding of organ structures, organ systems and their function.

developing knowledge and understanding of biological processes sustaining life.
Assessing progress and achievement in Literacy and English
Successful learning at the third level includes:
 Independently selecting appropriate reading strategies to monitor and check understanding.
The Heart
Cardiac muscle
Your heart is an incredibly powerful organ. It works constantly without ever pausing to rest. It is made
of cardiac muscle, which only exists in the heart. Unlike other types of muscle, cardiac muscle never
gets tired.
Four chambers
Your heart is divided into four hollow chambers. The upper two chambers are called atria. They are
joined to two lower chambers called ventricles. These are the pumps of your heart.
One-way valves between the chambers keep blood flowing through your heart in the right direction.
As blood flows through a valve from one chamber into another the valve closes, preventing blood
flowing backwards. As the valves snap shut, they make a thumping, 'heart beat' noise.
Double pump
Blood carries oxygen and many other substances around your body. Oxygen from your blood reacts
with sugar in your cells to make energy. The waste product of this process, carbon dioxide, is carried
away from your cells in your blood.
Your heart is a single organ, but it acts as a double pump. The first pump carries oxygen-poor blood
to your lungs, where it unloads carbon dioxide and picks up oxygen. It then delivers oxygen-rich blood
back to your heart. The second pump delivers oxygen-rich blood to every part of your body. Blood
needing more oxygen is sent back to the heart to begin the cycle again. In one day your heart
transports all your blood around your body about 1000 times.
Your right ventricle pumps blood to your lungs and your left ventricle pumps blood all around your
body. The muscular walls of the left ventricle are thicker than those of the right ventricle, making it a
much more powerful pump. For this reason, it is easiest to feel your heart beating on the left side of
your chest.
Pacemaker
Unlike skeletal muscle cells that need to be stimulated by nerve impulses to contract, cardiac muscle
cells can contract all by themselves. However, if left to their own devices, cardiac muscle cells in
different areas of your heart would beat at different rates. Muscle cells in your ventricles would beat
more slowly than those in your atria. Without some kind of unifying function, your heart would be an
inefficient, uncoordinated pump. So, your heart has a tiny group of cells known as the sinoatrial node
that is responsible for coordinating heart beat rate across your heart. It starts each heartbeat and sets
the heartbeat pace for the whole heart.
Damage to the sinoatrial node can result in a slower heart rate. When this is a problem, an operation
is often performed to install an artificial pacemaker, which takes over the role of the sinoatrial node.
Heart rate
Without nervous system control, your heart would beat around 100 times per minute. However, when
you are relaxed, your parasympathetic nervous system sets a resting heart beat rate of about 70
beats per minute, (resting heart rate is usually between 72-80 beats per minute in women and 64-72
beats per minute in men).
When you exercise or feel anxious your heart beats more quickly, increasing the flow of oxygenated
blood to your muscles. This is triggered by your sympathetic nervous system. Your heart rate also
increases in response to hormones like adrenalin.
On average, your maximum heart rate is 220 beats per minute minus your age. So a 40 year old
would have a maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minute.
Oxygen supply to your heart
Although your heart is continually filled with blood, this blood doesn't provide your heart with oxygen.
The blood supply that provides oxygen and nutrients to your heart is provided by blood vessels that
wrap around the outside of your heart.
From the BBC Science website