Objective

• Learn the shape and location of the heart , that the heart is a muscle, and that we need a heart to live.

Prepare

• Download and print Take a Look Inside of You!  visual
• Download and print Hearts on Parade Coloring Activity Sheet for class distribution

• Take a Look Inside of You!  visual, Hearts on Parade Coloring Activity Sheet, chart paper

Explore

1. Distribute the Hearts on Parade coloring activity sheet.  Invite children to color the people in the picture.  What do the people look like? Are they big? Are they little? How old do you think they are? Encourage children to give specific information about the people in their picture. Ask them to point to the hair and skin of one of their people. Encourage children to touch their own hair and skin. Explain that these are parts of the body that they can see and touch. Point out that the body has many parts inside that they cannot see.
   
   
2. Display the Take a Look Inside of You! visual. Tell children that this drawing shows some of the parts we have inside our bodies. We can look at drawings of these parts because scientists know what the inside of our bodies looks like.
   
   Point to the heart of the child on the visual and ask children to place their hands on their chests in the same location. Ask them whether they can feel or hear something thumping. (Children may have to jump in place first.) What is causing that thumping? If necessary, explain that what children feel or hear is their heart beating.
   
   Invite children to tell what they know about the heart and record their comments on chart paper. Use their comments to assess what they know and need to know about the heart. Confirm that everybody has a heart and that we need a heart to live.