Blood Flow Relay: Through the Heart
Every student is a red blood cell traveling a big circuit with the heart in the middle, the lungs on one side and the muscles on the other. They carry red oxygen balls and blue carbon dioxide balls, building cardio endurance while learning how blood circulates.
How to play
- Place 4 hoops together in the middle as the heart: right atrium and ventricle on one side, left ones on the other. About 65 feet away, a bucket of red balls is the lungs; 65 feet the other way, one empty bucket and one of blue balls are the body (3 min).
- Route marked with cones: body, right atrium and ventricle, lungs, left atrium and ventricle, and back to the body. Everyone starts in the body with a blue ball.
- First lap walking: at the lungs, swap the blue ball for a red one; at the body, swap red for blue. Jump once in each heart hoop (3 min).
- The body has a muscle station: do 5 squats before dropping off the oxygen.
- Heart rate: "resting" means walk, "playing" means jog, "game time" means run. Do 3 blocks of 3 minutes with a 1-minute pulse check between them (11 min).
- Wrap up: why does blood pass through the heart twice, and what happened to your pulse? (3 min).
Rules
- Everyone travels the same direction.
- One ball at a time, set in the bucket, never thrown.
- Anyone who feels dizzy or out of breath steps into the rest zone and walks.
Variations
Easier
Use a shorter route with only two hoops for the heart and no muscle station.
Standard
Four heart chambers, lungs, and a body with a muscle station, plus three heart-rate paces.
Harder
Add organs to the body, such as brain, stomach or legs, each with its own exercise, plus a blocked artery that forces a detour.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student can be a heart valve who lets cells through, or travel a shorter inner route.
- Visual impairment: mark the route with rope and use bell balls to tell colors apart.
- Fitness level: students set their own speed within each signal and may pass through the rest zone.
Learning goals
- Describe the path of blood through the heart, lungs and body.
- Sustain aerobic effort while adjusting pace to a signal.
- Connect exercise intensity with a rising heart rate.
Equipment for a class of 25
- balls: 50
- buckets: 3
- hoops: 4
- cones: 14
Teacher tip
Draw a big diagram of the circuit and show it before starting, because the most common mistake is skipping the lungs. Have plenty of balls in each color so the buckets never run dry.
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