Goodrich – Oaktree Elementary students were jumping, scooting, and crawling this week, tracing the route a blood cell takes on its trek through the circulatory system.
As a follow-up to recent heart health lessons, educators set up a maze in Oaktree’s gym. Blue and red tunnels and hoops represent the chambers of the heart.
‘Why is the right side of the heart blue?? says school nurse Diana Kurkechian, to the two fifth-grade classes sitting cross-legged on the gym floor.
A dozen hands spring into the air.
‘Because once the cells lose oxygen they turn blue,? a girl says keenly, pointing out the cells turn red after gaining oxygen. The blood cells deliver that oxygen’via blood vessel routes’to all the body’s cells.
Kurkechian shouts encouragement and directions as students scoop up a blue rubber ball ‘blood cell? before jumping onto a small scooter to circulate through the heart and vessels.
Craving refreshment, the blue blood cells circulate from veins into the right heart chambers (right atrium and ventricle) and valves, attaching to oxygen in the lungs.
In the ‘lung? area, kids snag an oxygenated red ‘blood cell? ball before merging into veins to get back into the heart’s left atrium, through the mitral valve, down to the left ventricle and through the aortic valve. Scrambling through a cushioned red ‘aorta? tunnel, kids decide whether the blood cell they’re carrying will head into the brain or branch off to other body areas.
Once out of the maze, kids take their pulses to see how hard their own heart is performing. The number of pulses measured at their wrists equal the blood pressure in the heart’s left ventricle.
A hard-working muscle about the size of a fist, the heart requires good maintenance to remain a well-functioning machine.
‘We’ve talked about getting 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity a day,? said Kurkechian.
In addition to exercise, heart health includes learning about good nutrition, with reasonable serving sizes and health snacks, ‘so kids can understand about smart choices.?
According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with nearly 2,000 Americans each day dying of heart disease.
For more information on the heart’s activity, log on to http://health.howstuffworks.com/heart.htm.

According to the American Heart Association, these tips can help:
nEat 5+ servings of fruit/vegetables per day.
nEat 6+ servings of grain/whole grains per day.
nInclude fat-free/low-fat milk products, fish, legumes, skinless poultry, and lean meats in your diet.
nChoose fats/oils with less than 2 grams of saturated fat/tablespoon, like liquid/tub margarines, canola oil, or olive oil.
nLimit high calorie/low-nutrition foods like soft drinks and candy.
nMaintain physical fitness with 30 + minutes activity most days.
For complete guidelines, log on to http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml’identifier=1330.