Noting Significant Details

Text by Sarah Ives

National Geographic Kids

An average human heart "pumps iron" by beating

100,000 times a day.
Illustration by Sharon Davis
I. Objectives
A. Locate answers to what, when, where, how, and why questions stated on the text.

B. Find describing words and action words in selection read.

C. Identify the important events.

II. Before Reading

One word or idea can be very important. To help you better understand what the
word or idea means, recall what you already know about that idea.

1. What does the word heart mean to you?

2. List all the relevant nouns and verbs you can think of when you hear the word heart
in the box provided.
III. During Reading
1. Read the article “The Truth About Your Heart.”
2. On the first reading, underline the parts that describe the heart.
3. On the second reading, draw two lines under the statements that describe what the
heart does.

The Truth About Your Heart

Text by Sarah Ives

Notes
This Valentine's Day, millions of people will
exchange heart-shaped gifts of all kinds, “What does the heart looks like?”
from candy to cards. But did you know that Try to ask questions about the
the human heart does not actually look like
the typical valentine shape? heart and see if you can find the
answers in this text.
National Geographic Kids spoke with heart
specialist Robert DiBianco to learn more
about this important organ.

According to Dr. DiBianco, the human heart

is about the size of a fist.

"Because [the heart] is a muscle with lots of

blood supplied to it, it looks red like meat,"
he explained. "In people who are overweight
... the heart looks yellow because it is
covered with yellow fat."

In the United States children are taught to

place their hands over their hearts when
pledging allegiance to the flag. Most people
have heard that the heart is on the left side
of the chest. In reality, the heart is in the
middle of the chest, tucked snugly between
the two lungs.
 Notes
But what does the heart actually do?

DiBianco explained that the heart is a pump

that pushes blood throughout the body. The
heart moves blood by expanding and
contracting (getting bigger and smaller).

"Each living part of the body needs blood to

live, and that's why it's important for the
blood to go to different parts of the body,"
DiBianco said.

When you're exercising, it takes your blood

about ten seconds to get from your heart to
your big toe and back. In fact, a kid's heart
has to push blood through about 60,000
miles (96,560 kilometers) of blood vessels—
that's long enough to circle the Earth two
and a half times!

All that pumping takes a lot of effort. To

push blood, an average heart beats a
hundred thousand times a day. That means
that in a lifetime, the average human heart
will beat more than two and a half billion
times.

Because the heart is so important, the

American Heart Association reminds people
that they need to treat their hearts with care.
Exercise and healthful foods can help the
heart do its job.

This Valentine's Day, heart-shaped gifts will

be everywhere. Maybe that's why February is
also American Heart Month!
 R erea d
Reread the passage again, then draw two
lines under the statements that describe
what the heart does.

The Heart
IV. AfterDetails
Reading1 Details 2
1. What did you learn about your heart? List all your learning using the table below.
2. On the first column, write the important details you have learned about the human
heart. On the second column, write what the heart actually does.
 3. Have a closing statement to sum up what you have learned about the human heart.
You can refer to the table for ideas.

The heart is important because