Circulatory System Reading Passages

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📚 Part 1: Reading Passage - Your Amazing Heart

I can understand how the circulatory system works by reading and analyzing informational text.

Your heart is an amazing muscle that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! It's about the size of your fist and beats around 100,000 times every day. The heart is the main part of your circulatory system - the network that moves blood throughout your body.

Your heart has four chambers, or rooms. The top two chambers are called atria (AY-tree-uh), and the bottom two are called ventricles (VEN-tri-kuls). Blood flows into the atria first, then gets pumped down to the ventricles, which push the blood out to your body and lungs.

Blood travels through your body in tubes called blood vessels. There are three main types: arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from your heart, veins bring oxygen-poor blood back to your heart, and tiny capillaries connect arteries and veins. Your blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to every cell in your body and picks up waste products to remove them.

1. According to the passage, how many times does your heart beat each day?

Around 50,000 times

Around 100,000 times

Around 200,000 times

Around 24,000 times

2. What are the bottom two chambers of the heart called?

Atria

Ventricles

Arteries

Capillaries

3. Which blood vessels carry oxygen-rich blood AWAY from the heart?

Veins

Capillaries

Arteries

Atria

🔍 Part 2: Vocabulary and Comprehension

4. Fill in the blanks using words from the reading passage:

a) The _________________ system is the network that moves blood throughout your body.

b) _________________ are tiny blood vessels that connect arteries and veins.

c) Blood delivers _________________ and nutrients to every cell in your body.

5. Based on the passage, explain in 2-3 sentences what happens to blood as it moves through your heart.

6. Why do you think your heart needs to beat continuously, even when you're sleeping? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

🎯 Part 3: Extension Activity

7. Advanced Learners: Research and write about one heart-healthy activity you can do. Explain how it helps your circulatory system.

8. Success Criteria Check: Circle all that you can now do after completing this worksheet:

I can identify the main parts of the circulatory system

I can explain what the heart does

I can describe the three types of blood vessels

I can use circulatory system vocabulary correctly

📋 Answer Key (Teacher Use)

1. Around 100,000 times

2. Ventricles

3. Arteries

4. a) circulatory b) Capillaries c) oxygen

5. Sample answer: Blood flows into the atria first, then gets pumped down to the ventricles. The ventricles push the blood out to the body and lungs.

6. Sample answer: The heart needs to beat continuously because every cell in the body needs oxygen and nutrients delivered by blood, even during sleep.

Differentiation Strategies:

• Struggling readers: Provide audio recording of passage

• ELL students: Pre-teach vocabulary with visual aids

• Advanced learners: Complete extension research activity