The heart is like a house.
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It has rooms. There are 4 rooms (called chambers) in the heart:
- 2 small ones (called atria)
- 2 larger ones (called ventricles)
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It has doors. There are doors (called valves) between the rooms that open and close to allow blood to flow through the heart.
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It has electricity. The heart’s electrical system has a built-in pacemaker.
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It has plumbing. The heart has small pipes (called coronary arteries).
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Everything works together to keep it functioning.
- The rooms (chambers) and doors (valves) work together as a pump. The heart is a muscle that pumps blood to the lungs and the body. Each time the heart contracts (beats), this pumping action is felt in the large arteries of the body as a pulsing sensation. This is what you feel when you take your pulse.
- The electricity allows the heart to pump 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- The pipes supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.
