I decided to explore and analyze the path of blood through the heart by making a booklet illustrating the structure and functions of the heart as a muscular organ. The heart starts pumping approximately 22 days after conception and involves a complex biological signal, interactions, specification of myocardial progenitor cells, and heart tube looping. Contractility of the heart is regulated by changes in intracellular Ca concentration, causing the heart to expand and contract about 100,000 times per day with a volume at about 7-8 liters blood per day.
This STEAM project is about the pathway of blood through the structures of the heart. A pumping heart starts after about 22 days after conception and is a complex process with the size of a fist. It is a part of the cardiovascular system where it pumps oxygenated red blood cells and nutrient-rich blood through arteries and veins throughout the body. The heart contracts about 100,000 times per day with about 7-8 liters of blood. A human heart has four chambers that go through a cycle of squeeze and relax, which is regulated by pressure and electrical signals in the heart. These signals can go faster or slower depending on the physical activity like for example exercise.
The heart itself is located under the rib cage between the lungs and above the diaphragm. The four chambers in the heart are hollow and divided into the left and right side. The left and right side are also divided into two top chambers called atria, which makes the left and right atrium, and the two bottom chambers called ventricles, which makes the left and right ventricle.
The atria receive blood and pumps it into the ventricles through a valve. The pathway starts at the right side where blood enters and go through two large veins. It then enters the right atrium and then to the right ventricle through tricuspid valve. The valve closes when chamber is full and pushes through pulmonic valve, into pulmonary artery where it leaves heart and enters the lungs.