Our Amazing Heart

Did you know that our heart pumps 5 litres of blood around the body in just 1 minute? This means that with each pump, the heart pumps about one-quarter cup of blood. 

To demonstrate how amazing our heart muscle is and how hard it works, try this fun experiment!

You will need

2 buckets or dishpans

5 litres of water

One quarter measuring cup  

Countdown timer 

Step by step

1) Fill one dishpan with 5 litres of water.

2) Place the empty dishpan next to the filled dishpan. 

3) Set the timer to one minute. 

4) Holding the measuring cup as a scoop, start scooping the water from the filled dishpan to the empty dishpan once the countdown timer begins.

Were you able to transfer all the water from one dishpan to the other? It takes 72 heart beats to move this amount of water around the body in a minute.

It was pretty challenging, wasn't it? This is how powerful our heart is! Try this activity with a friend or sibling and see if you are able to transfer all the water this time!

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