How to play Heart and Circulation
Heart and Circulation is a free GCSE biology game about the heart diagram. Each round shows a drawing of the heart with four lettered spots, A to D. A label sits above the drawing. Tap the label, then tap the spot where that part of the heart belongs. On a keyboard, press 1 to 4 for spots A to D.
A game has ten rounds. In the first four you label the chambers: the right and left atria and the right and left ventricles. The next four cover the blood vessels, which are the aorta, the vena cava, the pulmonary artery and the pulmonary vein. The last two rounds ask where blood goes next on its trip. You choose from the right side of the heart, the lungs, the left side of the heart and the rest of the body.
The wrong spots always sit on parts close to the right one, so look carefully. Tick the harder start to mix chambers and vessels in any order. The coronary arteries join the labels, and one round asks where the blood goes next.
A right answer earns 10 points. You have 35 seconds for each round, and a round that runs out of time scores nothing. Switch on practice mode to stop the clock. Your best score is kept on this device. The harder start has a separate best.
The science behind the heart diagram
The heart is an organ that pumps blood around the body. AQA calls this a double circulatory system. It means blood passes through the heart twice on each full trip. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs, where gas exchange takes place. The blood comes back to the left side of the heart, which pumps it round the rest of the body. From the body it returns to the right side, and the loop starts again.
The heart has four chambers. In the game's drawing, the two atria sit at the top and the two ventricles sit below them. AQA names the right ventricle as the pump for the lungs and the left ventricle as the pump for the rest of the body. A group of cells in the right atrium works as a natural pacemaker. These cells control the resting heart rate.
AQA limits the blood vessels you need to five: the aorta, the vena cava, the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary vein and the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries supply blood to the heart muscle. In coronary heart disease, layers of fatty material build up inside them and make them narrower. Less blood flows through, so the heart muscle does not get enough oxygen. The body has three types of blood vessel in all: arteries, veins and capillaries.
AQA covers the heart in section 4.2.2.2 of Biology 8461 and Combined Science 8464. Coronary heart disease is in section 4.2.2.4 of both 8461 and 8464. AQA says you do not need the names of the heart valves. Edexcel 1BI0 and 1SC0 cover the heart in 8.8, which includes the job of the valves and how thick the chamber walls are. OCR J247 covers the double circulatory system in B2.2c and heart structure in B2.2d, and that includes the names of the valves. OCR J257 covers heart structure in B5.1. The game keeps to the chambers and vessels and leaves the valves out.
Tips for labelling a heart diagram
- Find the sides first. In the drawing, the right side of the heart is on your left. Check this before you place any chamber.
- The atria sit at the top and the ventricles at the bottom. Side and height together tell you each chamber.
- Blood never goes straight from one side of the heart to the other. It passes through the lungs or the rest of the body first.
- For the flow rounds, say the loop out loud: right side, lungs, left side, body, then back to the right side.
- In the harder start, look for the amber line across the bottom of the heart. That line is the coronary arteries.
Before you tap, read the label once more. Your streak goes back to zero after a wrong spot or when the clock runs out.
Use this in the classroom
Heart and Circulation suits Years 9 to 11. It works as a starter when you begin the heart and blood vessels, or as a quick check before a test. One game lasts about five minutes.
Put the drawing on the board and ask the class to point to the right side of the heart before anyone taps. Then play the four chamber rounds together. After each flow round, ask what happens to the blood in the lungs. The answer to aim for is gas exchange. OCR suggests a heart dissection as practical work. A game just before the dissection helps students name the chambers they find.
AQA students do not need the valve names, so the game leaves them out. OCR J247 lists the valve names, so add them to the board once the game is over.
Anyone can play without an account. Turn the clock off with the practice switch for students who need longer. Our teachers page collects more ideas for lessons.
Similar games
Blood carries oxygen round the body, and your cells use it in aerobic respiration. Respiration Equations turns that reaction into a game, and the aerobic respiration equation page sets it out in words. Digested food passes into the blood too, and Food Tests Lab checks which substances a food contains. You can find the rest on the biology games page.
Questions about the heart
Here are clear answers to common questions about the heart and circulation.
What is the double circulatory system?
It means blood passes through the heart twice on each full trip round the body. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs. The left ventricle pumps blood round the rest of the body.
Which blood vessels do students need to know for GCSE biology?
AQA limits the list to five: the aorta, the vena cava, the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary vein and the coronary arteries. The game uses all five. The coronary arteries appear with the harder start.
Do GCSE students need the names of the heart valves?
It depends on the board. AQA says they do not. OCR J247 includes the valve names, and Edexcel covers what the valves do. This game does not test the valves.
Where is the pacemaker in the heart?
A group of cells in the right atrium acts as a natural pacemaker and controls the resting heart rate. Artificial pacemakers are electrical devices that correct a heart rate that is not regular.