Welcome to the amazing world of animal hearts! Did you know that the size and speed of hearts can be very different depending on the animal? Let’s explore how hearts work for different creatures, from the tiny mouse to the gigantic blue whale. Each heart is super important for keeping the animal alive and healthy.
Let’s start with the tiny mouse. A mouse’s heart is really small, about the size of a little bean, measuring around 10 by 4.2 mm (or 0.16 inches). But don’t let its size fool you! A mouse’s heart beats super fast, between 310 and 840 times every minute. That’s a lot of beats! If it beats 310 times a minute, that’s 18,600 beats in an hour and 446,400 beats in a whole day!
Now, let’s talk about humans. Our hearts are about the size of our fists and weigh around $11$ ounces. They beat about 80 times a minute, which adds up to 115,000 beats in a day. Over a year, that’s around 42 million beats! If you live to be 70 years old, your heart will have beaten more than 2.5 billion times. Wow!
A cow’s heart is much bigger, about the size of a human head, and weighs around $2$ pounds. It beats slower than a mouse’s heart, between 48 and 84 times a minute. If it beats 48 times a minute, that’s 2,880 beats in an hour and 69,120 beats in a day.
Horses have big hearts too! A horse’s heart weighs about 1% of its body weight. So, if a horse weighs 1,000 pounds, its heart weighs around $10$ pounds. A horse’s heart beats between 28 and 48 times a minute. If it beats 28 times a minute, that’s 1,680 beats in an hour and 40,320 beats in a day.
Giraffes have really big hearts, about 2 feet long and weighing around $25$ pounds. Their hearts beat between 40 and 90 times a minute. If it beats 40 times a minute, that’s 2,400 beats in an hour and 57,600 beats in a day.
Elephants have huge hearts, weighing between $26.5$ and $46.3$ pounds. Their hearts beat about 30 times a minute, which means 1,800 beats in an hour and 43,200 beats in a day.
The blue whale has the biggest heart of all, weighing around $400$ pounds! Even though it’s so big, it beats very slowly, about 2 times a minute. That’s 120 beats in an hour and 2,880 beats in a day. Imagine that while it swims through the ocean!
Isn’t it amazing how different each animal’s heart is? From the tiny mouse to the enormous blue whale, every heart is special and important for the animal’s life. This shows us just how incredible nature is and how all living things are connected in their own unique ways.
Heart Beat Experiment: Let’s explore how fast our hearts beat! Find a stopwatch or use a timer on a phone. Sit quietly for a minute and count how many times your heart beats. You can feel your heartbeat by gently placing two fingers on your wrist or neck. Write down the number of beats you counted. Now, try doing some jumping jacks for one minute and count your heartbeats again. Did your heart beat faster or slower after exercising? Why do you think that happened?
Animal Heart Size Comparison: Using playdough or clay, create models of different animal hearts based on their sizes mentioned in the article. For example, make a tiny bean-sized heart for the mouse and a large one for the blue whale. Compare the sizes of your models. Which heart was the easiest to make? Which one was the hardest? Discuss with your friends or family why different animals might need different heart sizes.
Math Challenge: Let’s do some math with heartbeats! If a giraffe’s heart beats 40 times a minute, how many times does it beat in 2 hours? Use the information from the article to calculate. Now, think about how many times your heart would beat in 2 hours if it beats 80 times a minute. Compare your answer with the giraffe’s. Which one beats more, and by how much?
