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A heart is like an engine. It has two sides to it, the right and left. They are the same in function, with the right side being slightly smaller (for reasons to be explained). The "top" part of each side is known as the atria (atrium singular). This acts as a "turbocharger" that fills up with blood when the lower part (ventricles) are resting, then when full compresses to pump the blood downwards into the lower chambers.
The ventricles are very strong and pump blood with force around the body. There are a number of valves in the heart, between the atria and ventricles and also between the ventricles and the blood vessels that leave the heart. These are there to prevent the backflow of blood when the heart is not pumping.
The right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from the body and the right ventricle then pumps this blood to the lungs via the pulmonary artery where it loses CO2 and picks up O2. It then returns to the left atrium via the pulmonary vein and then the left ventricle pumps the oxygenated blood all around the body via the aorta.
The beating of the heart can be likened very crudely to the ignition of a car.
How fast the engine runs is controlled by the gas pedal. The more gas you give it, the faster it turns. This is likened to the vagus nerve that speeds up the heart rate when you are excited or frightened etc.
However, if you just let the car idle, it will fire itself, at a low RPM though. This is the same in the heart as it has inbuilt pacemakers that will continue to fire even if there is no stimulus from the brain, sort of like a spark plug sparking away at idle.
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