How would you locate and label the parts of the heart on a diagram?

Answer 1

One of the easiest ways to draw the heart is to first look at a picture (like the image shown above). Notice how the heart is NOT "heart shaped" like a Valentine! Note how the heart is tilted, with the biggest bulk of it on the top and it tilts toward the left arm (right side in a picture, but left side of the body). Notice how the bottom looks smaller because it is tilted.

Next, make a fist with your right hand, tuck your thumb in, and look at your fist. Your fist is *almost* like a heart, but upside down. So--- take a piece of paper and lightly draw an X at the very top. Draw the X very faintly so you can erase it later. Now, turn the paper so the X you drew is at the bottom. Ask your mom, dad, or an older sibling to help you with the next step. With your right hand made into a fist, put your fist about in the center of the paper. Have the older person LIGHTLY draw around your fist. But instead of coming inward toward the spaces between your fingers, make the line curved as it goes down alongside your knuckles. Leave the "wrist" part un-drawn for now. Make sure the person draws very lightly so you can erase parts of it, if you need to edit it.

When the person finishes drawing around your fist lightly with a pencil, next turn your paper so the X is at the top again. You should have an image that is bigger on top, narrow at the bottom, and the image should tilt toward the right hand side of the paper (e.g. the left side of a person's body, or "in" your body).

You will need to EDIT the drawing so the line and curve looks smooth. Fill in a curved line along the blank area where your wrist could not be drawn. Keep looking at a textbook image of a heart while you keep editing the outside lines.

You know the heart has 2 sides, right and left. Tip your paper so the heart is sitting "straight". Now, freehand (without a ruler) very lightly draw a line from the midpoint on the bottom of the heart to the midpoint on the top line of the heart. Look at the picture I inserted above on this question. This center "line" is not really a line, but where the heart muscle divides. It isn't perfectly straight.

Turn your paper so the paper is straight again. Your "heart" should be taking shape now. Notice there are wide-thick arteries that come out the top of the heart and to the left (of the body, but toward the right side of your paper). They look like wide giant straws. You don't need to make these perfectly; just do your best. Compare your drawing to a textbook picture or to the image shown above.

When you are pleased with your shape of the heart, start labeling the structures. For example, Right Ventricle, Left Ventricle (both on the bottom); Right Atrium, Left Atrium (top). Remember to switch Right and Left---your picture should mimic your insides if you hold the picture up against your body with the picture facing outward. In fact, you can put your picture against your chest and very lightly put a R on the side of your right arm; an L for your left arm. Label the items per the R-L sides of your body. When you work on the picture, make sure you you label left and right in the perspective of the body--- so it is the reverse of looking at your paper.

The heart looks simple, but contains many structures in it. Ask your teacher how much detail to include. You can label the atria, the ventricles, the arteries. If you want to imagine inside the heart, you could draw valves - one on each side between each atrium and ventricle. A valve would look like a band of tissue, so a small curved line (like the line of a smile) could work to represent each valve. Don't connect the line for the valve to any other line.

Answer 2

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