If you’re looking for a natural wonder, look no further than the human body. Think about it: as we breathe, a complex system of organs is working together to supply oxygen for the blood to deliver to all parts of the body. The same system also happens to be the subject of the developer Isygames’ latest app.
Called Heart and Lungs Lab, the app aims to promote serious exploration of the physiology behind the hearts and lungs but in a fun and educational way. It contains encyclopedic reference of the human body’s cardiovascular and respiratory systems, along with virtual labs and practice quizzes.
Breathe In, Breathe Out
The app comprises three sections: an anatomy atlas, a practice quiz section, and six virtual labs. To access each section, kids simply tap on the speech bubbles on the menu screen.
The anatomy atlas provides detailed explanation of each component involved in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. When kids select this section, they will see a chart of the human body. They can tap on each label to to bring up a fact sheet. For example, they can learn that the pulmonary veins carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart.
At the bottom of the chart is a slider which controls which components should appear at one time. Kids can move the slider to the left to see only the components in the cardiovascular system, or the right to see the organs in the respiratory system. The default setting in the middle shows the two systems overlapping each other.
Once kids have read up on the facts, they can test their newfound knowledge in the practice quiz section. It involves answering a series of True/False questions with two levels of difficulty. Each correct answer pulls a nail out of a cartoon coffin in which a cartoon skeleton hides.
The virtual labs are perhaps the most intriguing part of the app, as they allow kids to explore the heart and lungs in a tactile manner. There are six labs available, and in each kids can interact with diagrams to see how a system functions. The things kids can do are:
- Help with the gas exchange between air and blood that takes place in the alveoli.
- Draw blood from a patient, and observe the blood cells under a microscope.
- Help a cell regenerate energy by dragging the glucose carried by capillaries to the mitochondria, and adding oxygen to start the combustion process.
- Watch an animated diagram of the circulation of the blood in the body.
- Watch an animated diagram of how air moves in and out of the lungs, or manually move the diaphragm up and down to make the figure on the screen breathe.
- Watch how blood is pumped in and out of the heart, or manually pump the organ to start the process.
Additionally, kids can also pull out tabs from either sides of the screen to read interesting facts about the process depicted.
Parents Need to Know
Heart and Lungs Lab is a comprehensive app suitable for both home and classroom settings. The app is best used with kids ages 9-14 who are beginning to learn biology. That said, kids as young as five years old with an interest in science will likely enjoy the clear illustrations and animated diagrams.
Although the app depicts the internal organs of a human body, it is not at all gory. Instead it uses anatomically correct illustrations which, together with the text, have been reviewed by a professor of medicine.
The app is available in English and Spanish, and bilingual kids can switch back and forth between the two languages from the in-app Settings. Parents can turn off the background music if required.
Safe for kids, the app does not contain ads and in-app purchases. There are links to the developer’s other apps but contained in a protected parents’ section.
Things I Like
An exhaustive app, Heart and Lungs Lab manages to balance the seriousness of learning with solid interactive features. Biology is not my favorite subject, but the app never bored me once. The fact sheets are brief and to the point, so it’s not too difficult to remember say, what the renal artery does or what types of blood cells are there.
The virtual labs are certainly the star attraction, and I find each experiment unique. My favorites are the heart and lungs labs where you can manually create heartbeats and breaths.
A downside of the app is that as a non-native English speaker, I was hesitant to pronounce some scientific terms. I think adding voiceover or at least some pronunciation tips would be helpful. Also, while taking the quiz I thought it would be nice if the app provided the correct facts for every wrong answer.
An extensive look into the inner workings of the body’s cardiovascular and respiratory systems, Heart and Lungs Lab is useful for both classroom and home settings. It allows kids to brush up on their facts, and validate their newfound knowledge through tactile experiments and challenging practice quizzes. Considering the content, this is an app that will be useful for quite some time, so it’s well worth the investment. Highly recommended for kids to learn about basic biology.
Heart and Lungs Lab is available for iPad
Get it on the App Store: iPad
App was provided for our honest review.