The wonderful work of our lungs.

Image Source

Our lungs are wonderful organs. They keep us breathing and alive in return. They expand and contract, supplying life-sustaining oxygen to your body and removing from it. This waste product is called carbon dioxide.

How does breathing work?

Breathing begins at our nose and mouth. When you inhale, the air goes through your nose or your mouth. It travels back to your throat and into your windpipe (trachea). The job of the trachea is to divide the air into the two air passages called the bronchial tubes.

If your lungs perform at their optimal best the airways need to be open during inhalation and exhalation, free from inflammation and excess/abnormal amounts of mucus.

The bronchial tubes pass through the lungs, these tubes then divide into smaller air passages. These air passages are called bronchioles. Each bronchioles end in tiny balloon-like air sacs called alveoli. The wonderful thing about our body is that we have over 300 million alveoli.

Image Source

Each alveoli is surrounded by a mesh of tiny blood vessels called capillaries. The oxygen from the inhaled air passes through the alveoli walls and into the blood.

Image Source

After the oxygen has been absorbed the blood leaves the lungs and is carried to the heart. The heart pumps the blood through the body to provide oxygen to the cells of your tissues and organs.

While the cells use the oxygen carbon dioxide is produced and absorbed into the blood. The carbon dioxide is then transferred to the lungs where it is removed from our bodies when we exhale.

Video

Watch this video to get another view on how our lungs work.

Video Source

Paper bag lungs

Image Source

You will need the following:

1. 2 paper bags
2. 2 straws
3. Strong tape
4. Black Marker

Instructions:

1. Show your child a picture of the lungs, especially the bronchioles and the alveoli.
2. Hand your child a black marker to draw the lungs and label the bronchioles and the alveoli on the paper bag
3. Make sure the bags are fully opened, slip the straws into the bag, about 3-5 centimeters in.
4. Gather the top of the bag around the straw and use the tape to close it tightly.
5. Make sure that the bag is sealed very good.
6. Let your child blow up the lungs.
7. When you exhale into the paper bag your own lungs deflate, when you inhale your own lungs inflate.

Project

Create lungs to show the different parts and how they work by using recyclable materials.

Image Source

Team South Africa banner designed by @bearone