MATERIALS:
Per Class:
• Graph-Gases Found In The Air
• Candle
• Jar
• Matches
Per Cooperative Group:
• Scissors
• Large balloon
• Clear plastic bottle with bottom cut off
• Rubber bands (several)
• Straw
• Small balloon
• Modeling clay

PREP FOR TEACHERS:
1. CUE tape to the very beginning of the video I Am Joe’s Lungs.

2. Cut bottoms off of plastic bottles.

3. Prepare poster with a graph of gases in the air (see attachment #2).

4. Prepare candle, jar, and matches.

5. When using media, provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites or other multimedia elements.

6. Bookmark Web site http://kidshealth.org/misc_pages/bodyworks/resp.html

INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY:
1. Light a candle. Allow the candle to burn for a short time. Cover the burning candle with the jar.

2. After the candle flame goes out, ask what caused the flame of the candle to go out? (all of the oxygen was used) Discuss with the students that just as the candle needed oxygen to continue to burn, our bodies need oxygen to stay alive. The body system that brings oxygen into our bodies is called the respiratory system.

3. Tell the students that in today’s lesson we will learn how our bodies get oxygen, how and where the oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide, and how muscles help our lungs to work.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:
1. Tell your students they are going to watch a video about how their lungs work. Provide them with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking “Why are your lungs considered the air bags in your body?” PLAY the video I Am Joe’s Lungs. STOP the tape when the voice says, “This defense can take care of a little dust, but there’s no way they can stop a breath full of smoke from entering the lungs and doing damage.” At this time the video is no longer animated and a man is seen driving in his car.

2. Tell the students that each of us needs oxygen to stay alive. We breathe in oxygen from the air around us. The air around us is made up of a number of different gases. Do you know what these gases are? (nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor) Of the gases named, which gas is the most abundant in our air? (nitrogen)

3. Show the students the graph Gases Found In The Air and tell them to look at the graph. What is the title of the graph? (Gases Found In The Air) Which two gases make up the most of the air we breathe? (nitrogen and oxygen) We know that the whole circle of the graph represents 100%. Look carefully at the graph. Does oxygen make up at least half of the air we breathe? (no) What percentage of the graph represents oxygen? (about 21%) About what percentage of the air is nitrogen? (a little more than 78%) Did this surprise you? (allow the students to discuss their answers)

4. Although oxygen does not make up the largest amount of our air, it is certainly vital to our survival. All of the cells in our bodies need oxygen to do their work. Without oxygen, cells would die within 3 to 5 minutes.

5. What is the most important organ in our respiratory system? (lungs) Can you name some other parts of your respiratory system? (answers might include the following: nose, throat, trachea, bronchial tubes, air sacs)

6. Your nose plays an important role in the work of the respiratory system. Every time you breathe several liters of air enter your body through your nose. Very cold and dirty air could harm your lungs. Your nose has small hairs and mucus inside it that warms the air and takes out dirt particles. Air is also moistened in the nose cavity. Your nose prepares the air before it enters the rest of the respiratory system.

7. When you inhale or take air in this is start of the journey for oxygen to travel throughout your body. As said before, air travels through your nose where it is cleaned and warmed before it continues its journey down your throat and trachea. Your trachea divides into two tubes called the bronchial tubes. Each tube leads into a lung where the tubes become smaller and smaller. The tiny tubes filled with oxygen lead to clusters of tiny pouches or bags called air sacs. Around the air sacs are vessels which contain carbon dioxide, which the body has picked up from body cells. The blood contains very little oxygen. Quickly, an exchange of gases takes place. Oxygen passes from the air sacs to the blood vessels. Now the blood contains oxygen, which will be taken to the cells in the body. At the same time the oxygen leaves the air sacs, carbon dioxide passes from the blood vessels to the air sacs. An exchange of gases has taken place. And now you exhale or breathe out carbon dioxide.

8. Write these words on the board: nose, trachea, air sacs, vessels, throat, and bronchial tubes. Ask the following questions: Who can number these in the order of the path that oxygen travels takes as it enters your body? (1. nose, 2. throat, 3. trachea, 4. bronchial tubes, 5. air sacs,
6. vessels) Where in the body does the exchange of gases take place? (in the air sacs within the lungs) What two gases trade places here? (carbon dioxide and oxygen)

9. You would not be able to breathe if it weren’t for the muscles in your chest. The main breathing muscle is the diaphragm, that is a muscle right below the rib cage. When you breathe in your diaphragm moves downward to provide space for your lungs as they fill with air. As you exhale, or breathe out the diaphragm moves loosens and moves back in place.

CULMINATING ACTIVITIES:
1. We are now going to work in cooperative groups to make a model of your lungs and diaphragm. Instruct the students to follow the directions for the activity, “A Model of your Lungs and Diaphragm.” Continue to monitor the students as they work in their groups.

2. When the students have completed making the model, ask the following questions: What do you think will happen to the small balloon if you pull the large balloon down? (the small balloon will fill with air) What do you think will happen to the small balloon when you push up the large balloon? (the small balloon will deflate) What does the balloon stretched across the bottom of the bottle represent? (diaphragm) What does the small balloon hanging down represent? (lung)

3. Allow the students to experiment with the model to form correct responses to the previously asked questions.

4. Tell the students we are going to a Shockwave Web site. Provide them with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking: “What happens when you cough or sneeze?” Go to Web site
http://kidshealth.org/misc_pages/bodyworks/resp.html At this site you will find pictures of the organs that make up the respiratory system. You will also see how muscles work with lungs and other organs when you sneeze or cough.

5. Bring the lesson to a close by reviewing the use of the model and clarifying any questions that the students might have.

CROSS-CURRICULAR EXTENSIONS:
ENGLISH:
• Write a descriptive paragraph explaining how oxygen is exchanged in the air sacs for carbon dioxide.
MATHEMATICS:
• Work with a partner to count how many breaths you take in a minute. Repeat this 3 times while in a resting position. Find the average number of breaths taken in one minute. Follow this procedure again, however, do ten jumping jacks before you count each number of breaths. Compare the results.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS:
• Invite someone from the American Lung Association to speak on the proper care of the respiratory system.
• Contact the American Red Cross and ask them to demonstrate CPR to the class.

STUDENT MATERIALS:
See attached. Student Materials include:
• Station #1: GASES FOUND IN THE AIR (  PDF )
• Station #2: Making A Model Of The Lung ( PDF )