You’ve mastered some great challenges in this module.
Great job! Now for a new kind of adventure, the next stop is a challenge. In the challenge you will demonstrate your mastery of breathing! Go forth and explore.
Breathe
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Experiment |
The Fantastic Voyage!
Overview
Grades:
Time:
Subject:
5-8
20-30 minutes
LIfe Science
databot™ braves the fantastic voyage into the human chest cavity to measure air pressure and better understand the respiration process.
Background
Imagine you are an oxygen molecule and taking a journey through the human body. You are breathed in through the nose and you race down the trachea to the bronchial tubes, into the bronchioles, and ultimately absorbed by the alveoli as the respiratory system passes you off to the circulatory system.
Now in the bloodstream your job is to help red blood cells convert food to energy! Your body is comprised of multiple systems that all work together like this to keep you healthy and energized.
The center of the respiratory system where all this happens is your chest cavity which you can watch rise and fall as you breathe. What causes our chest to rise and fall? How do you think air gets into your lungs?
Let’s explore further with databot™ and find out!
Oxygen enriched red blood cells in the circulatory system convert food to energy!
Objectives
By completing this experiment and conducting the scientific observations associated with it you will master the following knowledge! Good luck science explorer!
- The human respiratory system is one system of many in the human body and it is responsible for breathing!
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is:
- An invisible and odorless gas.
- Exhaled by human beings in the process of respiration.
- Oxygen (O2) is:
- An invisible and odorless gas.
- One of the primary elements in the air we breathe (21%).
- Extracted from air in the alveoli, tiny sacs in your lungs.
- Used by the cells in your body to convert sugars to give you energy!
- The physical process of inhaling and exhaling involves changes in air pressure that take place in your chest.
- Scientific sensors allow us to measure the scientific world around us with better precision and accuracy.
What You'll Need
- IOS or Android smart device with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to connect to databot™
- databot™ + Phypox App installed on your IOS or Android device
- databot™ velcro plate and strip of adhesive with velcro
- 1 Liter plastic bottle – 1
- 9″ Balloons – 2
- 12″ Balloon – 1
- 4 1/2″ – 5 mm Pneumatic tubing – 2
- Rubber bands
- Electrical tape
- #4 2-hole stopper
Important Terms
Air Pressure: The weight of the air above us pressing down. We don’t feel it normally because it is always there, but air has weight!
Alveoli: Tiny air sacs in your lungs that facilitate the exchange of oxygen into your bloodstream and carbon dioxide out of it.
Bronchial Tubes: Branch off your trachea and carry the air you inhale into your lungs.
Bronchiole: Smaller passages off your bronchial tubes that lead to the tiny air sacs known as alveoli where gas exchange takes place.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A colorless, odorless gas naturally present in the air you breathe and is absorbed by plants in photosynthesis. There would be no animal life or green plants without carbon dioxide. Green plants use energy from the sun plus carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen.
Diaphragm: A dome shaped muscle-membrane that separates your thorax from your abdomen. It plays a major role in breathing by contracting and changing the volume in your chest cavity which allows fresh air to rush in and deliver oxygen!
Exhale: To breathe out.
Homeostasis: Your body’s systems and processes that help maintain a balance of things like your oxygen and CO2 levels.
Inhale: To breathe in.
Lungs: Spongy organs located in your chest cavity that take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.
Oxygen (O2): A molecule formed of two oxygen atoms and is a major component (21%) of the air we breathe. When we breathe, we extract oxygen from the air and absorb it into our bloodstream. Our cells then use oxygen to convert food to energy!
Respiration: Facilitates the production of energy in the body through the process of breathing in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide.
Respiratory System: Your lungs, airway, and associated muscles, are responsible for breathing – taking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide.
Trachea, or windpipe: A large tube that conveys air to and from your lungs. It is an important part of your respiratory system.
Prep (5 Mins]
- Gather your materials required for assembling your simulated lung.
- Make sure databot™ has a full charge, once it is in the lung model it will be impossible to recharge!
- Practice connecting to databot™ with Phyphox, you will want to be ready to record data when you begin the experiment!
- Review the Important Terms.
Experiment (15-25 Mins)
Setup
Refer to the picture to the right to see how to assemble your lung with databot™ inside!
- Attach the 9″ balloons to the pneumatic tubing with the rubber bands.
- Slide pneumatic tubing with balloons into the #4 2-hole stopper.
- Cut the bottom of your bottle (just above the ridge) and measure from the bottom up 3 1/2″ and mark.
- Attach the plate with the velcro to the inside of the bottle at the 3 1/2″ mark with the ridges pointing to the bottom or the bottle.This is your diaphragm.
- Slide databot™ on the velcro plate.
- Cut your 12″ balloon 2 1/2 ” from the top.
- Stretch the balloon across the bottom of the bottle.
- Use the electrical tape to secure the balloon to the bottle.
- Insert the stopper with the balloons into the top of the bottle. Lungs done!
Lab Procedure
Ready to begin! Let’s go!
- Turn on your databot™ by gently squeezing your bottle and pressing the switch through the plastic.
- Select your Air Pressure experiment and start your data collection.
- Now gently pull on the diaphragm, this will increase the volume in the “chest cavity” and the higher pressure air outside the chamber will push in and fill the lungs.
- Experiment with the diaphragm and practice breathing at 15 breaths per minute, that is a breath every four seconds. Watch the lungs and the data being displayed by databot™ as your model lungs breathe.
- When the balloons fill is the air pressure lower or higher in the chest cavity?
Reflection:
- Were you surprised to learn how the diaphragm expands the air chamber in your chest cavity to take advantage of air pressure in the breathing process?
- How did you think breathing worked before this experiment?
- Once the fresh air is drawn into the lungs, what happens next?
- Can you see or smell oxygen or CO2 in your experiment?
Educator Info
Educator Info
- Read through the background information on this module and review PDQ 1 and 2.
- Build and test the model.
- If you will have students assembling lungs have the caps pre-drilled with holes the diameter of the straws.
Understand:
- The human respiratory system is one system of many in the human body and it is responsible for breathing!
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is:
- An invisible and odorless gas.
- Exhaled by human beings in the process of respiration.
- Oxygen (O2) is:
- An invisible and odorless gas.
- One of the primary elements in the air we breathe (21%).
- Extracted from air in the alveoli, tiny sacs in your lungs.
- Used by the cells in your body to convert sugars to give you energy!
- The physical process of inhaling and exhaling involves changes in air pressure that take place in your chest.
- Scientific sensors allow us to measure the scientific world around us with better precision and accuracy.
Disciplinary Core Idea
In multicellular organisms, the body is a system of multiple interacting subsystems. These subsystems are groups of cells that work together to form tissues and organs that are specialized for particular body functions.
Cross Cutting Concepts
- Systems and System Models
A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.
Science and Engineering Practices
- Developing and Using Models
Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions. - Use a model to test interactions concerning the functioning of a natural system.
- Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions.
- Use models to describe phenomena.
- We use our muscles to suck in air.
- What does the diaphragm do?
- What is the purpose of the bronchial tubes?
- What happens to the air pressure inside your lung when you pull down on the diaphragm?
- How does the oxygen you’ve inhaled transfer from the respiratory system to the circulatory system?
Several great resources supporting this lesson can be found at the University of Colorado Teach Engineering website which is a rich source of curriculum ideas.
Khan Academy Video: The carbon cycle
Khan Academy Video: Meet the lungs
Khan Academy Video: Oxygen movement from alveoli to capillaries
Khan Academy Video: Inhaling and Exhaling
Breathe Cover Photo by Fabian Møller on Unsplash
The awe inspiring circulatory system and blood cell image by Arek Socha on Pixabay.
Respiration image from Clker-Free-Vector-Images on Pixabay!
Breathe by Robert O. Grover & Team databot™ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at databot.us.com/contact.
