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Body Lab 3-5 / Week 05 / Monday
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Week 05 · Lungs and Breathing

Monday

The air's journey
// Oxygen in, carbon dioxide out
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: The Air's Journey

Rocket blows into a long, bendy straw maze he built. "The air goes in here and comes out there!"

Raven follows the twisty path with her finger. "What do you notice about how it branches?"

Nova hovers over the maze. "Your body has an air maze too," she says. "Follow it from your nose down."

"Let's map it!" Rocket says. This time he grabs a pencil first.

From your nose to your lungs

Last week, blood carried oxygen. Today we find where that oxygen comes from.

Air comes in through your nose or your mouth.

Your nose warms the air and makes it a little damp.

Tiny hairs inside your airways help trap dust.

Next the air passes your throat and your voice box.

Then it goes down your windpipe. Its science name is trachea (TRAY-kee-uh).

A tree of tubes

At the bottom, the windpipe splits into two tubes called bronchi (BRAHN-kye).

One tube goes to each lung.

Inside the lungs, the tubes branch again and again into smaller tubes.

The smallest tubes end in tiny air sacs. Their science name is alveoli (al-VEE-uh-lie).

Scientists call this branching shape the bronchial tree. It looks like an upside-down tree!

FOLLOW THE AIR
  • Tap a card.
  • Then tap its spot.
1First
2Next
3Then
4Next
5Last
AIR PATH CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
What does your nose do to the air you breathe in?
What is the science name for the windpipe?
What do the smallest air tubes end in?
StatementTrue or false?
Air can come in through your nose or your mouth.?
The windpipe splits into two tubes, one for each lung.?
Tiny hairs in your airways help trap dust.?
The air tubes in your lungs never branch.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe air tubes branch again and again, like the branches of a tree.
What do we call the tube that carries air down toward your lungs? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe windpipe, or trachea, carries air down toward the lungs.
Try it
Find a picture of a tree with no leaves, or look out a window.
Trace the trunk with your finger. Then trace the branches out to the twigs.
The trunk is like your windpipe. The twigs are like your smallest air tubes.
The windpipe splits into two tubes called ____.
The tiny air sacs are called ____.

Nice mapping, air explorer! Tomorrow we zoom into the lungs to see the oxygen swap.