First the students learned about the breathing mechanics in their Natural
Science class, then they watched two lessons in English on-line about it and,
after having analyzed how it functions and mastered the necessary terminology,
they answered some questions as a short synthesis of all they have
learned.
Below you can find two examples of our students’ answers:
MARC MONTORE
BREATHING
MECHANISM
BREATHING MECHANISM COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
Answer the
following questions:
1)
In what two ways
does the chest expand outwards?
The two ways does the chest expand outwards are:
-
“Up” and “out”
You do this way at the same time, when you inspire.
-
“Down” and “in”
You do this way at the same time too, when you expire.
2)
What are
parietal pleura and what is their function?
The parietal pleura are tissue (around the chest and
the ribs), that their function is that the lung doesn’t touch directly the
chest, and that the lung doesn’t collapse, it fights the negative pressure.
It’s a very thin tissue.
3)
What are the
alveoli and why is there always tension between their surfaces?
The alveoli are cavities situated at the end of the
bronchia, inside the lungs. The alveoli are really small and the walls of these
alveoli are very thin.
The alveoli are always tensioned because they are
coated with water and its molecules are attracted among each other.
4)
What is a
surfactant and what is its function?
The surfactant is a phospholipid molecule with a
little protein, situated in the alveolus. It has a hydrophilic and a
hydrophobic end.
The surfactant does chemical reactions that repels the
attraction of the water molecules, and prevents that the alveoli doesn’t
collapse.
5)
What is collagen
and what is its function?
The collagen is a protein, in the connective tissue, that
prevents the collapse of the lung. It’s very similar to the surfactant, but
it’s not exactly the same. The collagen does his function in the lung, and the
surfactant does the same but in the alveoli.
6)
What prevents
healthy lungs from collapsing?
The collagen prevents the healthy lungs from
collapsing, using the pressure of the lung. The parietal pleura help too.
The video explains the pulmonary respiration. When we inspire, the alveoli
take the air (78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 0.1% CO2), and the red blood cells (NO
nucleus), attract the O2 to the cell (with a chemical reaction), using the
hemoglobin (proteins that are in the red cell). This process, we do it in the
alveoli and the arteries and veins.
The blood does a long route: first of all, the blood travels inside the
pulmonary artery. The blood gives the CO2 and takes the O2. Then, the blood
travels another time inside the pulmonary vein, and it finishes at the heart.
EMMA HERNÁNDEZ
BREATHING MECHANISM COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
Answer the following questions:
1.In what two ways does the chest expand outwards?
There are two ways which the chest can expand:
Breathing in: when we breath in, all the atmospheric
air goes into our lungs and they increase their size to let enter the air.
Also, our diaphragm goes down and our chest opens to let space for our lungs to
dilate.
Breathing out: it is the process when you expire the
air that your body doesn’t need. In this movement all the muscles and organs
that were altered in the inspiration process are relaxed now, they go to their
original site.
2.What are parietal pleura and what is their function?
The parietal pleura are the surface of the lungs and
it protects the lung.
3. What are the alveoli and why is there always
tension between their surfaces?
The alveoli are bags found in the final of the
bronchioles and their function is to make the gas exchange. There is always
tension between their surfaces because there are water molecules, which are
attracted to each other
4.What is a surfactant and what is its function?
Surfactant is a phospholipid bounded to a little protein,
which function is to avoid the molecules of water of the same alveoli being
attracted. Without that substance, the water molecules would be attracted with
the other molecules of the same alveoli, so that attraction would close the
alveoli with a very strong force.
5.What
is collagen and what is its function?
Collagen
is a substance that makes the lung elastic. This elasticity prevents the
collapse of the lungs. Without collagen, our lungs wouldn't have elasticity,
which would make more difficult the movements of breathing: breathing in and
breathing out.
6.What
prevents healthy lungs from collapsing?
There
are two substances that prevents de collpase of the lungs: surfactant, which is
a layer that separates the water molecules of the same alveoli, and collagen,
which produces elasticity in the lungs.
The alveoli contain 21% of oxygen, 78% of
nitrogen and 1% of carbon dioxide, this oxygen goes into the blood through the
capillary. Red blood cells are the most important cells in the gases exchange,
because they contain millions of hemoglobin molecules, which have four atoms of
iron that attract the oxygen and make it go inside the red blood cell. Those
red blood cells are dragged with the plasma, and go through the vein to the
heart. The blood that comes in the artery to the lung’s capillary is deoxygenated
blood, which means that has got a high level of carbon dioxide and a very poor
level of oxygen. This carbon dioxide penetrates into the alveoli and goes
outside through the mouth or the nous.
