Our latest homework was to make a model of the human respiratory system, using only some string, a bottle, a balloon, a star and some plastic sheeting. In order to do this, you first had to tie the balloon to the bottom of the straw in order to create pressure when you blew into the straw. once you had done this, it was time to prepare the bottle by cutting off the bottom of it and taping a plastic sheet over, and ensuring that it was air tight. Next, you simple put the straw and balloon into the bottle and left some straw outside the bottle in order to blow into it. Seal the bottle by pulling the lip of the balloon over it. Once you have done this, you have your very own inflating lung! In this model, the plastic bottle is meant to represent the rib cage and intercostal muscles and is similar to the body in that it is containing all the breathing apparatus. However, in the body, this would actually move with the lungs as air moved into and out of the body.
The balloon is meant to be the lung and is similar as it inflates and deflates due to air being passed through the trachea. However, in theal life there would be two, and it would fill with air and expand too. The plastic sheet at the bottom is meant to be the diaphragm and is similar as it moves in and out as the lung (balloon) inflates and deflates. However, in real life the material is much more elastic and moves much more, and is stretched outwards too. Lastly, the straw going into the balloon is meant to be the trachea and is similar as it supplies air to the lungs. However, in real life it would split into bronchi and bronchioles. If the diameter of the straw is smaller, it is much harder to inflate the lungs. This means that people with asthma, when having an attack, are unable to get enough air into their lungs due to the small dimeter of their trachea. I would improve this model by adding a second balloon and using different tubing that splits into 2 separate balloons to make it more accurate. I would also use a stretchier material for the diaphragm, and a more malleable item instead of the bottle so that it actually moves in and out when the lung is breathing.
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