Respiratory system

Respiratory system

Why do we breathe?Your body is made up of tiny cells. Every cell in your body needs a special gas called oxygen.

Oxygen in the air is brought into your lungs. That's when your blood picks it up and brings it to your cells.Another gas, called carbon dioxide is a waste product of your cells. Your blood carries the carbon dioxide from your cells to your lungs, to let you breathe out all the bad gas!

When we exercise, our cells are working harder, and they need more oxygen. They also produce more carbon dioxide. That's why you breathe faster when you exercise!

You have probably noticed that when you're exercising, your heart beats more quickly. That's so that the blood can carry oxygen to your cells faster!Your heart and lungs work together to make sure every cell in your body gets enough oxygen.

How do we breath?

When you breathe in (inhale) through your mouth or nose, air travels down your windpipe, also called trachea and into your lungs. At the end of the trachea there are two big tubes: just one is called bronchus and the two together are called bronchi. Each bronchus goes to a lung. The bronchi branch off into smaller tubes and then smaller ones.

You breathe in and out all the time without having to even think about it most of the time!

The tiniest ones are called bronchioles, and they are covered with millions of tiny air sacs called alveoli. Each air sac is covered with tiny blood vessels called capillaries.

From those capillaries, blood travels around the body carrying the oxygen, and comes back into the lungs from the heart carrying carbon dioxide which the body doesn't want. So when you breathe out (exhale), the carbon dioxide leaves your body.

The lungs are protected by the ribs. Under the ribs there is a muscle called the diaphragm. The diaphragm helps you get air in and out of your lungs by moving up and down. When your diaphragm moves down, you breathe in. When your diaphragm moves up, you breathe out. Try taking a really deep breath!

ribs

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