The
Respiratory
System
By
Justin and Ethan
Introduction
The Respiratory System
controls your breathing.
Every time you breath,
you bring in a gas called
oxygen. Your Respiratory
System uses all the
oxygen and you breath
out a gas called carbon
dioxide. Without oxygen
your body could not
work.
How The Respiratory System
Works
First, the air is sucked in by the muscle called the
diaphragm. When the diaphragm relaxes the air is
caused to go out. Inside the lungs are hundreds of
tubes to divide the air. At the end of the tubes are
little air bubbles. The tubes are called bronchi.
More About How it Works
As you breath air goes in
and out helped by certain
muscles. The air sacks are
like a big sponge. When
the diaphragm flattens, it
causes your lungs to take
in air, and when it releases,
the air goes out.
Facts About the Respiratory
System

The right lung is slightly larger than the left.
 Hairs in the nose help to clean the air we breathe as well
as warming it.
 The highest recorded "sneeze speed" is 165 km per
hour.
 The surface area of the lungs is roughly the same size as
a tennis court.
 The capillaries in the lungs would extend 1,600
kilometers if placed end to end.
More Facts About the
Respiratory System

We lose half a liter of water a day
through breathing. This is the
water vapor we see when we
breathe onto a glass.

A person at rest usually breathes
between 12 and 15 times a minute.

The breathing rate is faster in
children and women than in men.
How to Take Care of Your
Respiratory System
Take care of your respiratory system
by taking deep breaths once in a
while. You need to eat good foods to
make your ribcage strong to protect
the lungs and the heart. Those are
some ways to take care of your
respiratory system.
Bibliography
Amazing Human Body CD-ROM. New York: DK Interactive
Learning, 1997.
Discovery Communications Inc. "Your Gross & Cool Body." The
Yuckiest Site on the Internet 2000. On-line. Internet. June 15,
2001.
Available: http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/flash/body/
McGann, Andrew. “The Skeletal System.” A Look Inside the
Human Body. On-line. Internet. June 15, 2001.
Available: http://bart.northnet.com.au/~amcgann/body/index.html
Scholastic. The Magic School Bus Explores the Human Body
CD-ROM. Microsoft Corporation, 1995.