2. Presents: The Respiratory System

3. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan © The respiratory system is what we use to breathe. It may seem simple to breathe, but it’s actually a pretty fancy process. Unless you think about breathing, you breathe automatically – about 17,000 times a day! Breathing brings oxygen into your lungs and your body. Your body needs energy to function and your cells need oxygen to pull energy out of the food you eat. This process produces carbon dioxide – and your lungs let it go when you breathe out – all in about a second! One of the only ways you can hurt your lungs is by breathing in things that damage them – like smoke or sprayed chemicals. PLEASE DON’T INHALE ANYTHING THAT COULD DAMAGE YOUR LUNGS!

4. Here’s one part of the body you might not think about using to breathe: Your BRAIN! THAT’S WHY YOU CAN HOLD YOUR BREATH, BUT YOU HAVE TO BREATHE EVENTUALLY! BRAIN The brain is the control centre for every part of your body – including your breathing. Your “respiratory center” or medulla oblongata is located at the back of your brain. The brain and the lungs are connected by nerves. Impulses, like cars on a highway, travel along the nerves back and forth from your brain and lungs, causing your chest muscles and diaphragm to move so you can breathe. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan ©

5. Do you know what your nose knows? You’ll know it now! THAT’S WHY SNORING IS LOUD - YOU BREATHE THROUGH YOUR SINUSES AT NIGHT. SINUSES The sinuses are hollow spaces in the bones of your head that are connected to your nostrils. They can help you out by warming the air you inhale through your nose. They also help by lightening the bone structure in your face and acting as a vibrating place for your voice. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan ©

6. Swallow hard, but you might hurt your pharynx. Just kidding. IF YOU EAT TOO FAST AND “INHALE YOUR FOOD”, IT’S BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T CLOSE YOUR EPIGLOTTIS! PHARYNX When you breathe, air goes through your mouth or nose into your throat. The medical term for your throat is the pharynx. It runs from the back of your nose to your windpipe. Both air and food go down but at different times – it’s used for two things! EPIGLOTTIS So you need a flap or a lid. This piece of cartilage is your epiglottis. It covers your glottis or opening to your voice box. Your epiglottis stops food from going down the windpipe into your lungs. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan ©

7. IF YOUR LARYNX MOVES AT A HIGH SPEED, YOU HEAR HIGH SOUNDS, AND LOW SPEEDS OF MOVEMENT MAKE LOW SOUNDS. LARYNX The Larynx, usually called the voice box, is just above your windpipe and below your epiglottis. It contains the vocal cords that vibrate so you can talk, make silly sounds, and sing. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan ©

8. WHEN YOU CHOKE AND CAN STILL BREATHE, YOUR FOOD MIGHT BE CAUGHT IN YOUR ESOPHAGUS. ESOPHAGUS The esophagus is located right beneath your pharynx, or throat. Simply, it’s your food tube – and water goes here, too. In an adult it’s about 28 centimetres long. When you swallow your epiglottis closes off the windpipe and your food goes down the esophagus. This is actually part of the food and digestive system, and not your breathing system, but it sure is close by! The Lung Association of Saskatchewan ©

9. YOU BREATHE OUT THROUGH THE TRACHEA, TOO. TRACHEA Your trachea or windpipe transports air to your lungs. It’s generally about 10 centimetres long and kept open by C-shaped rings of cartilage. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan ©

10. YOUR RIBS ARE SOME OF THE BONES IN YOUR BODY THAT YOU CAN FEEL FROM THE OUTSIDE – TRY IT! Your ribs are the wall protecting the lungs from the outside world. There are 12 pairs of ribs in your chest cavity, The upper 7 pairs are stuck to the breastbone, or sternum. And all of them are connected to your spinal column. Another body part that protects the lungs is the pleura, a double membrane that keeps them inside the chest cavity. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan ©

11. TAKE A REAL DEEP BREATH AND PUT YOUR HAND ON YOUR BELLY BUTTON – THAT’S THE DIAPHRAGM! Your diaphragm is the muscle that goes across the body and separates the lungs from the other organs in your belly. It is connected to your ribs, sternum, and spine. When relaxed, your diaphragm forms an arch in the chest cavity and your lungs empty. To begin a new breath your brain then tells it to flatten causing air to enter the lungs. Voila, a breath! The Lung Association of Saskatchewan ©

12. WHEN YOU TAKE A DEEP DREATH, YOUR LUNGS EXPAND – AND WHEN YOU LET IT OUT, THEY CONTRACT. Both of your Lungs can easily inflate with air because they are elastic, flexible sacks. They consist of air tubes, tiny balloons, and blood vessels. These all work together to move oxygen into your blood stream and remove carbon dioxide. The lungs are situated on either side of the heart. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan © Each lung is divided into LOBES. Lungs vary with body size, but on average they hold 5-6 litres of air. That’s not a lot of air to use for oxygen and talking – especially for some of us!

13. BRONCHIAL CILIA ARE SIMILAR TO THE CILIA IN YOUR EARS THAT HELP YOU HEAR. In order for the trachea to enter the right and left lung it must split into two tubes. A single tube is called a bronchus and as a pair they are called bronchi. Each bronchus splits into two smaller bronchioles. These tubes keep splitting into two smaller tubes over and over again. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan © Alveoli are the tiny sacs inside the lung where oxygen and carbon dioxide are transferred. There are millions of them in each lung. Oxygen moves through the walls of the alveolus and attaches to red blood cells in the capillaries. Carbon dioxide moves in the opposite direction and is breathed out. CAPILLARIES BRONCHIOLES CILIA MUCUS

14. CILIA ARE HAIR – EXCEPT INSIDE YOUR BODY! Your nose, windpipe, and airways are lined with microscopic hairs called cilia. Lying on top of the cilia is a gooey layer of mucus. Dirt in the air sticks to the mucus and the cilia push it up, similar to an escalator, to your mouth or nose where it can be swallowed or removed. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan © CILIA MUCUS

15. The Lung Association of Saskatchewan © Brain Sinuses Oral Cavity Mouth and Tongue0 Larynx/Voice Box Trachea/ Windpipe Ribs Bronchi Pharynx Glottis Esophagus Lungs Diaphragm Bronchiole Alveoli Cilia Mucus Cells 1. 2. 4 3. Epiglottis Capillaries 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 11. 10. Membrane (not shown here) 12. Pleural 13. 14.