Grade 3
My Respiratory System and Keeping it Safe
Activity 1
Objective
Students will understand that their lungs are designed to filter out pollutants to keep their
lungs healthy. They will also understand that cigarette smoke damages the filter system
allowing the poisons from cigarettes to enter deep into the lungs, collapsing the lungs and
depriving the body of oxygen.
Materials Needed
Blue and brown crayons
Bubble wrap
Jar of tar (molasses)
Sponge
Materials Provided
Student handouts (2):
1. My Respiratory System
2. Tobacco Matching
Color Respiratory System Diagram
Essential Academic Learning Requirements Fulfilled
Health and Fitness
Health Skills: 2.1 Understand lung function
Influencing Factors: 2.2 Understand tobacco causes disease of the lungs
Science
Life Science-Systems:1-2 Describe and analyze parts of the circulatory system.
New Words
Trachea, bronchial tubes, alveoli, pollutants, tar, oxygen, inhale, exhale, cilia, paralyze,
carbon dioxide, pipe, cigar
(The new words are in bold the first time they appear in the activity.)
Class Time
30 minutes
Teacher Preparation
Sign and send parent letter home
Read the Overview on Tobacco Facts and the Respiratory System.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital and Health Center
Grade 3
Step 1:
Learn about your respiratory system.
1)
Distribute “My Respiratory System” handout.
2)
Ask students to:
Activity 1
Follow with your finger as I describe how air enters your body:
from the nose and mouth,
down the windpipe which is also called the trachea,
down through the bronchial tubes and into the little air sacs called alveoli.
3)
Show students the color respiratory system diagram.
4)
Ask students to:
Watch as I go over the system again.
Trace the path of air entering the body on your respiratory system handout with a blue
crayon.
Step 2:
1)
Demonstrate how air enters the body.
Ask students:
Where does air enter your body?
(Nose and mouth)
What does it go through to get to your lungs?
(Trachea and bronchial tubes)
2)
Ask students to:
Place your hand on your chest.
Feel your chest as you inhale (breathe in) and exhale (breathe out).
Feel your trachea, the tough cartilage at the front of your neck.
3)
Tell students:
Adult lungs are about the size of footballs.
You have two lungs.
When you inhale, you bring in fresh air filled with oxygen.
When you exhale, you push out the old used up oxygen.
All of the cells in your body need oxygen to stay alive.
Used up oxygen is called carbon dioxide.
Trees need carbon dioxide to grow.
Trees produce oxygen for you to breathe.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital and Health Center
Grade 3
Activity 1
Step 3:
Learn how your lungs keep themselves clean and healthy.
1) Ask students to look at their “My Respiratory System” handout.
2)
Tell students:
The little hairs you see in the bronchial tubes are called cilia.
Cilia are like little brooms that sweep out the pollutants in the air.
Pollutants come from factories, car exhaust, dust and all types of smoke.
3)
Ask students to:
Put a brown or dark colored crayon on your desk.
Move your fingers back and forth like you were sweeping.
Pretend that the crayon is pollution from cars called carbon monoxide.
Slowly sweep the crayon across your desk with your fingers.
4)
Tell students:
That is how the cilia keep your lungs clean.
Step 4:
1)
Learn about how tobacco hurts your lungs.
Tell students:
We are lucky our lungs have their own little brooms.
These little brooms are very important and we don’t want to hurt them.
Cigarettes are made from the tobacco plant.
The smoke from tobacco is a pollutant; it is hot and dirty and it burns your lungs.
Cigarettes have 4,000 poisons in them.
These poisons are harmful to your lungs.
When a smoker inhales the smoke from a cigarette, pipe or cigar, it goes into the lungs.
The poisons in the tobacco paralyze the cilia.
That means the cilia cannot move and do their job of sweeping out pollutants.
2)
Ask students to:
Stand up.
Pretend that you are cilia and the smoke from tobacco has paralyzed you.
Stand by your chair and don’t move at all.
What will happen when pollutants from the air enter your bronchial tubes and you can’t
sweep them out?
Now pretend that you are healthy cilia in the lungs of a person who does not smoke.
Move back and forth like you are sweeping out the pollutants to keep your lungs clean.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital and Health Center
Grade 3
Activity 1
Step 5:
1)
Learn about some of the poisons in tobacco smoke.
Tell students:
One of the poisons in tobacco smoke is called tar.
Tar is an ooey, gooey substance that burns the throat and lungs.
Tar soaks into the lungs making it hard for them to do their job.
Tar turns the lungs brown and stays in the lungs.
2)
Ask students to:
Look at your “My Respiratory System” handout.
At the ends of the thousands of the little branches of the bronchial tubes are little air sacs
called alveoli.
The air you breathe goes into the alveoli.
Oxygen from the air goes into your body through your alveoli.
When your cilia do not work, tar and other pollutants are able to get into your lungs.
This can damage your alveoli, and then your body doesn’t get enough oxygen.
Step 6:
1)
Demonstrate the effect of tobacco on your lungs.
Gather materials:
Bubble wrap, jar of tar, and sponge. Moisten the sponge with water.
2)
Gather students around the demonstration area.
3)
Pour some of the tar onto the sponge.
4)
Tell students:
This sponge is like your lungs.
Tar soaks into the lungs like this, turning them brown.
Lungs are made up of millions of the delicate alveoli (little air sacs).
Tar damages the alveoli.
This prevents the smoker from getting enough fresh oxygen.
5)
Pour some of the tar from the container onto one of the bubble sheets.
6)
Tell students:
Each little bubble is like your alveoli in your lungs.
Tar from tobacco sticks to your alveoli.
This can make them break.
When the alveoli are damaged it is difficult for your body to get enough oxygen.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital and Health Center
Grade 3
Activity 1
7)
Pop a few of the bubbles from a clean piece of bubble wrap for demonstration.
8)
Give students a piece of bubble wrap and ask them to pop it.
Step 7:
1)
Learn how tobacco can affect your daily activities.
Tell students:
If your alveoli can’t get enough oxygen to your cells, you will get very tired and sick.
You need oxygen for everything you do, like walk, run, play, eat, and sleep.
2)
Ask students:
Do you want to hurt your lungs with cigarette smoke?
What poison sticks to your lungs if you smoke?(Tar)
Name the little hairs that act like brooms to keep your lungs clean?(Cilia).
Name the little air sacs that the oxygen goes through to get into your body?(Alveoli).
Why does your body need oxygen? (To run, etc.)
3)
Ask students to:
Stand up.
Put your hand on your chest and feel your breathing.
Put your hand down.
Run in place (time them for one minute).
Put your hand on your chest again to feel your breathing.
4)
Ask students:
Did you breathe faster when you were running?
What types of physical activities do you like to do?
I’m happy that you all like to be healthy.
If someone offered you a cigarette, pipe or cigar, what would you say?
I’m glad you want to say no.
Step 8:
Learn through doing.
1)
Distribute the “Tobacco Matching” handout.
2)
Ask students to:
Complete your handout.
Draw lines from the words to the correct answer.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital and Health Center
My Respiratory System
Grade 3
Tobacco Matching
Grade 3
Match the words with
the correct definition.
1. Paralyzed
A. Little air sacs
2. Cilia
B. Can’t move
3. Tar
C. Little hairs that sweep
4. Alveoli
D. Important gas found in air
5. Inhale
E. Taking in air
6. Oxygen
F. Found in cigarettes
7. Tobacco
G. Brown ooey, gooey poison