middle SCHOOL LESSON
SCORE A TOUCHDOWN
BY NEVER USING TOBACCO
OBJECTIVES:
1. Identify the location of the major respiratory organs.
2. Describe the function of the lungs.
3. Identify reasons that smoking is harmful.
INDIANA STANDARDS
(Grades 6-8).1.1 Compare how healthy behaviors
and personal health are linked.
(Grades 6-8).1.7 Identify the benefits of practicing
healthy behaviors
(Grades 6-8).1.8 Describe the likelihood of injuries or
illnesses if engaging in unhealthy behaviors.
(Grades 6-8).2.9 Identify how some health choices influence unhealthy behaviors.
(Grades 6-8).5.7 Predict the results of a health-related decision.
TEACHER TALKING POINTS
Lungs and the Respiratory System
• You take approximately 22,000 breaths every 24 hours without thinking about it. Your lungs are an involuntary muscle, meaning they move without us thinking about them.
• If we did not have lungs we would not be able to talk or breathe.
• Lungs are one of the most important organs in our bodies.
• Lungs provide nourishment to our blood, which in turn nourishes the rest of our body.
Lungs
• Lungs are located in your chest and are protected by your rib cage.
• Have students place one hand on their shoulder and the other on their side right
where they can feel their last rib. This is about how long their lungs are. As we grow,
our lungs grow and continue to grow.
• An easy visual for the lungs is to think about balloons. Just like when air is added to
a balloon, it expands, and when the air gets lets out, it becomes much smaller.
The lungs do the same thing.
• Pathway for air
• Air enters the nose and or the mouth when we breathe in.
• Air travels through a long tube called the trachea.
• The trachea is sometimes called the windpipe. When people choke, it is because an
object, like food, tries to go down this tube.
• Once air is in the lungs, it goes through many branches inside of the lungs. Those
branches are called bronchioles.
• At the end of the branches are microscopic air sacs or alveoli. The air sacs look like
clusters of grapes under the microscope.