Our Working Model of a Lung

We made this model using a soda bottle, saran wrap, a straw, a balloon and play dough.  By simply pressing on the saran wrap (diaphragm) at the bottom of the model, the lung (balloon) deflates and re-inflates when the diaphragm moves up and down.  Watch our video below.

 

Click here to see a simple animation of how breathing works.

Amazing Lung Facts

1. •At rest, a person breathes about 14 to 16 times per minute. After exercise it could increase to over 60 times per minute.
   

2. •New babies at rest breathe between 40 and 50 times per minute. By age five it decreases to around 25 times per minute.
   

3. •The total surface area of the alveoli (tiny air sacs in the lungs) is the size of a tennis court.
   

4. •The lungs are the only organ in the body that can float on water.
   

5. •The lungs produce a detergent-like substance which reduces the surface tension of the fluid lining, allowing air in.
   

Cool model of a heart functioning as a pump - I think we'll try this out next.