Download Have you ever wondered how we breathe? The part of the body that

By Victoria.Semu
Have you ever wondered how we breathe? The part of the body that
controls your breathing is called the Respiratory system [breathing
system]. The oxygen that we breathe in helps our whole body to move
and stay alive.
Breathing starts from the mouth and nose. They are the entrance and
exit for air. You inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Oxygen gives
us energy to live. Nose hairs work like a filter. The dust and germs stick
to nose hairs to make the air cleaner. When you exercise you need to
breathe in more oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide.
Oxygen travels into the voice box, which
is also called the larynx. The larynx
makes a bulge at the front of the neck.
It has two stiff flaps called vocal cords,
which stick out from its side. It makes
the sound that is your voice.
The trachea is next. It is also called the
windpipe. It is a tube leading from the
back of the nose and mouth down into
the lungs. It has about 20 C-shaped
hoops of cartilage that look like a
vacuum cleaner hose. The cartilage makes the trachea stronger so it
doesn’t get squashed by other body parts.
Bronchi sit at the bottom of the trachea (windpipe). One connects to the
left lung and the other connects to right lung. They branch off into
smaller tubes called bronchioles. There are about 30 000 bronchioles.
At the end of the bronchioles there are tiny air sacs called alveoli. You
have 600 million alveoli that are the same thickness as strand of hair.
The air leads onto the lungs. You have two lungs. They are one of the
largest organs in the body which are protected by the rib cage. The lungs
are pink and squishy like a sponge .The left lung is smaller than the
right lung, to make room for the heart.
The diaphragm is the shape of a dome and it is found under the lungs.
When air comes into the lungs, the diaphragm contracts and relaxes
when you breathe out to help deflate the lungs.
Finally your oxygen moves around your body though your blood and you
breathe out carborn dioxide.
So now you know where air goes when you breathe out or in.