Measuring Lung Capacity & Diaphragm Demo (Respiratory System)
Moving along the systems of the body to the Respiratory System. We talked about lung capacity, what it means and if it can be improved with exercise or damaged with lifestyle. Then we participated in some light competition with balloon blowing abilities. Each scientist received a balloon of the same size and a measuring tape. They took a few practice runs blowing up the balloon and measuring the circumference, then testing if they could beat their previous measurements. The rule was one breath only, but there was some light cheating, as there can be with light competition! Then we watched Operation Ouch perform a more accurate experiment with bottles of liquid and tubes, of how to measure volume of air.
Inflate
Next we set up a Diaphragm Demo with a plastic bottle, three balloons and two straws. Lop the bottom of the bottle off and attached a balloon with the neck cut off. Secure with tape. Attach a balloon to the end of each straw and secure with tape. Drill holes in the bottle lid to allow for straw size only. Insert straws. The balloons inside the bottle represent lungs while the balloon attached to the bottom of the bottle represents the diaphragm. You can inflate and deflate the 'lungs' by pulling and pushing on the diaphragm!
Deflate
As it turns out, Operation Ouch had a video on this experiment too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUVMok4Qp-Y