Your lungs: Tiny balloons that keep you alive!

Breathe in… Breathe out….! You just used your lungs without even thinking about it.  But have you ever wondered how your lungs actually work?

Let’s find out

What are lungs?

Your lungs are two squishy, sponge-like organs inside your chest. They are protected by your ribs, and they sit on either side of your heart.

Your lungs’ biggest job is to help you breathe and get oxygen into your body. Oxygen is like fuel for your body—it gives you the energy you need to run, play, think, and even sleep.

The journey of a breath

1. In through the nose or mouth-when you breathe in (this is called inhaling), air enters through your nose or mouth.

(Your nose is extra helpful because it warms, moistens, and cleans the air!)

2. Down the windpipe- The air moves down a special tube called the trachea, also known as the windpipe.
3. Into the bronchi-the trachea splits into two tubes called bronchi—one goes to the left lung, and one to the right lung.
4. Tiny Passages-Inside your lungs, the bronchi split into smaller and smaller tubes, kind of like tree branches, called bronchioles.
5. Little Air Balloons-At the very end of these tiny tubes are tiny air sacs called alveoli ( al-vee-oh-lie), there are millions of alveoli in your lungs.

What happens inside the alveoli?

This is where the magic happens! The alveoli are covered with tiny blood vessels.When you breathe in, the oxygen in the air moves into your blood through the walls of the alveoli.

At the same time, your blood brings back a gas called carbon dioxide (which your body doesn’t need) and sends it out when you breathe out (this is called exhaling).

It’s like a little oxygen swap—oxygen in, carbon dioxide out

Breathing machine: The diaphragm

You have a special muscle under your lungs called the diaphragm (die-a-fram).When you breathe in; the diaphragm moves down to make room for your lungs to fill up with air.

When you breathe out, it moves up to help push the air out.

It’s like a friendly trampoline for your lungs!

Fun Facts

• You breathe about 20,000 times every single day
• If you stretched out all the airways in your lungs, they would be about 1,500 miles long—wow.
• Your left lung is a little smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.So the next time you take a deep breath, remember: your lungs are amazing, hardworking, and full of little magical air balloons, keeping you alive and full of energy every second.