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Course, Subject

Biology/Living Environment, Math, Science & Technology, Science (NYS P-12)

Description

How do you think oxygen gets from the air into the parts of your body that need it? How many steps do you think it takes? In this activity, students will trace the path oxygen takes from breathing to running, jumping, lifting, or anything else they need to do!

Website(s)

Kinetic City Information for Educators

Materials

Blue and red poker chips -- about 10 of each. (You can also cut up little squares of blue and red construction paper.)

Preparation

Assign students to groups of four. Assign students the following roles within their groups:

• Choose one student to be the Lung. Your job is to supply the blood with oxygen. Take a bag of red chips to represent the oxygen molecules.
• Choose one student to be the Heart. Your job is to pump the blood around the body.
• Choose one student to be the Leg Muscle. Your job is to do what legs do -- jump, stretch, run, and so on. When you do that, you convert oxygen into carbon dioxide. Take a bag of blue chips to represent the carbon dioxide molecules.
• Choose one student to be the Blood Cell. Your job is to transport oxygen to the body, and carbon dioxide back to the Lung to be exhaled.

Directions

1. First the Blood Cell goes to the Lung to get oxygen. The Lung takes a deep breath in, takes a red (oxygen) chip from the bag, and hands it to the Blood Cell.
2. Next, the Blood Cell needs to get pumped through the Heart. To do this, she runs over to the kid playing the Heart and tags him. The Heart says "Thump-Thump" and tags the Blood Cell back.
3. Next, the Blood Cell goes to the Leg Muscle. The Leg Muscle takes the red oxygen chip from the Blood Cell, jumps up in the air, and hands the Blood Cell a blue (carbon dioxide) chip.
4. The Blood Cell runs back to the Heart, tags the Heart, and gets "pumped" back to the Lung.
5. When the Blood Cell reaches the lung, she hands over the blue chip. The Lung lets a deep breath out and puts the blue chip in the bag.
6. The Lung takes a deep breath in and hands the Blood Cell another red chip. Then the cycle starts over again.

Once you've got the hang of it, see how fast you can make the Leg do ten jumps. If you're playing against other teams, see which team can do it the fastest.

If you want to try something else, keep adding Blood Cells to the system until you've got a whole bunch of them zooming around at once. How many blood cells can you keep going at one time?

Debriefing Questions

What did you find out in this activity? Why are the lungs important in respiration? How about the heart? What would happen to your energy level if you weren't getting enough oxygen?

More Information

Every part of your body needs oxygen to do the work it needs -- whether it's jumping with your legs or thinking with your brain. You get the oxygen when you breathe in air through your lungs. Then the oxygen gets absorbed into your blood, and pumped through your heart to the rest of your body. As the cells in your body work, they use up oxygen and release carbon dioxide as waste. The carbon dioxide is picked up by your blood cells, carried back through the heart to the lungs, where it's converted back into a gas and expelled in your breath when you exhale.

Content Provider

Kinetic City

Kinetic City is a collection of Science experiments, games, and projects for everyone to enjoy both online and away from the computer.

Related Academic Standards

New York State

S.MS.LS.1.2 Students who demonstrate understanding can develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.

S.MS.LS.1.3 Students who demonstrate understanding Construct an explanation supported by evidence for how the body is composed of interacting systems consisting of cells, tissues, and organs working together to maintain homeostasis.

MST4.I.LE.1.2 Students explain the functioning of the major human organ systems and their interactions.

MST4.I.LE.1.2a Each system is composed of organs and tissues which perform specific functions and interact with each other, e.g., digestion, gas exchange, excretion, circulation, locomotion, control, coordination, reproduction, and protection from disease.

MST4.I.LE.1.2b Tissues, organs, and organ systems help to provide all cells with nutrients, oxygen, and waste removal.

MST4.I.LE.1.2d During respiration, cells use oxygen to release the energy stored in food. The respiratory system supplies oxygen and removes carbon dioxide (gas exchange).

MST4.I.LE.5.1 Students compare the way a variety of living specimens carry out basic life functions and maintain dynamic equilibrium.