How do your lungs pump air in and out? Your child can't see his own lungs working, but this is the next best thing! With a soda bottle "chest" and a balloon "lung" and "diaphragm," your child will be able to see and even manipulate these essential parts of the respiratory system.
This is a great hands-on activity when your child is starting to learn biology or is just curious about the body and how it works. It's also a good way to strengthen vocabulary surrounding respiratory parts (diaphragm, lung, etc.) and processes (expand, contract, compress, etc.) by seeing them in action!
What You Need:
- Plastic pop bottle (12 -20 oz. bottles work best)
- Scissors
- 2 balloons
- 2 rubber bands
- Cardboard (optional)
- Pencil (optional)
- Tape (optional)
What You Do:
- First, cut off the bottom of the bottle.
- Have your child stuff the large part of one of the balloons inside the mouth of the bottle. The narrow neck of the balloon should be outside the bottle.
- Fold the neck of the balloon around the mouth of the bottle and secure it with a rubber band. This balloon will act like his lung!
- Instruct your child to cut the neck off the other balloon and help him fit the large part over the bottom of the bottle. The balloon should cover the bottom of the bottle but not be drum tight. Secure the balloon with the larger rubber band. This balloon will act like his diaphragm, the tough sheet of muscle that seals off his chest cavity.
- If you find that the rubber band or balloon causes the bottle to bend, you can make a cardboard insert to place inside the bottle to give it support. Trace the bottom of the bottle onto a piece of cardboard and cut it out. Cut out the inside of this circle to create a doughnut-shaped piece. Tape this piece inside the bottle, then repeat step 4.
- Ask your child to pull down on the diaphragm balloon. What happens to the lung balloon?
- Now, ask him to push the diaphragm balloon into the bottle. What happens to the lung balloon now?
What's Going On?
As we inhale, the diaphragm creates space in our chest cavity so air can rush in. As we exhale, the diaphragm compresses the chest cavity, and air is pushed out. If you didn't have this muscle action, you wouldn't be able to breathe!
By Lynn Brunelle
Adapted from "Pop Bottle Science" by Lynn Brunelle. (Workman, New York, Copyright 2004).
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