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AQCP Teacher Resources
Asthma Case Study Resources: Asthma Activity
***Before conducting any of the following activities, students should complete the Kid's Asthma Check found
at www.aanma.org/Pdf/asthmacheck.pdf ***
"Asthma and You" would be a good activity to use for students to
simulate the difficulty in breathing for those with asthma. The second half of the activity identifies
possible asthma triggers. Cold, dry air may trigger exercise-induced asthma (EIA). A 15-minute warm-up
allows lungs to adjust to increased demand for oxygen. Not all people with EIA have chronic asthma.
Chronic asthma may develop due to exposure to allergens and other environmental irritants.
Asthma and You
For the past 15 years, an epidemic of asthma has been occurring in the United States. Although asthma has become
a major public health problem affecting Americans of all ages, races, and ethnic groups, children have been
particularly severely affected. The epidemic is most severe among lower income and minority children
What Happens During an Asthma Attack:
The sensitive airway linings react to trigger exposure by becoming inflamed, swollen, and filled with mucus. The
muscles lining the swollen airways tighten and constrict, making them even more narrowed and obstructed. These
reactions, in turn, can cause coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. The symptoms, frequency,
severity and duration of an asthma episode also vary from person to person.
How Asthma Feels: (Do not do this activity if you have respiratory or heart problems!)
Do 100 jumping jacks. Immediately put a straw in your mouth, pinch your nose closed, and try to breathe only
through the straw. Now you can feel how difficult it is to get air out of and into the lungs through such a
constricted (narrow) airway.
Causes of Asthma:
Physicians don't know the main cause of asthma, but they do know that the tendency to develop asthma is often
inherited. All children with asthma have airways that are overly sensitive, or hyper-reactive, to certain
asthma triggers. Things that trigger asthma attacks (also known as "episodes", "exacerbations" or "flares")
differ from person to person.
Sorting Asthma Triggers: Asthma triggers can include factors in the
environment that cause allergic reactions, and/or factors that do not cause allergic reactions but still
irritate the lungs.
| All of the following are known to be common asthma triggers. Label each
environmental factor as either (A) allergic or (I) irritant:
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___House dust mites
___Pollen
___Cat hair, saliva, and urine
___Dog hair and saliva
___Cockroach particles
___Aspirin or similar drugs
___Metabisulfite, a food & beverage preservative
___Ozone
___Sulfur dioxide
___Particulate matter, "dust"
___Secondhand tobacco smoke
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___Tobacco smoke
___Smog
___Natural gas, propane or kerosene used as cooking fuel
___Wood smoke
___Coal smoke
___Gas, wood, coal or kerosene heating units
___Paint fumes
___Viral respiratory infections, "colds"
___Exercise
___Weather changes
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Click here for a printable version of "Asthma and You."
Last updated: May 26, 2005
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