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Asthma Case Study Resources: Your Respiration Profile
***Before conducting any of the following activities, students should complete the Kid's Asthma Check found at www.aanma.org/Pdf/asthmacheck.pdf ***

Doing "What Are Your Daily Air Needs?" assists students in measuring their lung tidal volume and vital capacity under both resting and exercising conditions. A number of math calculations are made to personalize the necessity of having clean air to breathe.

Note: Students suffering from respiratory or heart problems should not act as subjects for this activity.
During an asthma attack the smooth muscle lining the air passages of the lungs becomes constricted and the volume of the air that can be exhaled is decreased. Using a large plastic bottle, you can approximately measure, the maximum volume of air that can be exhaled during breathing - normally and forced.

Materials (for each small group):

  • 500 mL graduated cylinder
  • 2 small plastic/foam plates
  • 1 flexible straw per student
  • rectangular aluminum baking pan
  • 5-liter (or larger) plastic bottle with lid (bottle should be marked with 200 mL gradations)
  • half a meter of tubing (rubber or plastic)
  • sink or large plastic container
  • calculator
  • watch with seconds hand

Procedures:
(for tidal volume of air - normal respiration)

  1. Half fill the aluminum baking pan with water.
  2. Stand the 500 mL graduated cylinder in pan and overfill it with water.
  3. Press the 2 small plates on top of graduated cylinder tightly to seal in the water and hold it there to act as a lid.
  4. Quickly invert the graduated cylinder (with plate "lid" held tightly in place) upside down in pan.
  5. Gently slide cylinder sideways off of plate; be sure to keep top of cylinder under water.
  6. Flex the straw and place the short tip up into the graduated cylinder at the spout; keep the long end of the straw above water to use for funneling tidal volume of air into graduated cylinder.
  7. Place long end of straw in your mouth; breathe normally several times through your nose to relax.
  8. To take the measurement, on one exhalation, instead of breathing through your nose, let the air escape your lungs through the straw. DO NOT FORCE AIR OUT OF YOUR LUNGS.
  9. Read the volume of air directly from the graduated cylinder.
  10. Record value in data table; refill graduated cylinder and repeat measurement.
  11. Calculate your average tidal volume for normal breathing.

(for vital capacity of lungs - forced exhalation)

  1. Fill a sink or large plastic container with half-full of water.
  2. Fill the plastic bottle to the 5800mL fill line with water and put the lid on.
  3. Turn the bottle upside down in the water and take off the lid under water.
  4. Insert a length of tubing into the bottle as shown in the diagram.


    trial #1:
      5800 mL water
    -         mL water left
      mL vital capacity

    trial #2:
      5800 mL water
    -         mL water left
      mL vital capacity

  5. Insert your straw into tubing tightly so that no air can leak out.
  6. Take a deep breath and forcefully expel all the air in your lungs through the straw into the tubing, so that it goes into the bottle. Screw cap back on.
  7. Invert bottle and read amount of water left in; enter this amount in Trial #1 and subtract to find Vital Capacity Volume #1 of air.
  8. In the data table below, record the volume of air you have forced into the bottle.
  9. Refill the bottle and set up the apparatus as before.
  10. Relax for a few minutes until your breathing pattern returns to normal.
  11. Repeat the experiment again.
  12. Average the values you obtain

Data Table

Volume #1 Volume #2 Average
Tidal Volume


Vital Capacity


What is the difference in volume between your normal breathing and your vital capacity?

Respiration Rates
(Resting Rate)
Your respiration rate is the number of times you inhale (breathe in) in one minute.

  1. Close your eyes and relax.
  2. Have your partner time you for 1 minute while you breathe normally. Count how many times you inhale during the minute. This is NOT a race! Try to breathe normally as you do this, not too fast and not too slow.
  3. Record your resting respiration rate in the data table below.
  4. Do this 2 more times, recording each value.
  5. Calculate your average resting respiration rate.

(Exercising Rate)
Now you will measure respiration rate after 2 minutes of exercise.

  1. Jump up and down for 2 minutes (have your partner time you).
  2. Stop jumping and immediately have your partner time your breathing for 30 seconds.
  3. Count the number of times you inhale during the 30 seconds.
  4. Multiply this number by 2 (to represent your respiration rate for 1 minute) and record in data table.
  5. Repeat this activity 1 more time, recording your value.
  6. Calculate your average exercising respiration rate.
Breaths/minute Trial #1 Trial #2 Trial #3 Average
Resting



Exercising



Calculations:
How many times would you inhale in one hour when
resting ________ exercising ______

How many times would you inhale in one day when
resting ________ exercising ______

EXERCISING: ______(# hours exercising) RESTING: ______ (24 - exercising hours)
           times ______ (respiration rates)                 ______
           times ______ (vital capacity)                    ______ (tidal volume)
           TOTAL ______                                   TOTAL ______

How much air do you need in one 24 hour day? Add TOTALS: ______

Teachers notes
Students suffering from respiratory or heart problems should not act as subjects for this activity.

Make sure students do not become competitive in their exhaling.

This activity should be done in groups of two (or more). While one student is exhaling another is needed to stabilize the bottle. Provide a new length of tubing for each student.

You may want students to calculate a class average and determine the standard deviation. Students could compare the average volume exhaled by females with that exhaled by males or they could look for a correlation between volume of air exhaled and height of the student.

Remind students the volume they are measuring is the vital capacity of the lungs which is more than that exhaled during normal breathing (tidal volume) but less than the total lung capacity. (Some air always remains in the lungs because the thorax cannot be completely collapsed.)

Students can also measure the tidal volume of their lungs using the set-up for this activity. They could use the large plastic bottle or a 500-mL cylinder. The plastic bottle will only give a very approximate reading but will show students that the tidal volume is only small compared to the vital capacity.

  1. Oxygen is used for aerobic cellular respiration, the process by which sugar molecules are broken down and energy is released.
  2. More oxygen is need when more energy is required. More oxygen is required during exercise.
  3. During cellular respiration, carbon dioxide is produced. The general equation is:
    oxygen + sugars = carbon dioxide + water + energy.

Click here for a printable version of "Respiration Profile."

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Last updated: May 26, 2005