The lungs...

Lungs are a vital organ in the body, for without them, you could not survive. The lungs are located in your chest and are protected by the ribcage so that they are safe from being damaged. Everybody has two lungs in their chest, however the left one is slightly smaller than the right. This is because there needs to be enough room left in your chest to fit your heart. (Kids health) Underneath the lungs sits the diaphragm, this organ is important in helping your body to able to breathe in and breath out. (Kids health)

The lungs, although the main part of the respiratory track, is not the only part of it. It starts from the nose and the mouth where the air is breathed in. The nose and mouth help to warm the air, filter it, moisten it and humidifies it. (Lecture notes, Adam). The air then goes though the Pharynx, or throat, which is a connection point to the rest of the system. Next is the Larynx (voice box) where the air helps to produce sounds which enables us to speak. After the voice box, the next pit stop in the respiratory system is Epiglottis which is very important. The Epiglottis closes off the larynx when swallowing to prevent anything from going into the lungs which would be a disaster, and after the Epiglottis its onto to the Trachea. (Lecture notes, Adam)

After the Trachea, it heads on into the lungs via two large tubes called the bronchi, with one going into the right lung and one into the left. (kids health) Each Bronchus (singular for bronchi) has smaller bronchi branches from it, getting smaller and smaller the further into the lung they go. (Kids health) Bronchioles are the tiniest tubes at the very end of the tree like structure and there are about 30 000 of them!! (Kid health) At the end of the bronchioles are tiny little air sacs called alveoli. There is even more of these than bronchioles as there is roughly about 600 million! (Kids health)

Adams lecture notes, Community Sciencee, Victoria Univresity.

Kids Health, Nemours, ‘Your lungs and respiratory system’, Viewed 27/3/09, http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/lungs.html