Chronicle

The PASCAL ChronicleRESPIRATIONIf we didn’t have respiration we would not live. Respiration is a process where the body produces heat to keep your bodywarm and helps to make new materials to repair our body if we are hurt. Most importantly, respiration gives us energy.The word equation for respiration is:GlucoseWhat do we need for respiration?We eat food. WHY? Food contains nutrients for many reasons and one of them is respiration. Respirationneeds a nutrient in order to be carried out. This nutrient is called glucose. This is the smallest divisionof carbohydrates. Glucose molecules are divided in the digestive system. The foods that containcarbohydrates are pasta, bread, rice, flour and cereals.Fig. 1- Different foods can providechemical energy for respirationOxygenWe breathe air. WHY? Air is a mixture of gases. One of these is the second thing that we need for respiration.This gas is called oxygen and we take it from the breathing system. First the air we take from ourmouth travels through the trachea, the tube that joins our neck with the lungs. From there air is dividedin many tubes smaller and smaller than the first one. In the end of any tube there are alveoli.There are millions of them. There work is to put oxygen in deoxygenated blood andmake it oxygenated. The walls of capillaries and alveoli are very thin so oxygen can passthrough to capillaries. The carbon dioxide is removed of the blood and goes into the alveoli.This is why we breathe out more carbon dioxide than we breathe in.Fig. 2- False colourdiagram of lungsHow does respiration happen?Respiration is a chemical reaction that happens in the cells of the body. All these substances that Ihave just mentioned are needed and therefore must be transported to the cells of the body. Bloodcontains many things like red blood cells that carry oxygen, white blood cells that help fight disease,plasma that is bloods liquid and carry all the things that blood contain and platelets that helpthe blood clot when you have a wound. Blood flows through arteries, veins and capillaries. Theseare the three blood vessels that stop the blood from flowing in another part and causing bleeding.First deoxygenated blood flows from the heart to the lungs to pick up oxygen and carbon dioxideleaves the body here. After, oxygenated blood goes back to the heart. Then heart pumps oxygenated blood through the smallintestine and takes glucose. The blood goes to all the organs through arteries and takes glucose and oxygen to the cells. Theyrespire and give back carbon dioxide and water that blood carries. The deoxygenated blood travels back to the heart to bepumped back to the lungs again. All this happens inside our body in order to release energy.NOW YOU KNOW WHAT RESPIRATION IS AND HOW IT IS CARRIED OUT!62Yiannis Chasikos 2E