MONTEBELLO ACADEMY

BIOLOGY LABORATORY Experiment N°1

Student’s name Grade: PD Group: 1 Date: Score

Juan David Burgos 19/05/23

I. TITLE: Respiratory system: Structure and function of the lungs

II. PURPOSE: Understand the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system by dissecting an
animal lung and observing its components.

III. GRAPHICS: Photographs/drawings of your findings, procedures and materials used properly
labeled.
IV. MATERIALS AND SUBSTANCES: Materials (equipment and tools) and substances (samples and
reactants) used.

MATERIALS SUBSTANCES, REACTANTS, ORGANIC MATTER

- Gloves - Cow lungs

- Lab coat
- Scalpel
- Ruler
- Trash bag
- Hose

V. PROCEDURE: The detailed steps you followed for carrying out the experiment.

1. Put on lab coat and gloves.

2. Sanitize the equipment.
3. Take lungs out of the cooler and place them on a spread-out trash bag on the table.
4. Measure the dimensions of the lungs using the ruler.
5. Take out the scalpel and separate all the unnecessary parts that do not belong to the
respiratory system.
6. Identify the trachea, follow it until it separates into the lungs.
7. Make a small cut in the connection with the lungs to expose the bronchi.
8. Insert the hose into a bronchus. Have one person close in the lungs so no air escapes, and
another person breath into the lungs to approximate air capacity.
9. Cut the other lung across the middle to reveal the bronchioles.

VI. RESULTS (DATA, OBSERVATIONS): The detailed observations and findings and a chart/table of
data that supports your observations.

Dimension Air capacity

1 Lung: 38 cm height, 20cm width, 10cm of 1 lung: 6L capacity

depth
Total capacity: 12L
Trachea: 2.5 cm diameter
VII. DISCUSSION SECTION: This is the most important part because here you deepen into the
meaning, importance, and relevance of your results. In here, you will explain and evaluate what you
found. All of this will help you to support your final conclusion/s. You can research on internet extra
info for supporting and interpreting your observations and notes.

Use these key elements:

1. First of all, summarize your key findings.

I would say the most important thing we found was the pathways that run across the entire
respiratory system. Seeing how the trachea divides into bronchi and then bronchioles visualize the
process that air goes through when we inhale and exhale in order to do gas exchange.

2. Give your interpretations (What do the results mean?)

What this means is that we as students possess a better understanding of how exactly our respiratory
system functions through observation. Being able to see all the components in person and how they
connect with each other makes it easier to process how each individual part contributes to gas
exchange in our bodies.

3. Discuss the implications (Why do the results matter?)

These results are important because understanding our bodies is extremely important even if we don’t
plan to study something like medicine. Some basic knowledge is going to allow us to manage
situations such as sickness in a more educated and informed manner due to our improved knowledge
and superior understanding of the subject.

4. Acknowledge the limitations (What can’t the results tell us?)

These results do not give us a complete understanding of the respiratory system, but only give us a
glimpse into the complex functioning of our body. Even though we might have a better understanding
of the lungs and how they work, we are still not educated enough to be able to comprehend things at a
deeper level. For example, the actual functioning of the lungs might not be that clear since we only
saw dead frozen parts.

5. Conclusion/s (the final statement/s in which some variables or concepts are related. Ex: Heat
speeds up chemical reactions)

- Our body is made up of millions of moving parts that all work together to achieve specific goals
that make us function as people.
- Even one individual system is incredibly complex and has many different parts that work
together to complete a function.
- The respiratory system is tailored specifically towards the exchange of gasses, and many of its
tissues and pathways are designed to allow the most amount of air to be able to enter and exit.
- Each one of the parts of our body is important, and the malfunctioning of one small part can
create a huge effect on our body.

6. Recommendations (what practical actions or scientific studies should follow?)

What should follow this investigation I believe is a comparison between the functioning of different
lungs. Understanding the different lungs that animals have and the adaptations they developed that
suit them would give us a better understating of certain designs and patterns we see in our bodies.
VII. REFERENCES

Please write the places/web sites/books/ you researched for obtaining information.

Retrieved from…

Schittny, J. C. (2017, January 31). Development of the lung - cell and Tissue Research. SpringerLink.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00441-016-2545-0