Unit 1.1
What is the scientific term for the series of chemical reactions that happens inside every living cell to release energy?
Respiration OR Aerobic Respiration.
What is the scientific definition of "gas exchange" in the lungs?
The movement of oxygen from the air into the blood, and carbon dioxide from the blood into the air.
What is the simple scientific definition of the process of breathing?
The movement of air into and out of the lungs.
What are the two initial substances (aka the reactants) required by every living cell to perform aerobic respiration?
Glucose + Oxygen
What is the specific name of the pale yellow liquid component of blood in which all the cells float?
Blood plasma
What is the official scientific name for the windpipe?
The trachea.
What tiny blood vessels wrap around the outside of each air sac to allow oxygen to enter the bloodstream?
Capilaries
What large, sheet-like muscle at the base of the chest cavity contracts and flattens out to help draw air into your lungs?
Diaphragm
What are the two chemical waste products formed and given off during aerobic respiration?
Carbon dioxide and water.
What is the primary function of red blood cells in the body?
To transport oxygen from the lungs to every cell.
When you breathe in, the trachea splits into two smaller tubes before entering the lungs. What is the name of these two tubes?
Bronchi (not accepting Bronchus; singular form)
When gases are crossing between the inside of the air sac and the blood plasma, how many layers of cells must they diffuse through?
BONUS: Name which layers of cells they must diffuse through and your multiplier will be DOUBLED!
Two layers.
BONUS: The thin wall of the air sac and the thin wall of the capillary.
What are the specialized muscles located directly between your ribs that contract to pull your ribcage upward and outward during a deep breath?
Intercostal muscles
In exactly which part of the body does aerobic respiration take place?
In EVERY cell.
What iron-containing chemical substance inside red blood cells binds to oxygen so it can be carried around the body?
Haemoglobin
Track the exact path of a molecule of oxygen as it enters the body. After passing through the trachea and the bronchi, what are the next two, progressively smaller structures it must travel through to complete its journey inside the respiratory system?
Bronchioles then air sacs / alveoli.
What are the ultra-thin, microscopic blood vessels that wrap closely around the outside of each air sac to absorb oxygen into the bloodstream?
Capillaries
When you exhale, what specific action happens to the intercostal muscles and the diaphragm muscle?
They calm down and relax.
What kind of nutrient sugar is delivered by the blood to every cell in the body to act as an energy store for respiration?
Glucose
Apart from transport cells, blood contains white blood cells. What is their main function in the human body?
To fight off anything bad that tries to enter our bodies. Like: pathogens, infections, diseases, etc.
What is the exact scientific name of the structure (often called the voicebox) that sits directly at the top entry point of the trachea, separating it from the throat passages?
Larynx
What is the specific term used to describe the passive movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules down their concentration gradients across the air sac walls?
Diffusion
In terms of gas physics, why does air spontaneously rush down the trachea into your lungs during inhalation when the chest cavity volume increases?
When the volume inside the chest increases, the gas pressure inside the lungs drops below atmospheric pressure, and air moves down to fill the extra space. A measuring cylinder inverted in water.
When chemical energy inside glucose is released in a controlled way during respiration, some of it is lost to the surroundings. What form of energy does it change into, causing the respiring cells to get warmer?
Heat energy
White blood cells protect the body by killing invading pathogens like bacteria. Name the two completely different ways that these cells can destroy a pathogen.
Some white blood cells produce chemicals called antibodies to attach to and kill them, while other white blood cells destroy pathogens by taking them into their cytoplasm and digesting them.