The respiratory system is something that you barely notice each day. But it is also what keeps you alive and makes sure you can breathe.

Billions of people each day take the fact they can breathe for granted or they don’t even notice they are breathing at all. Today I’m going to help you learn about the respiratory system, the thing that keeps you alive!

Take a deep breath, the thing that makes it possible is the respiratory system. Oxygen goes through your nose or mouth and comes out as carbon dioxide, right? Yes, but the respiratory system also does so much more than that.

We have two areas of our respiratory systems upper and lower, the upper include our tongue, sinuses, pharynx, epiglottis, larynx, and trachea. The lower area consists of the right lung, left lung, esophagus, bronchioles, primary bronchus, and the secondary bronchus. The upper is where your nose is and how the air gets to the lungs. Lower is where the lungs are and where your heart is.

Let’s get into what happens when you breathe in through your nose! When air enters the nose, it is filtered of dust, germs, and other bacteria by our nose hairs and the mucus, that’s why you aren’t always coughing because of dirt in your lungs. The clean air now progresses down your throat and windpipe into your lungs!

Fun fact: the right lung is always bigger than the left one!

Your lungs are located in your chest and slowly inflate when you breathe in all thanks to the diaphragm! When your diaphragm contracts air is pulled into the air way and down your trachea (your main air way!). 

  Your lungs expand via the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles. The diaphragm is a sheet of muscle that’s located below the lungs. The intercostal muscles are located between the ribs. The nerves in your brain send a message to the diaphragm and the muscles telling them to relax. If the diaphragm relaxes it will move down and when the intercostal muscles relax, your ribs move up and out, making your chest rise and fall. While the ribs are out of the way, your lungs will fill with air and expand.