ADVANCED KIT

Breathing Robots
Designing Robots to
Demonstrate the Respiratory System
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INTERACTIVE 5E LESSON
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LESSON
Breathing Robots .

DRIVING QUESTION
How does our respiratory system work?

DESCRIPTION
During this lesson, students will research the parts that make up the respiratory system to better
understand how oxygen enters our body and carbon dioxide exits it. They will then build and
code a robot to demonstrate this process using a diagram they create.

LEARNING GOALS
STUDENTS WILL:
● DISCUSS the role of the respiratory system in the body.
● COLLECT information on the respiratory system/path throughout the body.
● UTILIZE that information to create a simulation.
● BUILD and CODE a robot to create a simulation of the respiratory system.

STANDARDS
● NGSS: MS-LS1-3: Use arguments supported by evidence for how the body is a system of
interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
● Wisconsin CTE Standard 4C1: Students will think and work creatively to develop
innovative solutions to problems and opportunities.
● Wisconsin CTE Standard 4C3: Students will communicate and collaborate with others to
accomplish tasks and develop solutions to problems and opportunities.

GETTING STARTED
TIME ESTIMATE
3-4 sessions (60 minutes each)

MATERIALS
● UKIT Advanced
● Butcher block paper
● Markers, pens, crayons, or colored pencils
● Small item to represent oxygen
● Small item to represent carbon dioxide
● Laptops or Chromebooks
● Optional: Tape that can be used on the floor
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LESSON RESOURCES
● “5 min Cardio HIIT Workout”
● Respiratory System Diagram
● Respiratory System Table
● "Travel through the Respiratory System - Fun Science for Kids"
● "Your Lungs & Respiratory System“
● uCode

VOCABULARY

a heavy colorless gas that does not support combustion, dissolves in water
CARBON to form carbonic acid, is formed especially in animal respiration and in the
DIOXIDE decay or combustion of animal and vegetable matter, is absorbed from the
air by plants in photosynthesis, and is used in the carbonation of beverages

a chemical element that constitutes 21% of the Earth's atmosphere, that is

capable of combining with all elements except some noble gases, that is
OXYGEN
active in physiological processes of almost all known organisms, and that is
involved especially in combustion

a system of organs functioning in respiration and in humans consisting

RESPIRATORY
especially of the nose, nasal passages, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, and
SYSTEM
lungs

TEACHER PREP
● Review lesson plans and lesson links to make sure they are still working. Several
different videos can be substituted depending on your school access.
● Ensure available devices have the Arduino IDE app installed and uCode is accessible
through a web browser. Chrome is preferred.
● Determine student pairs or groups for this lesson.
● If time permits, build a MoveBot and program it to pick something up and move it to a
new location. This will be expected of students during this lesson, so it will help you
troubleshoot if they run into issues.

5E LESSON PLAN
ENGAGE
Use the first five minutes of class to work out, something that will get the students breathing a
little harder than they normally would. YouTube has some excellent five-minute HIIT workout
videos that get students moving. This is one I like to use.
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Once you complete the video, discuss how breathing wasn’t something they were thinking about
before the video, but on completion of the video, they are feeling and thinking about their
breathing. They have an accelerated breathing rate because their body/cells need more oxygen
to produce more ATP (adenosine triphosphate), or energy.

EXPLORE
Using the Respiratory System Diagram and Respiratory System Table, have students research
how the RESPIRATORY SYSTEM works and what body parts/organs are included in this system.
You could show the video “Travel through the Respiratory System,” have students read “Your
Lungs & Respiratory System,” or just allow students time to research the topic on their own or in
small groups.

Once students have completed their research, have them work in groups to create a labeled
diagram of the respiratory system on butcher block paper. This diagram needs to be large
enough for the MoverBot to travel through it. Make sure students draw and label the nasal
cavity, pharynx, larynx, trachea, lungs, bronchioles, bronchi, alveoli, and diaphragm.

If you are unable to use butcher block paper, you could also create the diagrams right on the
floor using tape. The only problem will be that it will need to remain there, as they will need to
work on it for a few days.

EXPLAIN
Students should be able to communicate with each other, and you, about how the respiratory
system works. Their explanation should include how OXYGEN travels through the body.

For example: When we breathe in, we are collecting the air around us, which includes oxygen. It
travels through our body in this order: nasal cavity, pharynx, larynx, trachea, lungs, bronchioles,
bronchi, and alveoli. From there, it gets distributed throughout the body, and the lungs then collect
the CARBON DIOXIDE that has built up and needs to be exhaled.

ELABORATE
Ensure each group of 2-4 students has a laptop or Chromebook with access to uCode and a way
(USB or Bluetooth) to connect to their MoverBot once it is built. Students can access the build
instructions for the MoverBot by clicking the UKIT Advanced Build Book in the pop up, scrolling
down until they find MoverBot, and clicking Start building.

Once they have a completed robot, students will need to program the MoverBot to move through
the diagram acting as a breath. The robot will need to pick up a small object that represents
oxygen from outside the body and travel through the body system in the correct order until it
reaches the alveoli. Once there, it will need to release the oxygen, gather the small object
representing carbon dioxide, and reverse the process back out into the air.

EVALUATE
Students should demonstrate their model for you. Their Moverbot should pick up oxygen in the
area around the body. It should then travel through the nasal cavity, pharynx, larynx, trachea,
lungs, bronchioles, bronchi, and alveoli. Then, it should drop off the oxygen, pick up carbon
dioxide, and travel back out along the same path it came.
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DIFFERENTIATION
SIMPLIFY THIS LESSON
● You can review the human body system together.
● You could have students run the sample code for their robot.

TAKE THIS LESSON TO THE NEXT LEVEL

● Students could go into detail about how the respiratory system is so closely tied to the
circulatory system.
● Have students see if they can code the robot to create a continual loop like our body
does with breathing.

CROSS-CURRICULAR EXTENSIONS
MATH/CODING
● The code blocks used in the sample code incorporate number inputs such as servo
numbers, angles of rotation, and wait time in milliseconds. Math and/or coding lessons
that cover these concepts could be covered prior to this lesson or built into this lesson.

SCIENCE
● Additional lessons that expand on the NGSS standards covered in this lesson could be
covered prior to or after this lesson, built into this lesson, or added to the unit.
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STUDENT RESOURCES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DIAGRAM
Reference this diagram as you complete the Respiratory System Table.

Word Bank

trachea bronchiole alveoli left bronchus

right bronchus diaphragm lung pharynx

nasal cavity larynx mouth

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RESPIRATORY SYSTEM TABLE

Complete this table using the Respiratory System Diagram.

NAME OF ORGAN
# DESCRIPTION AND FUNCTION
OR BODY PART

10

11
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TEACHER RESOURCES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DIAGRAM ANSWER KEY
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RESPIRATORY SYSTEM TABLE ANSWER KEY

NAME OF ORGAN
# SAMPLE DESCRIPTIONS
OR BODY PART

A nose is a nose is a nose. Smelling, tasting, and breathing all start

here. The size, location, mucous lining, and tiny hairs (cilia) inside
1 nasal cavity help prevent foreign objects from entering and trap large air
impurities before being drawn farther into the respiratory system.
Achooo! Out with the bad…bugs and carbon dioxide.

Mouth breathing can also be remembered as “the big gulp,” or

2 “Plan B” for air entry. Like the nose, it has many functions. It is the
mouth
starting point of the digestive system as well as a secondary
inhaler and exhaler.

The larynx has three main functions: 1) a passageway for air, 2) a

3 larynx valve to close off the air passage from the digestive one (the
epiglottis) like a hinged trap door, and 3) a voice box.

The lungs are the essential organs of respiration. The main

4 function of the lungs is to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen and
lung
vice versa. Each lung is enclosed separately within two
membranes, like a balloon inside a bag inside a bag.

There are two main bronchi (Latin plural of bronchus): the right and
left, each leading to a lung. If you accidentally breathe, or aspirate,
5 right bronchus a very small piece of food that gets past the trachea, it is most
likely to fall and be pulled into the right main bronchus. If a peanut
gets this far, what do you think could happen?

This muscular structure acts as a floor to the chest (thoracic)

6 diaphragm cavity as well as a roof to the abdomen. It helps to expand and
contract the lungs, forcing air into and out of them.

The pharynx is shared with the digestive system from the tongue
7 pharynx down to the epiglottis. Food goes on down the esophagus, and air
passes on through the trachea – but never both at the same time!

This armored tube allows air to pass beyond the larynx to where it
8 divides into the left and right bronchi. The protective Cs of
trachea
cartilage also provide protection to the digestive system’s
esophagus right behind it.

9 The left one has a sharper bend due to the presence of the heart
left bronchus
and major blood vessels directly underneath it.
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Each bronchus divides and subdivides into smaller and smaller

branches, the bronchioles, just like tree branches that get smaller
10 bronchiole as they grow up and out. By the time the air has reached here from
outside, it has been warmed up to body temperature, filtered, and
moisturized.

These tiny air cells, or sacs, are the leaves of our respiratory tree.
They resemble bunches of grapes and are the link between the
11 alveoli respiratory and circulatory systems. Gas exchange happens here –
I’ll trade you fresh oxygen (O2) for your used carbon dioxide (CO2).
Now, trace the route of the old air back out to the nose.

Additional information that could be shared with students

The throat includes all the structures lying in front of the spinal
throat column including the mouth, tongue, pharynx, tonsils, larynx, and
trachea.

These three portions of our airways also have rings of muscle

along their length as well as glands lining them. These glands
produce mucus that traps particles of dirt. Eventually, this sticky
trachea, bronchi, and
stuff and its trapped dirt are coughed up and cleared out. With
bronchioles
asthma, these sensitive muscles tighten, making all the airways
smaller and more difficult to breathe through, and excessive
mucus is produced, sometimes flooding the airways.
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5E LESSON PLAN MODEL

The 5E model is based on active learning that is meant to help students build their
understanding of new ideas and experiences, with the teacher taking on a facilitator role. The
teacher will introduce the concept and then allow students to take the lead as they go through
the 5Es listed below.

ENGAGE Sparks student interest; creates a personal connection to the lesson;

assesses prior knowledge; students reflect and ask questions

EXPLORE Allows students to develop their own understanding of the topic; incorporates
hands-on activities

EXPLAIN Offers students opportunities to share what they have learned; Can they
answer the driving question?

ELABORATE Invites students to apply new knowledge and gauge the impact of that
knowledge on prior understanding; allows students to solidify the connection
between prior and new knowledge

EVALUATE Provides time for students to reflect on the lesson; assesses student learning
and understanding
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WORKS CITED
“5 Min Cardio HIIT Workout for Fat Loss.” YouTube, uploaded by Group HIIT, 1 Dec. 2016,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGtjACeyHtc.

“Travel through the Respiratory System - Fun Science for Kids.” YouTube, uploaded by Smile and Learn -
English, 23 Mar. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2YVt16Kxak.

KidsHealth Medical Experts. “Your Lungs and Respiratory System.” KidsHealth,

kidshealth.org/en/kids/lungs.html. Accessed 9 Apr. 2022.

Written by Claire Brown

2021-22 member of UBTECH Education’s Teacher Ambassador Program

© 2022 UBTECH Education, 767 S. Alameda St., Suite 250, Los Angeles, CA 90021

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