As part of our Science Blast investigations we began to look at Lung capacity. We discovered that our lungs hold a certain amount of air and that you can measure lung capacity with a simple apparatus.
What were were we trying to find out?
What is the capacity of our lungs?
Do different people have bigger lung capacity than others.
What did we predict?
We predicted that the 4th class pupils would have a larger capacity than 3rd class. We also thought that some pupils (those who were really good at running) would have a larger lung capacity.
What did we use?
5 litre drum graduated in 500ml markings. (prepared by students using a 500ml jug.
Large Plastic Tub filled with water.
Plastic Tubing
Wipes to clean.
What did we do?
We filled the 5lt drum completely inserted the tube and turned the drum upside down in the plastic tub.
We asked the subject to take one deep breath and blow continuously until they cant blow any more.
We then recorded how much water had been blown out of the drum. That plus 1 1litre was their lung capacity.
What did we find out?
We discovered that on most pupils have a capacity of 4-4.5 litres and that there was no real difference between the averages of 3rd and 4th class.