Exchange Surfaces

Question 1

What are alveoli

Answer 1

Small air sacs in the lungs.

Question 2

What’s the breathing rate

Answer 2

The number of breaths per minute.

Question 3

What are the bronchi

Answer 3

Airways in the lungs that lead from the trachea to the bronchioles.

Question 4

What are bronchioles

Answer 4

Airways in the lungs that lead from the bronchi to the alveoli.

Question 5

What is cartilage

Answer 5

A flexible, slightly elastic connective tissue.

Question 6

What is the ciliated epithelium

Answer 6

Tissue containing goblet cells and cells that have cilia on their cell surface.

Question 7

What is countercurrent flow

Answer 7

Where two fluids flow in opposite directions

Question 8

What is the diaphragm

Answer 8

A sheet of muscular and fibrous tissue separating the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. Plays an important role in ventilation.

Question 9

What are elastic fibres

Answer 9

Long fibres of the protein elastin that have the ability to stretch and recoil.

Question 10

What is gas exchange

Answer 10

The movement of gases by diffusion across a barrier such as the alveolar wall.

Question 11

What is a gill

Answer 11

Site of gas exchange in a fish

Question 12

What are goblet cells

Answer 12

Mucus-secreting cells in ciliated epithelial tissue.

Question 13

What are intercostal muscles

Answer 13

Muscles between the ribs, responsible for moving the rib cage during breathing. External muscles contract during inspiration and internal muscles contract during forced expiration.

Question 14

What are macrophages

Answer 14

Large, phagocytic, white blood cells that engulf, ingest and destroy bacteria.

Question 15

What is mucus

Answer 15

A slimy substance secreted by goblet cells in animal epithelial tissues. It is made up mostly of glycoproteins (proteins bonded to carbohydrates) and is used to protect and/or lubricate the surface on to which it is secreted.

Question 16

What’s an operculum

Answer 16

A bony flap that covers and protects the gills.

Question 17

What is residual volume

Answer 17

The volume of air that cannot be expelled from the lungs, no matter how hard you exhale.

Question 18

What are smooth muscles

Answer 18

A type of muscle (involuntary muscle) found mostly in certain internal organs.

Question 19

What’s a spiracle

Answer 19

External opening or pore that allows air into and out of the trachaea in
insects

Question 20

What’s a spirometer

Answer 20

Apparatus that measures air movement into and out of the lungs.

Question 21

What are squamous epithelial cells

Answer 21

A type of thin, flat cell found in layers or sheets covering surfaces such as skin and the linings of the blood vessels.

Question 22

What’s a surfactant

Answer 22

A chemical that can reduce the surface tension of a film of water and is found in the alveoli.

Question 23

What is tidal volume

Answer 23

The volume of air taken in and given out at each breath when a person is breathing regularly.

Question 24

What’s a tissue

Answer 24

A group of cells, with a common origin and similar structures, which perform a particular function.

Question 25

What’s the trachea

Answer 25

The windpipe leading from the back of the mouth to the bronchi.

Question 26

What’s the tracheal system

Answer 26

System of air-filled tubes in insects

Question 27

What is ventilation

Answer 27

Breathing - movement of diaphragm and rib cage that bring air into and out of the lungs.

Question 28

What is vital capacity

Answer 28

The total volume of air that can be breathed out following the deepest intake of air possible.