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Lung Science Experiment and Tobacco Prevention Resources

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Below is a lung science experiment with tobacco prevention resources geared for middle school students. Unfortunately all of the free printables have been pulled off of the Scholastic website but you can still access our free lung science experiment directions below!

photo cover of the middle school Stay Smart About Tobacco magazine resource for teachers

Before we get settled in with our lung science experiment, which gives a great visual of how smoking affects the lungs check out that Stay Smart About Tobacco magazine above. 

It had GREAT information on the toxic chemicals actually in tobacco products (EW!) and there was even a mini-poster with information for both students and teachers!

Unfortunately Scholastic has unexpectedly pulled all of their anti-tobacco resources off of their site so they do not have any of their free printables anymore. But you can head here for more printable tobacco resources.

I had NO idea there were so many chemicals in tobacco products! It was extremely informative to learn these facts—even as an adult! The magazine also talks about electronic cigarettes, which is a big topic now and is growing popular with youth today.

It’s a great foundational basis for kids to visualize what’s in tobacco products, and how tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, have been marketed with features that are appealing to young people.

To set up our lung science experiment which illuminate these facts for kids check out how we did it below. What I love is that these instructions are specifically geared for a classroom-sized group, including reproducible instruction pages that can be handed out to kids.

Here are some related Lesson Plans and other printable resources on Tobacco Prevention.

Materials Needed for Lung Science Experiment:

photo of the materials needed for a Lung science Experiment for Tobacco Prevention campaign for middle school students
  • Duct Tape
  • 2 Straws
  • 1 Liter Clear Plastic Bottle
  • 4 Balloons

 

Lung Science Experiment Directions:

To set up our lung experiment we carefully cut the bottom off of our clear plastic bottle. For the healthy “lung” we taped one balloon end tightly around a straw so there were no air leaks.

For the “lung” affected by smoking you will actually need to put a balloon inside of another balloon and then duct tape it to a straw.

This represents how smoking damages the elasticity of the alveoli tissue.

up close view of the lung science experiment bottle in use

Once you have inserted the two straws with attached “lungs” into the bottle opening you will need to take a small lump of clay and connect/seal the straws to the bottle opening. Make sure to seal them tightly so there are no air holes.

To further help the visual affect of an unhealthy lung you will also need to push some clay down inside the straw of the unhealthy “lung” to mimic the blockage that smoking can cause.

cutting the balloon lungs for the lung science experiment bottle

The last step in preparing your lung science experiment is to cut the bottom off a balloon, tie it off, and wrap the cut end around the bottom opening of your clear bottle.

testing the lung science experiment bottle for tobacco prevention

We had several balloons break due to the sharp plastic edges of the bottle so if this occurs you can simply add a layer of duct tape around the bottle to cover the sharp edges and then wrap your balloon around the bottom opening of the bottle.

Once your balloon is set in place add one final layer of duct tape around the edges to help hold the balloon in place.

testing the lung science experiment for middle school students

When you tug on the bottom balloon piece you will immediately notice that the suction created inside the bottle will help the healthy “lung” to inflate more easily than the damaged “lung,” which struggles to inflate properly.

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finished lung science experiment bottle photo

The entire lung science experiment took us only a few minutes to put together!

This campaign has provided invaluable resources for our family to not only understand how smoking affects the lungs ability to function but also to understand what tobacco is actually made of.

fire snake science experimenthomemade morse code machine
constellation cards for kidsmagnetic slime recipe photo tutorial

 

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30 Comments

  1. diaz-zapata says:

    awesome project worked out awesomely

    1. lol i cant get the balloon on the bottom

  2. This is real got! I am legit using this for my Science fair project

    1. You mean *GOOD

    2. paradox Yelllow says:

      LOL SAME HERE

    3. lmao same, I’m kinda worried because what if people think I’m lazy? But then again everyone else in my grade is also still copying from others, some are creative because they want to go to the county. Does anyone else have any other science fair ideas so I don’t worry next year?

  3. I am LEGIT using this for my Sci fair project

  4. Looove it

  5. looooove it

  6. wowiie, this is pretty good

  7. What would the tested variable be in this experiment? What would the control group be?

  8. What did you observe in the world that made you ask your question

  9. Going to use this in class

  10. Im so using this for my sci fair. 6th grade ROCKS!

  11. ok, heres the problem. i dont know how to graph my results, what do i graph.

  12. Pavan Dhesi says:

    I love this experiment but here’s the catch i don’t know how to write a hypothesis about this but otherwise best experiment that anyone can do!!!!!!!!!!!I still need help to do the hypothesis though.

  13. jessica perez says:

    This worked well and for sure using this first my 6th grade science project

  14. This is cool. Me and my friend are doing a science comp think we should do this?

  15. Acaciamunoz says:

    I’m using this idea for my science 🧪 fair. Project

  16. this is pretty cool i think i will do this for my science fair project as well!

  17. Wendy Villarreal says:

    Are the links still available?

    1. Hi Wendy – oh no! It appears Scholastic has updated their resources which is causing error links! I have reached out to them and will fix asap! Thanks for catching this!

      1. Your welcome babe

  18. Anonymous says:

    I have an observation tomorrow and i learned about Blood and Breathing and i saw this while we were studying so, i’ll try to do this and see how it goes

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