Tag Archives: oxygen

How spiders breathe

When incey wincey spider climbed up the water spout – it was probably to get some air because spiders need to breathe just like us. Spiders exchange gases (breathe) in a similar way to insects. We’ve looked at insect breathing … Continue reading

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Chloroform breathing bacteria

In the movies, chloroform is what the villain pours onto a rag and stuffs into the face of the hero.  After some flailing of limbs, the hero passes out and is bundled into a white van and taken away to … Continue reading

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Why don’t birds breathe like the rest of us?

Birds breathe quite differently to us.  They don’t have a diaphragm and their ribs only move slightly when they breathe in.  Instead they use large air sacs like bellows to move air through their lungs.  It takes two full breaths … Continue reading

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Do plants breathe?

Well, we know that plants produce the oxygen that we breathe in…..photosynthesis right?  And we’ve previously explored how we use oxygen in a process called cellular respiration where we create ATP, the energy currency of the cell.  This currency lets us do … Continue reading

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Can you stop breathing? Frogs can………for winter

Things are dead if they stop breathing right?  How about if their heart stops?  I think I’d be pretty dead if my heart and breathing stopped for too long, in fact humans have only got about 4 minutes to be … Continue reading

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Insects and Plants Use the Same Strategy for Breathing Underwater

Check out this great article on insects and plants breathing underwater! Insects and Plants Use the Same Strategy for Breathing Underwater.

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Getting enough oxygen with severe respiratory disorders

Today I watched a beautiful short (7 min) film “Oxygen – The Old Man and His Bed” directed by Marc Issacs.  Bob, who suffers from a severe (un-named) respiratory condition, last went outside in 1982 to get permission to be … Continue reading

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So what’s all this oxygen about? Why we breathe part II

We explored how carbon dioxide is produced when sugars are broken down during cellular respiration on Monday and now understand why we must breathe out, but why exactly do we need the oxygen that we get when we breathe in?

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Why we need to breathe: Part I – carbon dioxide

What exactly is the big deal with breathing?  Why do we breathe?  Always.  It must be pretty important….so important that most of the time our body does it automatically.  Respiration (a fancy-pants word for breathing) is more than just breathing … Continue reading

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Whaaaat……eggs breathe? Part II: How bird, reptile and monotreme eggs exchange gases

Now we know how aquatic eggs (amphibians and fish) breathe, let’s explore how eggs that are normally laid on land exchange their respiratory gases.  The amniotes (reptiles, birds and mammals) mostly lay their eggs on the land, in burrows or … Continue reading

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