The Asthma Wizard
Chapter 2: What Is Asthma?
This is Zack. Zack has asthma. Lots of kids have asthma. Asthma can make it hard to breathe sometimes. Pretend you can see inside Zack's lungs. Lungs look like upside down trees. Zack breathes in air through his nose and mouth. The air goes through tubes called airways. Airways are in the lungs. See the air going in and out of Zack's lungs.
The wizard will help you take a closer look at the airways. Look through the wizard's magnifying glass. Airways have muscles wrapped around them. They look like stripes on a candy cane. There is lining inside the airways. This lining makes mucus. When the airway is open, air can get in and out easily.
Put your mouse on the picture of the wizard, now here is a closer look at airways with asthma.
- The lining gets red and puffy, like your nose does when you have a cold.
- The lining also makes more mucus.
- The muscles around the airways are tight.
These three things will make the airways small and tight, that is why it is harder to breathe with asthma.
Ok, apprentice if you answer the question correctly you get to print out a picture of the airways so you can color it.
What happens in the lungs with Asthma?
