Inside the Respiratory System Functions 5E Lesson
The 5E instructional model walks students through five phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. It flips the traditional lecture-first sequence on its head. Students explore a concept hands-on before you ever explain it, which means by the time you do explain it, they have something to hook the vocabulary onto.
I switched to the 5E model years ago and stopped going back. Kids retain more, ask better questions, and stop staring at me waiting to be told the answer. The Respiratory System Functions 5E Lesson is built on this framework from start to finish. Here's how it plays out across the five phases.
🎯 Engage
Day one is a teacher-led hands-on breathing-rate investigation. Each student counts how many breaths they take per minute while sitting still, records the data, then does 30 jumping jacks and immediately counts breaths again. Pairs compare results, and the whole class discusses what changed and why. Following the teacher directions, students sketch a quick model of where they think air goes once it enters their nose or mouth, then label the lungs with whatever they already know.
By the end of the period, kids have their breathing-rate data, their starter lung diagram, and they can explain in their own words that exercise causes them to breathe faster because their muscles need more oxygen and produce more carbon dioxide. Nobody has heard a vocabulary lecture yet. That's the point. They're walking into the rest of the unit with a working mental model of why we breathe, not just a memorized list of parts.
What's included in the Engage:
- Teacher directions for the breathing-rate investigation
- Printable student observation sheet with data table
- Answer key for the discussion questions
- Four learning objective slides (standard verbatim, "Describe" verb highlighted, "I CAN...", and "WE WILL...")
- An illustrated Body Systems Word Wall in English and Spanish covering the full unit vocabulary
🔬 Explore
The Respiratory System Functions Station Lab is the heart of the Explore phase. Students rotate through 8 stations (plus a 9th challenge station for early finishers) over one class period. The Station Lab is split into four input stations (where kids take in new information) and four output stations (where they show what they learned).
The four input stations:
- 🎬 Watch It! — Students watch a short video on the path of air through the respiratory system and answer guided questions on gas exchange in the alveoli.
- 📖 Read It! — A one-page reading passage at two differentiated levels, with a Spanish version included.
- 🔬 Explore It! — Students build a working lung model with a plastic bottle, two balloons, and a rubber band (one balloon is the lung, the other is the diaphragm) and demonstrate how pulling the diaphragm down inflates the lung.
- 💻 Research It! — Reference cards on the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, and the diaphragm, plus how the respiratory and circulatory systems work together.
The four output stations:
- 📋 Organize It! — A card sort where students place organs and structures in the correct order air travels from outside the body to the bloodstream.
- 🎨 Illustrate It! — Students draw a labeled diagram of an alveolus next to a capillary and show the direction oxygen and carbon dioxide travel during gas exchange.
- ✍️ Write It! — Three open-ended questions in complete sentences (this is where you see who really gets gas exchange).
- 📝 Assess It! — A short formative check with multiple choice and a fill-in-the-blank vocabulary paragraph.
Print and digital versions are both included. If you want the full breakdown of what happens at every single station, what students produce, and how to set it up, that's in our dedicated Station Lab post.
→ Read the full Respiratory System Functions Station Lab walkthrough 8 stations, materials list, teacher tipsThe Station Lab is included in the full 5E lesson. You don't need to buy it separately if you're getting the whole unit.
📚 Explain
Here's the real payoff of doing the Engage and Explore before the Explain: by the time kids hit this phase, they've already measured their own breathing rate and built a working lung model with their hands. They have a working understanding before you ever start naming things. The discussions get deeper, the questions get sharper, and you spend less time defining and more time pushing their thinking.
The Respiratory System Functions Presentation walks 7th graders through the full scope of TEKS 7.13A for this system, one concept at a time. The deck opens with the big idea: the respiratory system takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. The whole point of breathing is to make energy from food. Your cells use oxygen to release the energy in glucose, and they produce carbon dioxide as the waste product. The respiratory system gets the oxygen in and the carbon dioxide out. Then the deck walks students through the air's full journey, starting at the nose and mouth where air gets warmed, moistened, and filtered.
From there the deck zooms into the path of air. Air travels from the nose and mouth into the pharynx (the throat, which is shared with the digestive system), past the epiglottis (a flap of cartilage that closes the windpipe when you swallow so food doesn't go down it), then into the larynx (the voice box). From the larynx, air heads down the trachea (windpipe), which splits into the left and right bronchi, one leading into each lung. The bronchi keep branching into smaller and smaller tubes called bronchioles, like an upside-down tree of airways. At the very end of those branches sit the alveoli, tiny grape-like air sacs where the actual gas exchange happens. The deck includes a built-in Quick Action INB task where students drag the structures into the correct order from nose to alveolus.
Then the lesson tackles gas exchange, which is where the respiratory and circulatory systems lock together. Each alveolus is surrounded by capillaries (the tiniest blood vessels in the body). Oxygen passes from the alveolus into the blood through a thin wall just one cell thick. At the same time, carbon dioxide passes the other direction, from the blood back into the alveolus, where it gets exhaled out. That two-way swap, one cell wall apart, is the whole reason humans can be land animals. The lesson also covers the diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle below the lungs that flattens when it contracts (which pulls air in) and arches up when it relaxes (which pushes air out). Breathing is mechanical. The diaphragm changes the space inside your chest, and air rushes in or out to match.
The deck closes by tying the respiratory system back to the other body systems it depends on. The respiratory and circulatory systems work together because the blood carries oxygen from the alveoli to every cell in the body. The respiratory and nervous systems work together because the brainstem controls your breathing rate without you thinking about it. The respiratory and muscular systems work together because muscles like the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles between the ribs make breathing physically happen. That cross-system thinking is exactly what TEKS 7.13A is asking for.
What makes the Respiratory System Functions Presentation different from a typical body-systems slideshow is that kids are doing something on almost every slide. It's not a lecture deck. It's a participation deck. "Your answer:" prompts appear on most slides, Brain Breaks reset attention every few slides, and Quick Action INB tasks (path-of-air sequencing, gas-exchange diagrams, system-interaction mapping) show up throughout. Think About It prompts push deeper into bigger ideas like why high-altitude athletes train where the air is thin and how holding your breath affects the heart rate. The deck closes with a Check for Understanding tied back to the Essential Questions: What is the main function of the respiratory system? and How does the respiratory system interact with the other body systems?
The Explain materials in this product include:
- An editable Presentation at two differentiated levels (Dependent and Modified), works in PowerPoint or Google Slides
- A guided fill-in-the-blank student notes handout that mirrors the Presentation, with answer key
- A Paper Interactive Notebook (English and Spanish) students cut, fold, and glue into their notebooks
- A Digital Interactive Notebook at both levels with answer keys, for 1:1 classrooms or Google Classroom
The Explain runs across two class periods. The built-in Think About It prompts are where the real discussion happens, so let those breathe.
🛠️ Elaborate
The Elaborate phase is where students stretch what they learned about the respiratory system and put it into a project of their choosing. In this 7th grade life science lesson, that's a Student Choice Project board with six different project options plus a "design your own" pathway.
Students might build a 3-D model of an alveolus next to a capillary and demonstrate the direction oxygen and carbon dioxide travel, design an infographic of the path air takes from the nose to the alveolus, write a story from the point of view of a single oxygen molecule from the moment it enters a nostril to the moment it reaches a muscle cell, or record a short video explaining why we exhale carbon dioxide and water vapor (not just air). There are options for kids who love to write, kids who love to draw, kids who love to build, and kids who love to perform. Whatever the project, the point is the same: students apply gas exchange, the respiratory pathway, and system interactions to a real-world artifact instead of a worksheet.
Choice is the whole point. By letting students pick how they show their thinking, you get more authentic work for TEKS 7.13A and you actually get to see what they understand about the respiratory system.
The rubric (the part teachers actually want)
Every project, no matter which option a student picks, is graded on the same rubric. Five categories at 20 points each:
- Vocabulary (20 pts) — At least four words from the lesson are used in context.
- Concepts (20 pts) — At least two key concepts from the lesson are referenced.
- Presentation (20 pts) — The project grabs attention and is well-organized.
- Clarity (20 pts) — Easy to understand. Free of typos.
- Accuracy (20 pts) — Drawings and models are accurate. The science is right.
The rubric uses a minus / check / plus shorthand on every row so you can grade a stack of projects quickly without re-reading every criterion.
Two differentiated versions in one file
The standard version is for students ready for independent application of respiratory system ideas. The Reinforcement version is for students who need additional vocabulary or concept support. Three of the six options are swapped for projects with a tighter vocabulary tie-in, and "design your own" is replaced with "collaborate with the teacher" so kids aren't pitching cold.
✅ Evaluate
The Evaluate phase wraps the unit with a formal assessment. It's not all bubble-in. Several questions show students respiratory-system diagrams and alveolus images and ask them to identify the structure, the direction of gas exchange, or the system interaction at play.
The full assessment has 12 questions across five formats:
- Multiple choice (4 questions) covering the path of air, the function of the diaphragm, gas exchange in the alveoli, and the structures of the respiratory system
- Hotspot / visual (2 questions) where students click the alveoli on a respiratory system diagram and identify the diaphragm on a cross-section image
- Multiselect (2 questions) where students pick all the structures air passes through on the way to the alveoli, and all the gases that are exhaled
- Short answer (2 questions) on how the diaphragm makes breathing happen mechanically, and on how the respiratory and circulatory systems work together to deliver oxygen to muscle cells
- Multipart scenario (2 questions) with a real-world example (a student running a mile) where students explain why breathing rate increases, identify the system interactions involved, and trace an oxygen molecule from the nose to a leg muscle
A modified version is included for students who need additional support. Fewer multiple-choice distractors and sentence-starter scaffolds on the short-answer items.
If you've taught all five phases, this assessment shouldn't surprise anyone. It's a chance for kids to show you they get it.
How everything fits together
If you want the whole experience (Engage hook, the Station Lab as the Explore, the Explain day with Presentation and interactive notebook, the Student Choice Elaborate, and the Evaluate assessment all in one download), that's the Respiratory System Functions Complete 5E Science Lesson.
If you only need the one-day hands-on activity, the Station Lab works as a standalone. Most teachers buy the full 5E because the Station Lab works harder when it's bookended by a strong Engage and a follow-up Explain. But both are honest options.
Get the Respiratory System Functions 5E Lesson
Frequently asked questions
Does this cover all of TEKS 7.13A?
For the respiratory system, yes. The full standard asks students to describe the function and interactions of all 10 major body systems. This lesson covers the respiratory system in depth, including gas exchange and how it interacts with the circulatory, muscular, and nervous systems. We have nine more 5E lessons for the other body systems under the same standard.
What do my students need to know before this lesson?
A basic understanding of cells, tissues, and organs from earlier grade-level standards. If kids already know that cells need energy to work, they're ready to learn why the body needs oxygen.
How long does it take to teach?
Done with fidelity, about 10 class periods of 45 minutes each: one day for the Engage, two days for the Station Lab, two days for the Presentation and Interactive Notebook, three days for the Student Choice Project, and one to two days for review and the assessment. A compressed sample plan is included in the file if you need to move faster.
Do I need special supplies?
Just empty plastic bottles, balloons, rubber bands, and scissors for the Explore It! lung model. Stopwatches or timers for the Engage. Most teachers already have what they need.
Does this work for digital classrooms?
Yes. Every component has a digital version. The Station Lab is fully digital-ready (Google Slides), the Presentation works in Google Slides, and the Student Choice Projects can be submitted as videos, slide decks, or written work.
Is this 5E lesson aligned to NGSS too?
It aligns with MS-LS1-3 (using arguments supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells). Built TEKS-first, but the standards overlap.