Chapter 1 THE NEED TO BREATHE Imagine that you are sleeping Your chest floats up and down Quietly your breath flows in and out You breathe slowly when you are asleep How do you breathe when you run fast 4
Next imagine that you are running a race Your mouth sucks in air Your nostrils stretch wide At the finish line you drop onto the grass As you gasp for breath your chest pumps up and down You breathe faster when you run than when you rest 5
Have you ever wondered why your breathing changes When you are relaxed you take slow shallow breaths When you are active you gulp fast deep breaths The more energy you use the more air you need But what does breathing have to do with energy ENERGY COMES FROM FOOD WHEN YOU EAT FOOD YOU PUT ENERGY INTO YOUR BODY
Energy and Breathing Energy is locked up inside the food you eat The air you breathe lets this energy out Air is made of different gases The gas that lets the energy out of food is called oxygen You always need to breathe because you are always using energy Even when you are asleep your heart is beating and your brain is working How much oxygen you need depends upon how much energy you use You need energy to run But you also need energy to think 7
