Form 3 Science students at St Margaret College Secondary School, Verdala, Cospicua, recently held a science practicum during which they learnt how to measure lung capacity using a measuring cylinder, a transparent plastic tube and water basin similar to a spirometer.

A spirometer is an apparatus for measuring the volume of air inspired into and expired out of the lungs. An average person breathes in around 11,000 litres of air each day.

Science teacher Martin Azzopardi supervising a student during the experiment.

During the practicum, the students had to hold the tube, take a deep breath and blow until there is no air left in their lungs. Blowing into the measuring cylinder displaced a volume of water and replaced it with air.

The maximum amount of air one can breathe in and out is a person’s vital lung capacity. Everybody’s vital lung capacity is different, depending on factors such as their age and fitness. By exercising regularly one can increase vital lung capacity, which enables more oxygen to enter the body to be transported to the cells, thereby increasing their performance.

At the end of the science practicum the students were assigned a science task and experiment supervised by their science teacher Martin Azzopardi, assisted LSE Kenneth Abela, and they performed very well and scored high in the assessment test.

Azzopardi said: “The science practicum is designed to provide students with practical work experience and emphasise the importance of learning by doing.”