GAS EXCHANGE
The Importance of Oxygen in Animals
Oxygen is essential for the life of any animal. It is extremely important to the respiration process. This body system keeps an organism alive by allowing oxygen to come into a person or animal's body and allow carbon dioxide to be released. Oxygen accepts electrons in the respiration process. It is transported by red blood cells and helps out the mitochondria by letting go of energy by means of molecules of food. Oxygen supplies our cells in order for them to function. It also assists in cellular respiration, which is highly important for survival and for producing ATP. Cellular Respiration consists of energy being stored in glucose to make ATP. The process involves glucose and oxygen being converted into carbon dioxide, water, and energy, also known ATP [1] (see cellular respiration picture below). The oxygen ends up in the mitochondria after diffusion happens, which is when starches diffuse into a cell, through the cytoplasm and then into the mitochondria to make the ATP. In humans, we breathe by having air come into our nasal cavities, through the larynx, trachea, and then the lungs. In the lungs, the air goes through the bronchi, bronchioles, and the alveoli. [2] Also, your diaphragm tightens up when you breathe in. Oxygen is one of the most highly needed and used elements in the scientific world, we would be nowhere without it.
Gas Exchange in the Green DarnerGreen darners have two different ways of breathing, depending on the stage they're in. In their nymph stage, they are living underwater, so they breathe through gills that are located in their rectal chamber. Using their gas exchange system, they take in oxygen through an exoskeleton, and then "extract dissolved oxygen from water through their gills." [1] However, they breathe water (which has oxygen in it) rather than just oxygen itself. Oxygen also diffuses into the skin to release carbon dioxide. Their breathing occurs through the jet propulsion that happens in their rectal chamber and anus. Adults on the other hand are above water, and so they are able to breathe through holes placed in their abdomen and thorax. These holes are called spiracles. Otherwise, the rest of the dragonfly's respiratory system has similar aspects to a human's, including a trachea. They have large, long tracheae that get the oxygen from the spiracles into the cells.
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