This article describes an easily made physical lung model for teaching about lung ventilation. It has rectified some major shortcomings of the bell-jar balloon model by having a fluid-filled “pleural cavity,” a dome-shaped “diaphragm,” and an inflated “lung” at rest. The model can be used to tackle some misconceptions about ventilation as well as to learn some difficult concepts such as the negative pleural pressure and pneumothorax.

Pulmonary gas exchange is a complex component of respiratory physiology. For many students, the movement of unseen gases can seem abstract and confusing. The “Gas Exchange Game” is a novel board game designed for use in a second-semester anatomy and physiology course. Students apply textbook knowledge of the laws of gas exchange and use the game board and pieces to see concrete examples of how gases move in the human body.