Purpose
To determine the difference between students’ resting pulse rates and their pulse rates during exercise and how that compares to older and younger students.
Additional information
A person’s pulse naturally increases during exercise as the heart pumps blood to the extremities faster. What is the difference between a students’ resting pulse rate and their pulse rate during exercise and how does this compare to both younger students and older students?
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Required materials
- Several student volunteers of three different grade levels
- Timer
- Journal or logbook
- Area in which students can exercise
Estimated Experiment Time
About an hour
Step-By-Step Procedure
- 1. Gather the youngest student volunteers. Have them sit comfortably for ten minutes. Measure their resting pulse rate and record the data in your journal.
- 2. Have each student do ten push ups, ten sit ups and jog in place for one minute. Measure their pulse rate after the exercise and record the data in your journal.
- 3. Repeat steps one and two with the students of the middle grade level and the highest grade level. Remember to record all data in your logbook.
- 4. Graph the results.
Note
You will need several student volunteers for this experiment. Make sure to record the ages of all student volunteers.
Observation
How large was the difference between the resting pulse rates and the pulse rates following exercise in the youngest group of students? How large was the difference between the two pulse rates in the middle group of students? How large was the difference in the oldest group of students? How do these numbers compare to each other? Does one group of students exhibit faster pulse rates than another or all the pulse rates very similar? Does one group of students have faster resting pulse rates than another group? Do you think that age makes a difference in how fast a person’s pulse rate is resting and after exercise?
Result
It is likely that the older group of students will have slower resting pulse rates and the youngest group of students will have a faster resting pulse rate. The pulse rates after exercise will most likely be similar, making the difference between the resting pulse rates and the rates after exercise in the youngest group smaller than that of the oldest group. How can this information be applied to adults who exercise?
Additional Resources
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