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LAB
How Does Fatigue Affect Muscle Performance?

Problem
A condition known as muscle fatigue occurs when certain waste products of
muscle activity (lactic acid) build up in the cells. Until these waste chemicals
are removed, the fatigue will continue.

Do the Following Activity:

Hold a spring-type clothespin between your thumb and index finger. Pinch the
ends together completely (until the two ends touch) and release them. Do this
as rapidly as possible for one minute. Record the number of times you could
squeeze the clothespin:

Hypothesis: Make a prediction of how many squeezes youll be able to do.

If I squeeze a close pin each second i might get 50.
In this experiment, I predict that I will be able to squeeze the clothespin
above_50___ times in one minute. I made this prediction because ___
Dependent variable We will measure how many squeezes we can get in 1 min.
Independent variable
Control The fingers and time + dominate hand
Data/Results:

Trial # # of Squeezes in 1 minute

1 122
2 130
3 137
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4 164
Average 138.25

Boys Girls

140.013 155.3

Conclusion: (Analyze your data and summarize your findings. Sate how the
results relate to the hypothesis.)

In this experiment we tested girls and boys and we found out girls have
stronger finger muscles in this class. My hypothesis was If I squeeze a close
pin each second I might get 50. My hypothesis was correct I got higher than
50. My hypothesis was also wrong because the girls beat us with a higher score
and I thought the boys were gonna do better. Each time I got higher than my
original score.

Reflection Questions:

1. Could you do as many in a minute the fourth time as you could do

the first time? Provide a biological explanation for these results.
Yes I could because I can even get higher than my first score.
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2. What does an increased pulse rate indicate about the heart rate
and flow of blood in someones body?
It increases as the pulse rate __gos
faster__________
It decreases as the pulse rate _slows
down__________

3. If you want to increase your clothespin-squeezing rate, would you

suggest exercising or resting before you did it? Explain why you think
your choice is correct. Yes because then people would calm down also
they would need to exercise so you could do it faster.

4. What do you think would happen to the number of squeezes if you

were asked to do a 5th trial for clothespin squeezing? I think my
numbers will increase.

5. What effect did muscle fatigue have on the action of your hand
muscles?
The effect was my hands got faster in squeezing than any time before.