Name: Regulation of Human Heart Rate

Date:

Part 1: Pulse
Introduction In medicine, one's pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the heartbeat by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated (Touched / Felt) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed against a bone, such as at the neck (carotid artery), at the wrist (radial artery), behind the knee (popliteal artery), on the inside of the elbow (brachial artery), and near the ankle joint (posterior tibial artery). The pulse can also be measured by listening to the heart beat directly (auscultation), traditionally using a stethoscope. The rate of the pulse is observed and measured by tactile or visual means on the outside of an artery and is recorded as beats per minute or BPM. Food for Thought -Why do you need to have a heart? -Why do you need to have blood circulate to all the parts of your body? -How does your heart pump blood? -Does your heart always beat at the same rate? 1. List some activities or stimuli that you think may increase a person's heart rate. An activity is something a person does, and a stimulus is an input from the environment around a person.

2. Why would it be useful for the heart to beat faster during these activities or in response to these stimuli?

Measuring Heart Rate Accurately Each time the heart beats; blood is pumped into the arteries. As the blood surges into the arteries during a heartbeat, each artery stretches and bulges. This brief bulge of the artery is called a pulse. You will be measuring heart rate by counting the number of pulses in the artery in the wrist in a 30 second interval. To feel the pulse, find the artery in your wrist or on your throat. Wrist: Place the tips of the first two fingers of one hand on your wrist of your other hand. Fingers should be over toward the thumb side of your wrist. Throat: Find the small notch close to the back of your jaw. Slowly slide fingertips on to the neck from this Point. You may need to press quite firmly in order to feel the pulse of blood that each heartbeat sends through the artery. Don't use your thumb to feel the pulse in the wrist, because your thumb has a pulse of its own. 1

Name: Regulation of Human Heart Rate

Date:

To measure heart rate, count the number of pulses in 20 seconds. Multiply that number by 3, this will give you the number of heartbeats per minute. It is important to check the accuracy of your heart rate measurements. Make sure you have practiced taking heart your rate a few times before beginning the test.

Part 2: Recording Results

Once you have recorded your baseline Heart Beats Per Minute (BPM) record again after doing the following: (Choose one of the following or related activities: Running on the spot, jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers, squat jumps, lunges, etc activity should be the same one for every time interval)

Record your heartbeat between every activity Period!

Baseline BPM: __________ 1. Do your activity for 10 seconds (Record BPM) Beats in 20 sec. ________ 2. Do your activity for 30 seconds (Record BPM) Beats in 20 sec. ________ 3. Do your activity for 1:00 (Record BPM) Beats in 20 sec. ________ 4. Do your activity for 1:30 (Record BPM) Beats in 20 sec. ________ 5. Record in 30 second intervals until your heart rate returns to near baseline. (This may take 1-4 minutes; you may have to record 2-4 times) o Heart rate after 30 seconds or rest: ___________ o Heart rate after 60 seconds or rest: ___________ o Heart rate after 90 seconds or rest: ___________ o Heart rate after 120 seconds or rest: ___________

Part 3: Graphing Results

We will be creating a line graph of our BPM to show the effect of exercise on the heart. Begin with graphing paper in a landscape view. Put your name, date and title on the top. o (eg. Title Pearces Pulses or George Graphically Gains BPM) o Labels should be used to properly identify the parts of the graph.

Name: Regulation of Human Heart Rate

Date:

Along the X-axis you will record the amount of time you did the activity of your choice. o Time should be counted in seconds, and scale should nicely fit the page. o The same activity every time, run on spot in different time increments. Along the Y-axis you will record your heart rate in beats per minute (BPM). o Heart rate will be recorded in Beats Per Minute. o Always use same amount of time. Minimum of 30 seconds of recording When you are done graphing your results please answer the follow reflection questions.

Part 4: Reflection
Why did your heart rate increase when you exercised? (What do your muscles need to during exercise? What is being taken away from muscles?)

How long did it take for your heart rate to return to a point close to baseline? Was it fast (30 sec - 1:00) or slow (2:00- 4:00)? What do you think this means?

What was the highest heart rate you reached? According to this equation: MHR = 220 Age. What is your max heart rate? Did you get close to your max?