Biology Lab 1

BIOL 100
Lab #1
Heart Rates
Jordan Palmer

When you go for a fast run, you notice that you start to pant and sweat. Have you ever thought about what happens to your heart and why? In this activity, you will investigate what happens to your heart rate as you increase your activity level.

Problem/Question:
What happens to a person’s heart rate as that person increases his or her activity level?

Background Information/Research:
Take some time to gather information on heart rates and how/why they fluctuate as a person’s activity level changes. You should list the information below. Make note of your sources. Questions: What is a normal resting heart rate? What is a normal active heart rate? How are these rates different for a person in good physical health vs. someone who is in poor physical health? What level is considered too low? What level is considered too high? (Use intext citation to cite your sources and include a short reference list in MLA or APA format.)

Most adults have a resting heart rate between 60-100 beats per minute (American Heart Association 2018). It is noted that Athletes can be even lower to around 40. A normal active heart rate is about 50-70% of your maximum heart rate with vigorous activity moving up to 70-85% (American Heart Association 2018). As I said earlier, the more active you are the lower your heart rate will be, extreme athletes have significantly lower heart rates than those with limited exercise or activity. Any heart rate lower than 40 would be of concern unless you are extremely active. Any heart rate over 100 would be of concern as well.

Hypothesis:
Use the information you gathered from the previous page to sensibly complete the statement below.
IF a person increases his or her activity level, THEN his or her heart rate will increase

BECAUSE your heart needs to pump extra food and oxygen to your muscles.

Experiment:
Use the materials and follow the procedures below to test your hypothesis. Your observations/data should be recorded in the table, and you should create an appropriately labeled bar graph to provide an additional illustration of your average data.

Materials:
Partners
Stopwatch
Writing utensil

Procedures:

1. Find your heart beat by placing two fingers on your wrist. Ask for assistance if you experience any difficulty with this task.
2. Count each thump as one beat.
3. Sit in your chair. Have your partner time you for ten seconds as you count the number of beats.
4. Multiply the number of beats by six. This is how much your heart beats in a minute while you are resting (your resting heart rate).
5. Record the number of beats in the data table.
6. Stand up and have your partner time you for one minute as you walk around the class. At the end of a minute count the number of beats for ten seconds. Multiply the number of beats by six to determine the number of heart beats in a minute while walking (your walking heart rate). Record the data in the data table.
7. Repeat all aspects of step number six, this time while running up and down the stairway (your running heart rate). Record your data.
8. Repeat steps one through seven with all members of the group and record all data.
9. Find the average heart rate for each category (resting, walking, and running) by adding the members’ heart rates and dividing by the number of individuals in the group.
10. Using Excel or a graph making software, create a bar graph illustrating your average data.

Member Name
Resting Heart Rate
Walking Heart Rate
Running Heart Rate
Jordan
60
72
100
Mike

90

108
120
Patsy
78
90
102

Average
76
90
107.33

Insert bar graph here!

Analysis:
Reconsider the experiment and refer to your data table and graph to answer the following questions.

1. What were the average resting, walking, and running heart rates for the group?
   Average resting rate: 76 Beats/min
   Average walking rate: 90 Beats/min
   Average running rate: 107.33 Beats/min

1. Why did you create a group average rather than simply using data from one person to make conclusions about the heart rate?
   This makes for a better and more accurate average or mean.

1. What did you (the experimenter) purposely change or manipulate in the experiment? Consider this the “cause” in a cause and effect relationship.
   I purposely manipulated the heart rate by allowing to rest, walking, and running.

1. What was the response to the factor you purposely changed in the experiment? Consider this the “effect” in a cause and effect relationship.
   The outcome or effect was an increase in the participants heart rate.

1. What factor in the experiment allowed you to determine if there was an actual change in heart rate as the activity level changed?
   The metric we used was Beats/min

1. What characteristics or components of the experiment were (or should have been) consistently the same or unchanged throughout?

The 3 people used for each event, resting, walking, and running, and by using the same activity for walking and running across all three participants.

1. What patterns or trends did you notice when looking at your data table and/or graph?

Physical Activity or exercise always increases heart rate.

1. Did you encounter any issues/problems during your experimentation that may have affected the accuracy of your data? Explain your reasoning.
   No

1. Does your data/results support your hypothesis? Explain your reasoning.

Yes, heart rate increased with activity.

Conclusion:
Formulate a conclusion to the original problem/question that is based on the analysis of your data. In your conclusion, be sure to re-state the problem/question, summarize what you did, and describe whether your data/results support your hypothesis. You conclusion should at least consist of 5 well-structured sentences.

For this experiment I was tasked with determining what happens to a person’s heart rate as that person increases his or her activity level. To start I first spent some time researching heart rate and how/why your heart rate decreases or increases while resting or doing physical activity. After this I made a hypothesis and then carried on with the experiment. I had myself, Mike, and Patsy first measure our resting rates and record followed by brisk walking and then getting a measurement of that. To finish the experiment we each did 1 minute of running and then recorded the results while we took a breather. The data we recorded supported my original hypothesis.

Works Cited
“Know Your Target Heart Rates for Exercise, Losing Weight and Health.” American Heart Association, healthyforgood.heart.org/move-more/articles/target-heart-rates.