The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

The Heart Rate Investigation

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The Heart Rate Investigation

A 7th grade STEM lesson

Georgina Matzkin

May 19, 2024

Notes for teachers

• This lesson takes place in the classroom for one or two hours.

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• If the classroom is small, the jumping jacks need to be done outside so students have enough room to do the jumping jacks (arm’s length).

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• The emphasis of this lesson is for students to see that their heart rate will increases after 1 minute of jumping jacks because the cells need additional oxygen while exercising, making the heart beat faster.

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• Prior to this investigation teacher needs to review how the heart functions and discuss the following: superior vena cava, the right atrium, the right ventricle, pulmonary artery, the left atrium, the left ventricle, and the aorta. This way students see how the blood travels within the heart.

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• Students that have a broken/hurt leg or foot would only take their resting pulse and would not be allowed to jump due to their injury.

List of Materials

• Stopwatch (or analog watch)
• Enough space for students to do jumping jacks (arm’s length)
• Lab document (for science notebook)

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Standards

7.L1U1.10

Develop and use a model to explain how cells, tissues, and organ systems maintain life (animals).

Science and Engineering Practices:

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• ask questions and define problems
• develop and use models
• plan and carry out investigations
• analyze and interpret data
• use mathematical and computational thinking
• construct explanations and design solutions
• engage in argument from evidence
• obtain, evaluate and communicate information

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Cross Cutting Concepts:

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• Cause and effect
• Patterns

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Standards

Standards for Mathematical Practices (MP)

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

4. Model with mathematics.

5. Use appropriate tools strategically.

6. Attend to precision.

7. Look for and make use of structure.

8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

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Objectives:

• I can explain how the blood is pumped throughout the heart.
• I can write a question on how my heart will react once I start doing jumping jacks and write it in on the “Heart Rate Investigation”.
• I can write a hypothesis using “if”, “then”, and “because” statement predicting how many beats per minute my heart will beat after 1 minute of doing jumping jacks..
• I can record my pulse rate at rest, after 1 minute of jumping jacks, and pulse rate after 1 minute of resting.
• I can make a bar graph, write a title to the graph, and label the x- and y-axis.
• I can write a conclusion and explain my observations to the “Heart Rate Investigation”.

Agenda

Day 1: (60 minutes)

-Have students read the “Heart Rate Investigation” as well as the procedures on the lab document.

-Teacher needs to review/show what a jumping jack is so students understand what they need to do (focusing on both hands and feet so students know how to jump).

-Students write their own question and hypothesis on their lab document.

-Students take their pulse at rest and record their pulse on the lab document.

-Students do their jumping jacks for one minute and record the number on their lab document (teacher times the class and all students do their jumping jacks at the same time). Students can also jump 30 seconds and times that by 2 to get their 1 minute of jumping.

-Students will count their beats per minute and record their pulse again after one number of rest (teacher times the class at the same time so they can gather their data).

-Students will continue taking their pulse to see how long it takes for their pulse to return to resting.

Day 2: (30-40 minutes)

-Students will graph their bar graph.

-Students will add this to their graph: a title, the x- and y-axis, pulse rate at rest, pulse rate after 1 minute of jumping jacks, pulse rate after resting 1 minutes, the correct intervals for graphing.

-Students will write their conclusion by using the following:

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-Students will color the bar graphs with color pencils or crayons or markers.

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Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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Does exercising make our heart beat/pump faster or slower? Why do you think so?

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Hands-on Activity Instructions

Students will do the jumping jacks by spreading out in the class (arms length). If the classroom is small, this could be done outside so students do not bump into each other. Students will do the following:

1. Record their pulse rate at rest, by counting the pulse beats on the wrist for 1 minute.

2. Do jumping jacks for 1 minute and immediately record their pulse rate again for 1 minute.

3. Rest and record the pulse rate for 1 minute and record their pulse rate again.

4. Observe and record long does it take for their pulse rate to return to the resting level?

Assessment

Did students write a question that is testable?

Did the students write a hypothesis predicting what their heart rate would be after doing one minute of jumping jacks and explain why they think that?

Did students find their pulse and were they able to take their pulse for one minute at rest?

Did students find their pulse and take their pulse after doing one minute of jumping jacks?

Did students find their pulse and take their pulse after resting for one minute (after doing the jumping jacks)?

Did students graph their data, label the x- and y-axis, give their graph a title, and create bar graphs?

Did students write a conclusion to the “Heart Rate Investigation”? Is it written in paragraph form with little to no grammatical errors?

Student sample

Differentiation

-One way to differentiate in this lesson is for the teacher to walk around the room and see if there are students that need help finding their pulse. Students can take their pulse on their wrist or neck.

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-Another way to differentiate is for the teacher to pre-label the x- and y-axis on the graph as well as label the intervals on the y-axis, once the jumping jacks have been completed.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

-Students who are successful and complete their bar graph right away can use other forms of exercise like running in place, or another form of exercise that the teacher approves, so students can compare if their beats per minute stays the same or if it changes based on the exercise.

-Students can also increase the amount of running or doing jumping jacks from 1-minute to 2-minutes and see if their beats per minute changes or stays the same.