Breathing and heartbeat: at rest and after exercise
Count your heartbeats and breaths for 15 seconds while sitting still, then after walking, skipping and running, and again as you rest. See how hard your body works, and how quickly it calms down.
Core concept
In short: Exercise and rest, and watch how your heartbeat and breathing change.
Exercise makes our muscles need more oxygen and food, so we breathe faster and the heart beats faster; both slow down again as we rest
Topic: Life processes
Breathing and the beating of the heart are life processes that never stop. Every part of the body needs oxygen: A gas in the air that living things need to breathe and that fire needs to burn. All key words and food to get energy: What is needed to make things move, heat up, light up or grow. All key words. We breathe in to take oxygen into our lungs, and the heart pumps blood to carry the oxygen and food around the body. Each beat of the heart pushes blood into the arteries, and you can feel it as a pulse at your wrist or neck. A good way to measure is to count for 15 seconds and multiply by 4, which gives the number in one minute. When you exercise, your muscles work harder, so they need more oxygen. What do you think happens to your breathing and your pulse?
What you will learn
- Measure the pulse and the breathing rate by counting for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4.
- Compare the pulse and breathing rate at rest and after different activities.
- Explain why exercise makes us breathe faster and the heart beat faster.
- Describe how the body recovers after exercise.
Before you start
- Count to 50 and multiply by 4.
Materials
- Some space to walk, skip and run, and a skipping rope
Equipment
- A watch or phone with a stopwatch
Procedure
- Sit still, count your heartbeats and breaths for 15 seconds, and record.
- Skip for two minutes, then count straight away and record.
- Walk, and later run, for two minutes, counting straight away after each, and record.
- After skipping, rest and count again after 1, 3 and 5 minutes, recording each.
How this simulation is simplified
- The numbers are for a typical healthy Class 6 student; your own may be a little higher or lower.
- Each activity lasts two minutes before counting.
- Counts are for 15 seconds; the rate a minute is the count × 4.