How physical activity affects heart and breathing rates

Class: 6ème, 3ème

Lesson: La respiration chez les vertébrés. L'appareil respiratoire/circulatoire

Rationale: Demonstrate how exercise affects the heart and breathing rates.

Materials:

watch with second hand

2 students

Procedure:

1. Show students how to take their pulse and breathing rates. Some students have trouble finding the pulse in the wrist so have them take it at the neck.

2. Have the whole class count their pulse and breathing rate for 15 seconds and multiply by 4.

3. Put the following table on the board.

ACTIVITE	POULS/60 see	RESPIRATION/60 see
Au repos
Modérée
Vigoureuse

4. Select two students.

5. Have them take their pulse and breathing rate au repos and enter them in the table.

6. Have one student walk back and forth in the room for 1 minute (activité modérée).

7. At the same time have the other student run in place for one minute (activité vigoureuse).

8. Afterwards have them take their pulse and breathing rates again and enter them in the table.

9. Discuss the results.

Note: Students tend to breathe faster when they know that their rate is being counted. To avoid this and also to save time this exercise can be limited to monitoring only the pulse.

Source: Silver Burdett Laboratory Manual. D. 283.