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Respiration – The Effects of Exercise

AIM                                                                                                   

To observe the effect of exercise on breaths taken per minute

HOW DOES IT WORK?                                                   

 Time allocation: 45 Min

As a person exercises their breathing rate will increase substantially as the demand for oxygen increases. As the student exercises their breathing rate per minute can be measured with the clicking counter. It is expected that the amount of breathes per second will increase as the demand of oxygen increases when a person exercises, which means more air should be taken in to meet these needs. It is recommended that the experiment must be done in a room at a constant temperature.

MATERIALS

  • 1 Stopwatch
  • 1 clicking counter

METHOD:

  1. A test subject is selected and must be well rested before the experiment is done
  2. The amount of breaths are counted for one minute (timed using the stopwatch and counted using the clicking counter)
  3. The test subject the jogs on the spot for 5min
  4. His/her amount of breaths are counted for one minute (timed using the stopwatch and counted using the clicking counter)
  5. Step 3 and 4 are repeated for a further 30 min in intervals of 5 min (therefore a further 6 times)
  6. Breaths per minute are recorded as per the below table.

OBSERVATION

Record observations in a suitable table as the one below.

PRECAUTIONS:

  • It is recommended that the experiment is prepared well in advance.
  • Do not allow students to participate that have cardiac (Heart) or Respiratory issues due to the nature of this experiment as it may aggravate their condition.

Experiment should be performed in a temperature controlled room not exceeding a safe maximum temperature