Department of Mathematics Education
EMAT 6700, J. Wilson
Pulse Rate
J. Matt Tumlin
Comparing your resting heart rate, exercise
heart rate, and recovery heart rate is an ideal situation to represent positive
and negative numbers. Students will find
their resting heart rate, exercise heart rate, and recovery heart rate to find
the class average rates. The data is
generated in class.
To prepare for this activity, ask the class
about averaging. Discuss how they
average their grades. Be sure students
know how to read a stopwatch, including reading hundredths of seconds and
beyond. Do not forget to remind students
that one-minute equals 60 seconds.
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Directions
The materials you will need for this activity include
timers and calculators. You can have
students can work in groups of three.
The roles for the three
students are: timer, recorder, and
jogger. The roles will then switch until
everyone has been the jogger. Locate
your pulse. The two pulses you can find
most easily are the radial pulse and the carotid pulse. The radial pulse is
located on your wrist near the base of your thumb. The carotid pulse is on the side of your throat
beside your jaw. Find your pulse and
count the number of beats in a 10 second period. Multiply this number by 6 to get the number
of beats per minute. Write the number of
beats per minute on a sheet of data paper as your resting pulse rate. Run in place for one minute. Immediately count your pulse beats for a 10
second period. Multiply this number by 6
to get the beats per minute. Record the
number of beats as your exercising pulse rate.
Rest for five minutes. Then count
beats for a 10 second period. Multiply
this number by 6 to get the beats per minute.
Record this number as your recovery pulse rate. On the chalkboard, write the headings for
resting pulse rate, exercising pulse rate, and recovery pulse rate. Record all the data for each class member on
the chalkboard. Copy all the data to
your record. Calculate the average pulse
rate of the class for each state of activity.
Use integers to report the difference between your pulse rate and the
class average for each kind of rate. Use
integers to report the increase form resting pulse rate to exercising pulse
rate and the decrease from exercising pulse rate to recovery pulse rate. Report these changes for your own pulse rates
and for the average pulse rates for the class.
When the lab is completed, discuss the meanings of the
negative and positive integers in the lab results. As enrichment, have students determine their
personal target heart rate during exercise.
Students can use the following formula to approximate the recommended
average target heart rate of 70% of their maximum heart rate: 220 – your age. Students can also use this formula to
determine the target heart rate of family members, friends and classmates. Then have students calculate the difference
between the resting heart rate and the target heart rate.