Habits of the Heart
Time: 30-50 minutes
Materials (per group of 4)
Stopwatch or clock with a second hand / Paper / PencilsIntroduction Discussion:
· What is your pulse?
o Your pulse is a way to tell how fast or slow your heart is beating. It is a measurement of your heart rate – the rate at which your heart beats. The walls of your heart of made of really strong muscles that squeeze and relax to pump blood around your body. Your pulse is the number of times your heart beats each minute (what scientists call “beats per minute” or bpm)
· Why is your pulse so important?
o Your pulse can tell you how well your heart is working. It can be used to help find the cause of problems such as dizziness, fainting, chest pain or shortness of breath and whether your heart has an abnormal beating rhythm. Your pulse can also provide information about your health if it’s too strong or too weak.
· What do you need to check your pulse?
o All you need to check your pulse is a watch with a hand that measures seconds or a digital stop watch and two fingertips.
· How do you check your pulse?
o Checking your pulse is a simple way to find out how fast or slow your heart is beating. You can find your pulse a few places on your body. The easiest place to check your pulse is on your wrist or your neck.
To measure the pulse on your wrist:
· Hold your hand in front of you
· Gently place two fingers of your other hand (any two except
your thumb – your thumb has its own pulse) at the top of your
wrist.
· Move your fingers around until you feel a steady beat
· Once you do, count the beats for 15 seconds then multiply that
number by 4 to get your pulse.
To measure the pulse on your neck:
· Gently place two fingers (any two except your thumbs) just
below your jaw and two either side of your windpipe
· Move your fingers around until you feel a steady beat.
· Once you do, count the beats for 15 seconds then multiply
that number by 4 to get your pulse.
· What is your resting pulse?
o Your resting pulse is the pulse you take after relaxing for at least 10 minutes. This pulse is important because it can help determine if your heart is working properly.
· What should be my resting pulse rate?
o Many things, like your age, activity level and the time of day can cause changes in your resting heart rate. While there is no “normal” resting pulse, doctors have determined a range of healthy resting pulse rates
o Blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiratory rate are the routine vital signs measured in medicine. These vital signs remain relatively constant throughout our adult life. However, as infants and children grow and age, the normal range changes. Two tables of normal vital signs for the pediatric population are presented below.
Age (yr) / Respiratory Rate (breaths/min) / Heart Rate (beats/min)<1 / 30-60 / 100-160
1-2 / 24-40 / 90-150
2-5 / 22-34 / 80-140
6-12 / 18-30 / 70-120
>12 / 12-16 / 60-100
Activity:
In this activity we will explore our own pulse and see if we can find any trends or anything in common with our resting pulse. We will also explore our active pulse rates and see how long it takes for our heart to be back to our resting rate.
1. Ask the class to break into groups of four.
2. The groups will work together and take turns being the time keeper while the others count their pulse rates.
3. Please make sure to record all results on one sheet of paper (or on the whiteboard) for the group.
4. Ask: After figuring out your resting pulse rate and your group members do you see anything that stands out? Are they all the same? What would make them different? Are boys resting pulse rates different than females?
5. Create a large graph on the board. Ask each group to come up and plot their pulse using the correct color for boys and girls.
6. Ask the class what they see in terms of patterns or pulse rates on the graph.
7. Ask two group members in each group to be the active volunteer. Ask them to run in place quickly for one minute.
8. After they have completed a minute of running in place ask them to immediately take their active pulse rate
9. Have these students record their pulse every 60 seconds until they are back at their resting heart rate. Make sure that they record how long it takes to return to the resting rate.
10. After all groups have completed this activity spend some time sharing the results and seeing how long it took for our active heart rates to return to resting.
Discussion Questions
· How long did it take for your pulse to return to its resting rate?
· Based on our class results does gender play a role in your pulse?
· What do you think would happen if you continued to run in place for 5 minutes? 15 minutes?
· What can your resting and active pulse tell you about your health?
o If your resting pulse is more then 140 (if you’re 8-10) or 100 (if you’re 11-12) then it means your heart is working too hard! Similarly, if it takes a long time for your heart rate to come down after exercising then you should try to help your heart by fitting in more physical activity during your day
· What can you do to improve your pulse and keep your heart healthy?
o You can improve your pulse rate by being more active. The more you exercise, the healthier your heart will get and then better you’ll feel!
Extended Activity:
Have students compare their own heart rate with those of various animals. After sharing some of the information below, ask students if they see a connection between the size of an animal and its heart rate. Why might there be a connection?
Normal heart rate (beats per minute)
• Cats: 110-130 bpm
• Puppies: 70-120
• Dogs: 70-180
• Toy breeds (small dogs): 70-220
• Horses: 26-40
· Dog (30 lbs or less): 100-160
· Dog (30 lbs +): 100-160
· Puppy (<1 yr): 120-160
· Shrew: 588-1320
· Chipmunk: 660-702
· Mouse: 634
· Hamster: 300-600 (avg. 450)
· Chick: 350-450
· Chicken (Adult): 250-300
· Guinea Pig: 260-400 (avg. 280)
· Rat: 261-600 (avg. 328)
· Mink: 272-414
· Rabbit: 123-304 (avg. 205)
· Monkey: 192
· Cat: 120-220 (avg. 120)
· Dog: 100-130 (avg. 115)
· Pig: 55-86
· Human: 55-75 (avg. 70)
· Lion: 76
· Cow: 60-70 (avg. 65)
· Horse: 34-55 (avg. 44)
Although all mammals have circulatory systems similar to humans, heart rates among species are not at all similar. Generally speaking, the larger the animal, the slower it’s resting heart rate.
Camels and bats represent the two extremes of the scale, with most other mammals falling somewhere in between.