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[casandra]

I just got my Science Fair topic approved, and I need help finding the basics of it. My topic is "How does the tempo of a song effect the heartbeat of the average teenager?" My brother is a drummer, and I have asked him to be my test subject, he has agreed, and now I need to pick a series of songs with different tempos. I need help on how to approach this, and if I could use simple everyday objects to test this. My project is due late February early March.

[ScienceExpert123]

dear casandra,

thanks for contacting science buddies' ask an expert. Regarding your science fair project, I would suggest testing a few different types of music (rock, pop, classical, ect.) and maybe if you want you can even test live instruments (such as your brother's drums, maybe a guitar, piano, ect.). You should take a group of people and subject each of them, individually, to each type of music. Before, during, and after each person listens to the music you should check their pulse rates and then compare and analyze your results.

How to measure your pulse rate:
Check your pulse at your wrist. Use two fingers - your index and middle - not your thumb. The thumb has a pulse of its own and can interfere with an accurate count. Measure the beats that you feel and record. Also, make sure that you measure the pulse rate of each person for an equal amount of time.

good luck,
scienceexpert123

[deleted-71536]

Dear Casandra,

This is a very cool topic, and actually a subject of active research in the scientific community!

As ScienceExpert123 indicated, it would be best if you can utilize more than one test subject. Make sure that you allow heart rates to come back to normal (same level as resting with no music) in between musical trials. You can use different kinds of recorded music and try to quantify (assign a number to) their tempos; for example, have a music teacher help you determine the musical timing of each song you use. If you use live music (like your brother's drums), you can quantify the tempo by counting the number of drum beats per minute.

Other factors to consider include the type of music that your subjects prefer. Do their heartbeats increase more or less with a familiar song? It may have no affect, but it would impress the judges that you accounted for this.

Please keep us informed of your progress. I think you will get some very interesting results!

Best wishes,
Heather

[maca]

dear casandra
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bye