Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I was looking through a science project book and it had one called 'what type of exercise makes blood pressure go up?' After some research i decided to do this. When we decide what our science project is, our teacher had us write a project proposal. On the last page of mine she said to make it my own. I thought I could do different activities and test if that makes blood pressure rise. I'm not exactly sure what to do though. Could you give some suggestions?
Thank you!
~turkeyrabbit

Hi Turkeyrabbit,

It is great that you found a project that appeals to you in the book. I think what your teachers is after is for you to take it a step beyond the book. What other questions might apply to this topic? You mentioned comparing different kinds of exercise and that could work--maybe comparing something like yoga vs weightlifting vs running. You could also consider if the change in blood pressure is the same for people of different ages, or males vs females, or see how blood pressure relates to heart rate. Think about the experiment you have planned so far--what do you still wonder about? What other questions could you ask?

Good luck

Hi Turkeyrabbit,

You've already gotten some great advice. One thing I wanted to add is that you should note whether the type of exercise uses a lot of muscles in the body (like swimming, biking, and running), or targets a few muscles (like weight lifting). There is often a difference in blood pressure changes between whole-body exercise and targeted exercise. You could also look at one type of exercise, but increase the load. For example, have people run at different speeds on a treadmill (this will also change the heart rate, so you'll want to monitor that!).

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Good luck!
Heather

adance wrote:Hi Turkeyrabbit,

It is great that you found a project that appeals to you in the book. I think what your teachers is after is for you to take it a step beyond the book. What other questions might apply to this topic? You mentioned comparing different kinds of exercise and that could work--maybe comparing something like yoga vs weightlifting vs running. You could also consider if the change in blood pressure is the same for people of different ages, or males vs females, or see how blood pressure relates to heart rate. Think about the experiment you have planned so far--what do you still wonder about? What other questions could you ask?

Good luck

Thanks a bunch! I'm sure at what i wanna do now.
~turkeyrabbit

mostman wrote:Hi Turkeyrabbit,

You've already gotten some great advice. One thing I wanted to add is that you should note whether the type of exercise uses a lot of muscles in the body (like swimming, biking, and running), or targets a few muscles (like weight lifting). There is often a difference in blood pressure changes between whole-body exercise and targeted exercise. You could also look at one type of exercise, but increase the load. For example, have people run at different speeds on a treadmill (this will also change the heart rate, so you'll want to monitor that!).

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Good luck!
Heather

I'm now researching and muscles have a lot to do with blood pressure. Thanks for reminding me. i'll be sure to include that. Thanks a bunch!
~turkeyrabbit