Introduction:
You
are about to set out to ride 330 miles through the infamous the
Tanami Desert from the Aboriginal community of Yuendumu to the cattle
station (ranch) of Moolooloo. The temperature will be over 100 degree
and there is no water other than what you will carry with you. So
it’s a good idea to find out how fit you are before setting
out!
Vocabulary:
- recovery
rate
- cardiovascular
Materials:
- stop
watch or watch with second hand
- journals
- pencils
- map
of the Northern Territory, Australia showing the aboriginal community
of Yuendumu and cattle station Moolooloo.
- Stationary
or exercise bicycle.
Preparation:
Learn
to calculate the recovery rate of a person’s cardiovascular
system. A traditional way to do this investigation is measuring
the pulse before and after exercise to determine the time taken
for an individual’s heart rate to return to normal.
- Pair
up with someone and make sure you have:
- A
stopwatch (1 between 2), and
- Your
journals and pencils.
Procedure:
- One
member of each pair measures the pulse of the partner. Holding
the wrist (or any other point of the body they know for checking
the pulse), count the number of heartbeats per 60-second period.
- Count
how many beats in 15 seconds and then multiply it by 4 to get
the total number of heartbeats per minute. Once the figure is
found, it is recorded into your journal.
- The
person whose heart rate was checked pedals on the bicycle for
2 minutes. No pulse is checked immediately afterwards. Exactly
4 minutes after the 2 -minute biking session the person’s
pulse is checked again for a 60 second period. The findings are
written down. The partners switch roles and repeat the process.
Analyze
and Conclude:
- When
the class is finished, come back together and discuss how to interpret
the information.
- Have
two figures written in your journal, pulse rate at rest and pulse
rate 4 minutes after the exercise burst.
- Subtract
one from the other to give the recovery rate that represents the
fitness (the lower the figure, the fitter they are).
- Find
your personal fitness level, then determine a class average based
on your group results.
Management
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