C6H12O2 + 602 6H2O + 6C02 + ENERGY
The above is the formula for aerobic respiration.
I may find that I get a bit of oxygen debt and my muscle might become fatigued, if this happens I will have an increase in the breathing rate to increase the amounts of oxygen in the body to make it more stable. This would remove the build up of lactic acid produced by our bodies when overloaded with carbon dioxide.
In my exercises I will have an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in my body so I will breathe a lot quicker than normal. In my experiment I will see a steady increase in the number of breaths per minute during my exercises. If I have an increase in the number of breaths it will reduce the chances of the build up of lactic acid which will fatigue the muscles in the body so the increase in the number of breaths per minute will reduce these chances.
So in this experiment I will be looking at how the number of breaths increases to either prevent build up of lactic acid or to remove the lactic acid this will all be valid to help my results show that the increase in breathing is due to increase in the activity. For example sprinting will have a major build up of lactic acid and then you will have to repay the loss of oxygen.
The Circulatory System.
The circulatory system will play a big part in my experience because if the heart is weak then my pulse rate will be very high. The different exercises will affect the body in different ways
because the more strenuous the exercise the harder the heart has to work. If the heart us at its resting rate and you sprint away then the heart has to work extremely fast to catch up with the body at this pace.
If I don’t get an increase in my pulse rate then my body must be extremely healthy or it has no reaction to the exercises that I am doing.
Here is a diagram of the heart:
The heart pumps blood in the following order starting at the pulmonary artery it then goes to the lungs where it is oxygenated; it then goes back to the heart via the pulmonary vein into the left atrium. From the left atrium it goes through the heart and into the left ventricle then into the Aorta which then goes on a trip around the body removing and supplying cells with vital nutrients required. It then returns to the heart via the Vena Cava into the right atrium then down into the right ventricle and finally pumped back up through the pulmonary artery to start its trip around the body again.
The red blood cells carry the oxygen and are described as biconcave discs, the name of the protein that picks up the oxygen in the red blood cells are called haemoglobin and when it picks up oxygen it becomes oxyhaemoglobin.
This relates to my experiment because I will be taking my pulse rate and this will happen before and after exercise, this will be helpful in my experiment because I could plot the pulse rate next to the breathing rate. If I did this I could see if the graph increases or decreases the more strenuous the activity. I could also see if the two rates increase with each other or does one increase more than the other in certain activities that are carried.
Homeostasis.
Homeostasis is the way in which our bodies regulate the internal environment this is how people in cold countries survive or even have managed to adapt to live in the extreme cold or hot countries in which they live in.
Homeostasis controls the temperature of our inner cores it keeps the inner body at a safe 37 degrees Celsius. Humans have an advantage but animals like a snake for example don’t and can’t control their body temperatures so they heat up during the day and cool down at night.
The amount of glucose in our blood is controlled by insulin produced in the pancreas, then released into the blood. If there is too much glucose in the blood then it is converted by insulin to glycogen and is stored in the liver until it is needed.
The body controls your body temperature by a combination of sweating and blood vessels moving closer to the surface of the skin or some people relax to reduce the amount of heat that is produced in hot climates but in cooler climates this might be the opposite.
This will play an important part in my experiment because if my body temperature increases homeostasis will kick in and cool me down again.
In my experiment I will record the temperature to see if it changes. If it changes from test to test I will include this in my evaluation.
I predict that the more strenuous the exercise that I do the higher my pulse and breathing rates will be. This will be because the cells in my body will require more oxygen to repay the oxygen debt and start work efficiently again, to do this requires an increase in the number of breathes and this then needs the heart to increase its rate to supply the cells with oxygen enriched blood. My body temperature will only rise a little bit and this will only be a small amount as my body is able to control its temperature because of homeostasis as mentioned above in the background knowledge. Homeostasis also controls the glucose levels in the blood, so homeostasis will increase the amounts of glucose in the blood to suit the exercise that is currently being done at the time.
Equipment.
The equipment that I will be using is as follows: -
- Stop watch.
- Head thermometer.
- Sports kit.
- Trainers.(safety reasons)
- Pen and paper.
I will use the equipment above to carry out the tests that I require to get the results that I need to make an accurate and clear conclusion.
I will keep myself safe by wearing trainers to give some form of shock absorption and this will also increase the amount of grip that I have to stay well balanced. I will also make sure that my shoe laces are tied to prevent unwanted trips.
I will keep it a fair test by keeping the amount of time per test the same and keep the time that I take to do my pulse and breathing rate the same to get accurate and clear results.
