Summary:
Provides a brief description of the process of Homeostasis. Details an experiment exploring individual skin moisture rates during and immediately after physical activity.
Hypotheses
Perspiration
Depending on the individual skin moisture should increase during and immediately after physical activity
has taken place.
Heart Rate
The particpants heart rate will obviously increase significantly with the introduction of physical activity and will calm down during the rest periods
Core Temperature
The participants body temperature will remain constant through the rest periods, and should raise during the physical activity portion of the lab.
Blood Pressure
The participants blood pressure should increase during physical activity and should remain at a reasonable level during the rest periods.
Breathing Rate
Breathing rate will remain stable during the rest periods and will increase in number during the physical activity periods.
Analysis
As was stated in the hypothesis, the participants heart rate will obviously increase significantly with the introduction of physical activity and will calm down during the rest periods. After the activity, heart rate slowed down. I would suggest however that not sufficient time was given in between activity to allow the heart to return to a stable resting rate. However, looking at the data from the class chart, it is safe to say that many of the students' heart rates didn't differ much from their resting rate. This is due to the fact the activity was not extensive to the point of over exertion.
Under normal healthy conditions the heart (at rest) is required to pump a certain amount of blood through the system. Thus, it can be gathered that when the body undergoes a change in its output of energy that more blood is required to the working cells in the system. This in turn, causes the heart to pump more vigorously. Nevertheless, when activity is finished the system restores to its resting state. Personally, my heart rate increased during activity and return to near normal during rest. I did not find the activity to be over stimulating or over exerting in anyway.
Body temperature was lower immediately following activity as opposed to during the rest periods. This is because body temperature is generally stable while the body is at rest. Body temperature increased during physical activity. This is expected because as energy was exerted and thus, the body was heating up. The skin and the hypothalamus sense heat, as both contain thermo receptors. The skin senses external environment temperature, and internal environment temperature is sensed by the hypothalamus. When the body heats up the hypothalamus sends signals to release hormones from the pituitary gland. This is what causes us to sweat. This is a way for the body to release heat out of the body via water. Vasodilatation occurs when the blood is diverted to the skin to lose its excess heat. When the water is evaporated off the skin after activity, it takes the heat with it and leaves the body cool. This is why after physical activity the body can return to its normal temperature. Of course, as was expected body temperature and skin moisture had a positive correlation to one another. As body temperature increased so did skin moisture and as it decreased so did the latter. As was stated before sweat is the way for the body to cool itself down so it is only logical that sweat was produced on the skin during periods of peak performance. I did not perspire as much as I would during normal activity due to the fact that the clothes I was wearing did not keep the heat in.
Personally, my body temperature remained constant during the 10-minute walk and 5 minute run, as I did not wear heavy articles of clothing. This is significant because my body was essentially allowed to breath better with shorts and a cut of shirt on. Heat was constantly escaping from my body during the activity as there was no clothes to keep it in. Also the thermometer I was using did not accurately take readings of body temperature. Thus, the temperature being measured was not necessarily the temperature of the core of my body; it was the surface temperature of my body (skin). This reading fluctuated also due to the clothing I was wearing and weather outside and in the gym.
The hypothesis for blood pressure stated that it would remain stable during the rest periods and that it would increase during physical activity. The hypothesis was obviously correct. During physical activity, blood is required to pump faster and stronger to reach all the parts of the body and its cells. Moreover, the blood is required to transport essential nutrients like oxygen throughout the system. Thus, as blood flow increases throughout the body the pressure on the arteries and veins increases as well due to the speed at which it is traveling throughout the system. However, after activity ceased, so did the blood flow and as a result the pressure decreased in mm Hg. My blood pressure was all over the map in this lab. However, it is not safe to assume an accurate reading because I was not really certain on how to use the equipment properly. This would have made my results completely inaccurate.
As was originally thought, the participants breathing rate increased due to an increase in physical activity. At rest, the body usually has a stable breathing rate. A person who is standing still has a normal resting respiratory rate. If that person runs as fast as he/she can for 30 seconds, his/her respiratory rate will increase to meet the body's demand for oxygen. During the run, the body uses more oxygen than it does when it is standing still. To maintain homeostasis, the respiratory rate increases to meet the increased demand. Furthermore, when the person returns to a resting state, the respiratory rate eventually will return to a normal rate because of the decreased demand for oxygen.
This is the complete article, containing 951 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
