Research QuestionWhat is the effect of age on heart rate?IntroductionAimsFor my internal investigation I will be investigating if age has an effect on heart rate. In this investigation I am trying to conclude the relationship between age and heart rate. I choose to do my investigation on this specific topic because I am very interested in the circulatory system, especially how the heart works and how it adapts to exercise. I am also very curious if as humans get older, it is harder for the human heart to pump blood around the body. BackgroundThe science behind my research question is that as humans do exercise their heart rate should increase, “This has to do with how fit you are and your maximum heart rate, which, for adults, is about 220 beats per minute (bpm) minus your age”(Scientific American, A Division Of Nature America, Inc.).My independent variable (age) will affect my dependent variable (heart rate) because depending on your age you have a maximum heart rate.
This effects the dependent variable because a child that has a higher maximum heart rate as to a grown adult. For example a ten year old child has the maximum heart rate of about 210 beats per minute.. While a forty five year old adult has a maximum heart rate of about 175 beats per minute The results that I expect in this investigation is, that if you are older the lower your heart rate will be after the exercise. I think the adults will have a lower heart rate because it takes more time for the heart to transport blood around the body. I think research about the relationship between human age and heart rate matters because “Your resting heart rate is a good indicator of your cardiovascular health, because it reflects how hard your heart has to work to satisfy to the oxygen needs of the cells throughout your body” (Leaf Group Ltd). The average resting heart rate of a human ten years and older including adults and seniors is sixty to one hundred beats per minute. While a children can have a heart rate from sixty to two hundred and twenty beats per minute.
The reason your heart rate was higher when you were younger is because “Child has larger surface area to volume ratio than adult, (because is smaller): so child has more heat loss per unit area, so needs a higher metabolic rate than an adult to maintain the same body temperature”(The Naked Scientist). Figure 1:Figure 1 is a heart rate zone graph that shows different zones of heart rate for different age groups. This graph can allow us to see what is a healthy and not very healthy heart rate for different ages.
