
Music, Stairs, and Heart Rate
Easy
What happens to your heart rate when you exercise with music playing? Your heart speeds up when you climb stairs. But the type of sound around you might push it even higher.
You walk up and down stairs for three minutes and record your heart rate. Then you repeat the same exercise while rock music plays. You do it a third time with classical music playing.
The results showed that music raised the heart rate compared to exercising in silence.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that music will not have an effect on the heartbeat.
Science Concepts Learned
Heart Rate
Your heart beats faster when your body works harder. Walking up and down stairs for three minutes raises the number of beats per minute. Music playing during the same activity can push the heart rate even higher.
Exercise Physiology
Exercise physiology studies how your body changes when you move. Your heart speeds up when you climb stairs. Walking up and down stairs for three minutes and recording your heart rate shows how much the body responds to that activity.
Circulatory System
Your heart speeds up during exercise to move blood faster. Outside sounds can change this rate even more. Music raised the heart rate above what stair climbing alone did.
Method & Materials
You will have kids walk up and down stairs for 3 minutes and record their heartbeat. Then you will have them do the same thing 2 more times, except that music will be playing (rock and classical) while they are running.
You will need a stopwatch, a recording device, and music.
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See what’s includedResults
The results showed that music did raise the heartbeat. This was an unexpected observation.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it shows how music can affect our bodies in unexpected ways.
Also Consider
Variations to consider include testing different types of music or testing different activities while listening to music.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related video
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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