STEP INTO THE GED
Unit Project: The Circulatory System

RETURN TO: The Circulatory System Passage
 

You will have two choices here.  Pick one.

Project 1: Some drugstores and the drugstores at WalMart have free blood pressure reading machines. If you live close to a place like this, keep track of your blood pressure for about a week. (You may want to tell the pharmacist what you are doing.) Create a chart of the results you obtained. Your chart will look like this one.

After you complete your chart, answer the following questions. 

  1. What was your highest systolic pressure?   

  2. What was your lowest diastolic pressure?   

  3. What seems to be the average diastolic/systolic blood pressure for you? (Remember, systolic means at the time of contraction; diastolic means at the time of relaxation.)  

NOTE- to find an average, add all of the figures and divide the total by the number of figures you entered.

Project 2: Keep track of your heartbeat for a week. Check your heartbeat each day for three kinds of activities. For example, check upon waking up, after minor activity, after exercising, while watching TV. Once you have all of your information, complete a chart with your information. The vertical axis (up and down) should be the heartbeat rate – probably 170 to 60 would work. The horizontal axis (side to side) should be the activities each day. Your chart should look like this one.

After you complete your chart, answer the following questions.

  1. What was your highest heartbeat rate?  
  2. What was your lowest heartbeat rate?
  3. What seems to be an average at rest rate for you? 

Sign and date your drawing with labels, print this page, and place the documents in  your folder for your instructor.