What Was This Project?
For our next project studying the body in STEM Biology, we looked at one of the most important tools in the body's arsenal, homeostasis. During this unit, we looked at what homeostasis is, why it matters, and how it is used in the body. To really grasp this concept, we had to pick a certain way the body maintains homeostasis. My group (consisting of myself, Maddie Cinelli, and Jackson Roberts), decided to look at heart rate, and what its role in keeping homeostasis is. In order to find this, we decided to have two of us do some running and find what happened to the heart rate before, during, and after the physical activity was done. We practiced writing a scientific article, by putting all of our findings into one. On this page, you can find our scientific research paper, our poster, key terms and concepts from this project, and my reflection on this unit.
Concepts Used In This Project:
Homeostasis- The process of keeping an equilibrium in the body. This concept is the central conceit of our project, with our whole project being based on finding if a certain body function helps maintain homeostasis.
Positive Feedback Loop- A cycle in which a change is amplified by a input that causes a reaction. In our testing, the increase in heart rate during exercise is a positive feedback loop.
Negative Feedback Loop- A cycle in which a change is nullified by a input that causes a reaction. In our testing, the decrease in heart rate after exercise is a negative feedback loop.
Heart- A muscular organ that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. The heart was an important part of our project, as we were testing it and how an aspect of it keeps homeostasis.
Heart Rate- The rate at which the heart beats at. It is measured in beats per minute or BPM. This was what we tested in our lab to find how it maintains homeostasis.
Circulatory System- The system responsible for carrying nutrients and oxygen and CO2 around the body and deliver it to cells. This is important to our lab as the heart is a part of the circulatory system.
Medulla- A part of the brain stem that controls the autonomic nervous system. It relates to our project as it is the part of the brain responsible for lowering and increasing heart rate.
Nervous System- The system in charge of relaying messages from the brain to the rest of the body. This connects to our experiment in that it helps the medulla and heart communicate to determine what the heart rate should be.
Aerobic Cellular Respiration- A process that produces energy for the body by converting ATP into glucose. This ties into our experiment, as when making more energy, the body needs more oxygen, which makes the heart rate go up.
Adrenal Glands- Glands that are a part of the endocrine system that produce various hormones for the body, such as adrenaline. These glands tie into our lab, as when more oxygen is needed in the body, the adrenal glands release more epinephrine, which causes the heart to beat faster. When not as much oxygen is needed, the glands release norepinephrine, which makes the heart beat slower.
Independent Variable- A variable whose results don’t depend on a different variable. In our test, the amount of exercise is the independent variable.
Dependent Variable- A variable whose results depend on a different variable. In our test, heart rate is the dependent variable.
Control- A variable which remains unaffected by the testing, and can be used as a baseline. For our lab, resting heart rate is the control.
Scientific Method- A process of steps by which scientists use for experimentation. The way in which we did our lab was based on the scientific method. A diagram of the scientific method can be seen below.
Positive Feedback Loop- A cycle in which a change is amplified by a input that causes a reaction. In our testing, the increase in heart rate during exercise is a positive feedback loop.
Negative Feedback Loop- A cycle in which a change is nullified by a input that causes a reaction. In our testing, the decrease in heart rate after exercise is a negative feedback loop.
Heart- A muscular organ that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. The heart was an important part of our project, as we were testing it and how an aspect of it keeps homeostasis.
Heart Rate- The rate at which the heart beats at. It is measured in beats per minute or BPM. This was what we tested in our lab to find how it maintains homeostasis.
Circulatory System- The system responsible for carrying nutrients and oxygen and CO2 around the body and deliver it to cells. This is important to our lab as the heart is a part of the circulatory system.
Medulla- A part of the brain stem that controls the autonomic nervous system. It relates to our project as it is the part of the brain responsible for lowering and increasing heart rate.
Nervous System- The system in charge of relaying messages from the brain to the rest of the body. This connects to our experiment in that it helps the medulla and heart communicate to determine what the heart rate should be.
Aerobic Cellular Respiration- A process that produces energy for the body by converting ATP into glucose. This ties into our experiment, as when making more energy, the body needs more oxygen, which makes the heart rate go up.
Adrenal Glands- Glands that are a part of the endocrine system that produce various hormones for the body, such as adrenaline. These glands tie into our lab, as when more oxygen is needed in the body, the adrenal glands release more epinephrine, which causes the heart to beat faster. When not as much oxygen is needed, the glands release norepinephrine, which makes the heart beat slower.
Independent Variable- A variable whose results don’t depend on a different variable. In our test, the amount of exercise is the independent variable.
Dependent Variable- A variable whose results depend on a different variable. In our test, heart rate is the dependent variable.
Control- A variable which remains unaffected by the testing, and can be used as a baseline. For our lab, resting heart rate is the control.
Scientific Method- A process of steps by which scientists use for experimentation. The way in which we did our lab was based on the scientific method. A diagram of the scientific method can be seen below.
Reflection:
For this project, I would say this project generally went really well. One aspect of our project that went really well, was our efficiency. As a group, we were able to get through the project fairly quickly, with at most times we were a step ahead of every other groups. We were able to get the project mostly done two days before it was even due. A second success of ours was that our group worked well together. There were never any moments where we faced disagreement over the direction of the project. This is one of the factors that led to our aforementioned efficiency.
While we might have overall done a good job for this project, there were some things that didn't go so well. For this project, one failure of me and one of my partners, is making sure everyone in the group is on task. One of the members of my group was unproductive during the project, and I should have done more to keep that person on task. Another aspect of this assignment that didn't go so great was how we spent our time. While we were efficient and quick to get it done, we could have spent more of our extra time working more to perfect our project.
While we might have overall done a good job for this project, there were some things that didn't go so well. For this project, one failure of me and one of my partners, is making sure everyone in the group is on task. One of the members of my group was unproductive during the project, and I should have done more to keep that person on task. Another aspect of this assignment that didn't go so great was how we spent our time. While we were efficient and quick to get it done, we could have spent more of our extra time working more to perfect our project.