Abigail Allen, Alicia Haughton, Ajhauna Mason, Laraine Williams

Biology 5A
Topic: Respiration

Title: The Effect on Weight on Breathing Rate After Exercise

Problem Statement: John and Jenna started the topic of respiration in their biology classes

recently and were focusing on the factors that affected a person’s breathing rate. The pair were

given a list of factors to choose from and decided to select ‘weight’ as the focus of their experiment.

Plan and design an experiment that John and Jenna would utilize in order to test the effect that a

person’s weight has on their breathing rate after exercise.

Hypothesis: If the breathing rate of the person with the highest weight increases more after

exercise than the other experimenters, then weight affects one’s breathing rate after vigorous

activity because with weight gain, the accumulation of fat tends to place greater pressure a person’s

breathing muscles.

Aim: To investigate if weight affects the breathing rate after exercise.

Materials/Apparatus: A stopwatch, four persons of varying weights (experimenters) and four

other persons (data recorders).

Method

1. Four persons of varying weights were gathered to perform the experiment and four

additional persons were sought out to record and measure the breathing rate of the

experimenters after the exercises.

2. For the first exercise, the experimenters did ten jumping jacks and jogged on the spot for

twenty seconds.

3. Then, the recorders made a note of their experimenter’s breathing rate for one minute after

they finished the exercises. A rise and fall of the person’s chest were counted as one breath.
Abigail Allen, Alicia Haughton, Ajhauna Mason, Laraine Williams
Biology 5A
4. For the second exercise, the experimenters did fifteen jumping jacks and jogged on the spot

for twenty-five seconds.

5. Step three was then repeated.

6. For the third and final exercise, the experimenters did twenty jumping jacks and jogged on

the spot for thirty seconds.

7. Once again, step three was recorded.

8. All the recorded data was then tabulated.

Independent Variable: The weight of the experimenters

Dependent Variable: The breathing rate of the experimenters after exercise

Controlled Variable: The exercises performed, the time taken to complete the exercises and the

time taken to measure the person’s breathing rate

Results:

TABLE SHOWING THE RECORDED BREATHING RATE FOR EACH EXPERIMENTOR

AFTER EXERCISING

Experimenter Breathing Rate After Exercises (breaths per minute)

After 1st Set After 2nd Set After 3rd Set

A (42.5kg) 28 40 48

B (54.3kg) 32 40 52

C (66kg) 36 48 56

D (71kg) 40 52 68

Discussion

Background
Abigail Allen, Alicia Haughton, Ajhauna Mason, Laraine Williams
Biology 5A
Respiration is defined as the chemical process by which organic compounds release energy.

There are two types of respiration, aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Aerobic means ‘with air’;

therefore, it is the process of cellular respiration that uses oxygen to produce energy for the body.

This process releases energy, which is then utilized by our body for numerous biological processes

such as growth and development. Anaerobic means ‘without air’ and, as such, does not use oxygen

to produce its energy. Sometimes, there is not enough oxygen around for some organisms to

respire, but they still need the energy to survive so they carry out anaerobic respiration to produce

the energy they require.

Anaerobic respiration is also used by multi-cellular organisms, like us, as a temporary

response to oxygen-less conditions. During heavy or intensive exercise, our body needs a high

demand of energy. As the supply of oxygen inside the body is limited due to being used up so

quickly and not being replenished fast enough, the muscle cells inside the body resort to anaerobic

respiration to meet this energy demand. This process releases lactic acid within humans in addition

to energy.

Analysis & Interpretation

The first set of exercises included the ten jumping jacks and jogging on the spot for twenty

seconds. The breathing rates of the four experimenters were taken immediately after they finished

the exercises to acquire accurate results. From the data collected after the first set of exercises, it

was noted that their individual breathing rates increased as the weight of the experimenter

increased. This showed the person with the highest weight to have a higher breathing rate than the

person with the lowest weight.

The second set of exercises showed a similar revelation, except that experimenters A and

B (with the lowest weights) had the same breathing rates. However, the other four persons had
Abigail Allen, Alicia Haughton, Ajhauna Mason, Laraine Williams
Biology 5A
higher breathing rates than that of the person(s) with a lower weight. The third set of exercises

revealed results similar to that of the first set of exercises. The person with the lowest weight had

the lowest breathing rate and the person with the highest weight had the highest breathing rate.

The other two persons had breathing rate falling in the middle and in ascending order so that as

the weight of the experimenters increased, there was also an increase in breathing rate.

The results of this experiment can be accredited to the relationship between body mass and

respiratory function. Persons having extra fat on the neck, chest or across the abdomen can make

it difficult to breathe deeply and may produce a hormone that affect a person’s breathing patterns.

Excess weight against the chest wall also makes it harder for the muscles to draw in a deep breath

and to breathe quickly enough. As a result, the blood contains too much carbon dioxide and not

enough oxygen and the body’s way to attempt to combat this issue is to increase a person’s

breathing rate. If more breaths are taken, then more oxygen will be taken into the body and

subsequently, a higher breathing rate than persons whose bodies would not need to resort to these

measures.

Assumption: It is assumed that, of the four experimenters, none is more ‘fit’ than the others and

would influence their breathing rate after the sets of exercises are performed.

Precaution: Before the start of another set of activities, individuals had waited for each

experimenters breathing rate to go back to normal as to not affect the gathered data.

Conclusion: The hypothesis was proven correct as persons with the highest weights had the

highest breathing rates after the exercises. Taking the first set of results into account, the

experimenters weighed 42.5kg, 54.3kg, 66kg and 71kg and earned breathing rates of 28 breaths

per minute, 32 breaths per minute, 36 breaths per minute and 40 breaths per minute respectively.

This showed experimenters’ breathing rates increasing as their weights increased.