Can You Trust It? Heart Rate App vs. Manual Count
In groups, students measure their heart rate at rest, after easy exercise, after hard exercise and during recovery, using two methods: counting by hand and an app that uses the camera. Then they analyze the differences and decide when to trust each one.
How to play
- Review taking a pulse by hand at the wrist or neck: count 15 seconds and multiply by four (3 min).
- Resting measurement with both methods, recorded on the group sheet (4 min).
- Easy effort: two minutes of jogging, then measure right away with both methods (5 min).
- Hard effort: one minute of jumps and short sprints between cones, then measure right away (5 min).
- Measure again after one minute of recovery with both methods (3 min).
- Group analysis: how big are the differences, when does the app miss the most, and why might that happen? (5 min).
Rules
- Nobody compares their heart rate with anyone else's: each person compares their own two methods.
- Heart rate data is personal, and the sheet stays within the group.
- During the hard effort, everyone sets their own pace and stops if they feel dizzy.
- The tablet stays on the ground during exercise, never in your hand.
Variations
Easier
Rest and easy effort only, with the teacher helping to count.
Standard
Four measurements with two methods and an analysis of the differences.
Harder
Add a third method (a heart rate monitor or watch, if the school has one) and work out the average difference.
Adaptations
- Students with visual impairments: a partner guides their fingers to the pulse and reads the app aloud.
- Students with a heart or other medical condition: take only the resting and easy-effort measurements, following their medical plan.
- Deaf or hard-of-hearing students: the teacher signals the start and end of the 15 seconds with a hand.
Learning goals
- Take a manual pulse accurately.
- Think critically about how reliable a health app is.
- Connect exercise intensity with heart rate.
Equipment for a class of 25
- tablets: 7
- log sheets: 7
- cones: 8
Teacher tip
Camera-based heart rate apps often miss when the finger moves or shakes after exercise, which is exactly what you want students to discover. Make it clear that no app like this can be used to diagnose anything.
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