Heart Rate Prediction Challenge

In groups, students predict their heart rate after four efforts of increasing intensity and then check it by taking their pulse. The closest guesses earn points. It practices taking a pulse and shows how exercise intensity drives heart rate.

How to play

1. Teach students to find their pulse at the wrist or neck with two fingers, count for 15 seconds and multiply by 4. Everyone practices and records a resting pulse (3 min).
2. Set up four cone stations: 1) brisk walking, 2) easy jogging, 3) jumping jacks, 4) 10-meter shuttle runs. Groups of 4–5, each student with a worksheet.
3. Before each station, every student writes a prediction: their heart rate when they finish.
4. Students work for 1 minute at the station and, right after, everyone takes their pulse while one group member times 15 seconds with a stopwatch.
5. Scoring: 2 points if the prediction is within 10 beats of the real number, 1 point if within 20. Groups rotate to the next station (about 3 min per station).
6. Debrief: Which station raised heart rate the most? Did predictions get better by the end? (3 min).

Rules

• Predictions are written before starting and can't be changed.
• When checking the neck pulse, press gently and only on one side.
• On shuttle runs, slow down before the cone; no diving.
• Students compare data only with themselves: there is no good or bad heart rate.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: adapt stations to arm efforts (wheelchair pushing, shadow boxing) and keep the predictions.
• Hearing impairment: mark the start and end of the 15 seconds by raising and lowering a cone.
• Low fitness level: students choose the intensity at each station; the score comes from the prediction, not the effort.

Learning goals

• Take a pulse correctly at the wrist or neck.
• Connect exercise intensity with heart rate.
• Estimate personal effort and check it against objective data.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 8
• stopwatches: 5
• worksheets: 25
• pencils: 25

Teacher tip

Many students struggle to find their pulse: let them practice at rest until everyone has it. If you have heart rate monitors, use them to check whether manual counts are accurate.

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