Follow-up programme
We’ve created a full length follow-up programme to this Live Lesson which features our expert guests answering your questions and new curricula linked activities building on students’ learning in the live programme.
Shorter clips from the follow-up programme are also available below, useful for covering individual topics.
Explore the impact of exercise on your muscles, skeleton and joints
Full version follow-up programme
This EXTRA programme takes a look at the impact of exercise on our muscles, skeleton and joints.
Your students will need these downloadable activity sheets:
How does exercise affect our muscles?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Let's find out what else happens to our bodies when we exercise.
Fran Scott:
Okay. Now all of you have got an elastic band in your pack.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Got your elastic band.
Fran Scott:
Yeah. Before we start playing with this elastic band, keep facing forward and don't point it in the direction of anyone next to you. And those of you watching in your classrooms, if your teachers are giving your elastic bands you can join in, if not, just give it a go after the lesson. So, what we're gonna do is take your elastic band and stretch it out between your fingers, and note how much it stretches. How wide does it go? And Dr. Xand and Dr. Chris, you were thinking that you didn't have one, weren't you? Now you have got some giant elastic bands down there, an extra special one.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Whoa. As used by actual giants.
Fran Scott:
[LAUGHS] Perhaps. Now, you'll remember that in the live lessons Dr. Chris was our control and Dr. Xand acted as the variable. Now, Dr. Chris, can you explain what that means?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
That's right I wasn't just being lazy.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Well, you were.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
I was being lazy. But in addition, I had an important job, the control. In any scientific experiment, we need to leave an identical thing unchanged. So that, when we create variables, which we subject Xand to, we know that, if a measurement in him changes, it's due to the variable. So I act there doing nothing so that I'm a control.
Fran Scott:
Fair enough. So, what I'd like you to do is try and not yawn, not gonna just stand there, but Dr. Xand what I'd like you to do is to try and stretch your band, and Dr. Chris, since you're doing nothing complete, give him some encouragement.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Come on, Xand.
Fran Scott:
It's pretty hard to stretch.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Come on.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Huh.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Come on, harder.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Huh.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So, the big question is why are we stretching these elastic bands? What do you think in our body all these elastic bands might represent?
Boy in Blue Shirt:
Our muscles.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Is it our muscles?
Fran Scott:
It is exactly our muscles. This is what the elastic bands represent. So, what are our muscles? Well, let's find out a little bit more from our favourite canine scientist.
Hacker T Dog:
Hm-ah. Hm-brrr. Hm-dy. [LAUGHS] Hey, hey, cockers! Yes, just flexing me muscles aren't I? Fit as a butcher's dog I am, yes. Now, our muscles help us move, they're attached to our bones by tendons, and when a muscle contracts like this, hm-uh, it gets shorter. So it pulls up the bone it's attached to and then, when it relaxes, it goes back to its normal size. Yeah, like that. Hm-ah. Hm-ah. Now, you humans have over 640 muscles in your body. Yeah. And they're all different shapes and sizes. [LAUGHS] Anyway, enough of all that. All this activity is making me hungry. Oh, look at that little beauty. [CHEWS] ah-blugh. It's hard work that. It's taking a lot of force. Hey, you humans use another very strong muscle, in your jaw to chew, yeah. Tough as old boots that.
Fran Scott:
So, we've been stretching our elastic bands and, hopefully, you'll have noticed that, as they've got warmed up, they got a little bit easier to stretch, and perhaps they even stretched a little further.
Naomi Wilkinson:
And its exactly the same with our muscles. Before we exercise it's really important that we warm up just like we did with our elastic bands. The aim of a warm up is to get our bodies prepared to work.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
And in Dr. Xand's case, his elastic band is so strong that he's actually starting to warm his whole body and he's sweating.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yeah.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Starting to smell pretty bad. I'm sorry about that.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So, Dr. Xand? If you could stop that for two seconds. Why is it important that we warm up?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Well, your body is basically a big bag of chemical reactions, and chemical reactions happen better at warmer temperatures. So your muscles will function better if you get lots of warm blood flowing through them.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Okay. I see.
Fran Scott:
Ah, nice, nice, nice. Now, Dr. Chris, you've got the big elastic band that I gave you, and that's been our control, it hasn't been stretched at all. Dr. Xand, you can stop completely stretching.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Whoo, that's hard work.
Fran Scott:
I bet it was. Now, what we're gonna do is see if there's any difference between the two elastic bands.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yeah, hold them right up, let's see the length.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Yeah, look at that. Look at that. Mine is a little bit more stretched than Chris'.
Fran Scott:
It is. It is. And you can see that it's because it's got warmed up. It's been continually stretched and it's got a little bit longer.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So, there we can see nicely the difference warming up makes but, Fran, what happens if we don't warm up?
Fran Scott:
Okay, well, to show you this I can demonstrate just how important it is to warm up our muscles. I'm gonna need your help, Dr. Xand, so come here, come here. And what I would like you to do is hold both arms out in front of you, and open and close your hands like this. And what I'm gonna do is put this ice pack around one of Dr. Xand's arms. Just keep going, you just keep going. Don't stop, don't stop. And, audience, keep watching closely. Okay.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Whoo! Ooh!
Fran Scott:
Let's get this all the way round, nice and tight.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
That is cold!
Fran Scott:
[LAUGHS] I bet it is. Now, what I've done is wrapped Dr. Xand's arm in a band that would be used for sports physio, and it's a bit like having a bag of ice cubes wrapped around his arms. Let's put this on properly all the way round, like that. How cold is it?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
It's very cold!
Fran Scott:
[LAUGHS] So, can we see what's happening to his hands?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh, let's have a little look. I'm here with the studio audience, with Emma. Can you notice any difference happening between the two of Xand's hands?
Emma:
Because it's cold, the arm with the ice pack on is slowing down.
Naomi Wilkinson:
It looks like that to me. Is that right?
Fran Scott:
That's exactly right.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
That is right.
Fran Scott:
The arm on the ice pack, yeah, it's completely slowing down. Does it feel a bit weird?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Yeah, it feels very weird.
Fran Scott:
Yeah, I bet.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
My hand doesn't work.
Fran Scott:
Well, this one, the one that's warmer is moving just completely freely as normal. Now, Dr. Chris, can you explain what is happening here and why we do need to warm up?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Well, the muscles that control Xand's fingers are actually in this bit of his arm, and those are the muscles we're cooling down. Now, because muscles need chemical reactions to move, if we lower the temperature of those chemical reactions, they happen slower and Xand's muscles move slower. Not only that, but we're cooled the nerve down, so the signal from Xand's brain is taking a little bit longer to get there as well.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So this is why we always see athletes warming up before they get going.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Absolutely.
Fran Scott:
Okay. Now that we've warmed up our muscles, let's warm up our brains too and find out exactly how muscles work. Dr. Chris, can you select a volunteer please?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Ooh, me!
Naomi Wilkinson:
[LAUGHS]
Fran Scott:
[LAUGHS]
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
I select Dr. Xand.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Yes!
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yes.
Fran Scott:
Okay, okay.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Now, Xand, if it gets a bit much, feel free at any point you can just have a sit down, have a rest on your gluteus maximus muscle.
Naomi Wilkinson:
[LAUGHS]
Fran Scott:
[LAUGHS]
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
It's the Latin for bum.
Naomi Wilkinson:
It is indeed. Yeah.
Fran Scott:
I bet it is. Is it quite happy where it is though at the moment?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
And, as the control, I'm gonna be on hand to explain a bit of the science behind it and, of course, support Xand in his exercising endeavours. For now, Xand, can you do some bicep curls with these cans of Hacker's meat paste.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh! [LAUGHS]
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Hacker's meat paste?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yeah, meat.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
I love Hacker's meat paste.
Fran Scott:
That is good to know but you guys could give this a go at home or at school, just with tins of beans or sweetcorn or cat food, but don't forget to warm up first.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Now, Hacker explained that when we contract our muscles, like Xand is doing now, they get shorter, as they do they pull the bone they're attached to. So as you pull your forearm towards your shoulder, you're using your biceps muscle at the front of your upper arm. As you lower your arm the muscle on the back of your arm, your triceps, that straightens it back out again.
Fran Scott:
Okay, now try that with me, everyone, even at school. Straighten your arm out, then pull your forearm up to your shoulder, and as you do this you'll be able to feel the muscles moving on the upper part of your arm.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh, yeah.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Good muscles there in the audience, I must say. Quite big ones.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Good muscles. Yeah, you can feel that happening, can't you?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Especially on the teachers.
Fran Scott:
You certainly can, yes.
Naomi Wilkinson:
What's happening to the muscle?
Fran Scott:
Okay, well that's a good question. Now, Hacker explained previously that our muscles help us to move, and they're attached to our bones by some tendons. So when our muscle contracts it gets shorter, pulls on the bone it's attached to, so that moves. And then when it relaxes it goes back.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So, it's when this muscle relaxes that's what makes your arm straighten.
Fran Scott:
Ah, not quite, it's a little bit more complicated than that. I'm gonna show you with this model. So, in this model the wood bit represents our bones.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Right.
Fran Scott:
And when we pull on our bicep that gets shorter and moves our arm up.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yeah.
Fran Scott:
And then when we relax it, it goes a little bit down but not all the way. What we then need to do is shorten the tricep and that makes our arm straight. An important fact to know about muscles is that they only pull, they don't push. And for this reason, they always come in pairs.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So, Dr. Xand, can you relate this to any other muscles in our body?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Right, so in fact, across most of the joints in your body that move, you have opposing pairs or even groups of muscles.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh!
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
So, if you think of your knee, your muscle on the front of your leg, the quadriceps, they straighten it and hamstrings behind pull it back again.
Naomi Wilkinson:
I see.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
And every time you make a movement like that, you have to activate one muscle and then the other one fires stopping that movement and that's all controlled by a little bit of your brain at the back called the cerebellum.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Ah!
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Fran's favourite brain part.
Fran Scott:
It is my favourite brain part. And muscles like we've just felt in our arms, what they're called are voluntary muscles. And that's because these muscles are attached to our skeleton, move our body parts to move but the reason they're called voluntary is because we can actually control their movements. Are there any other types of muscles? There are, aren't there?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
There are, definitely. So, you have involuntary muscles throughout your body that you don't have under conscious control. So, for example, the irises of your eye, the coloured bit, they open and close your pupil to allow light in. That happens through a reflex, you don't control it. And lining your gut from your mouth all the way to the other end you have a tube of muscle that squeezes food through.
Fran Scott:
Ah, and that's what you can see on your screens right now, you can see food being pushed through the intestine, that ring there is that muscle contracting. And, yes, it makes sure that the food goes all the way through. And this isn't something we have any control over so that's why we call it involuntary.
Naomi Wilkinson:
That is so fascinating. I'm gonna be thinking about that next time my food goes down, the journey it's taking.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Delicious.
Naomi Wilkinson:
But for now it is your turn to think about our muscles. On activity sheet number one you'll see five muscles, we want you to circle whether you think these muscles are voluntary, so they are under your control, or they're involuntary, you can't control them at all. You've got 30 seconds, ready, start now!
Naomi Wilkinson:
Time is up, everybody! Stop, stop, stop. So, Evie, let's have a look at your worksheet. Have you found a voluntary muscle? Which one do you think's a voluntary one?
Evie:
The triceps.
Naomi Wilkinson:
And what about an involuntary one we can't control?
Evie:
The muscle in lining of the–
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oesophagus. You're absolutely right. If you got all the answers correct, your worksheet should have looked like this, give yourself a pat on the back if it did.
Fran Scott:
We heard a lot of yeses there, which means our audience got it right. Nice work. But what you might have noticed is that we included the heart as an involuntary muscle, and that's because it's not under our control. And the heart is actually known as the cardiac muscle, it's a really specialised type of muscle that's working away continuously. So, there's a fascinating muscle fact for you, and coming up soon we'll have a few more.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Fran and I are just flexing our muscles, moving our arms and legs up and down. This is a voluntary use of our muscles.
Fran Scott:
That is exactly right. But when you exercise, you know, we're not just moving our muscles.
Naomi Wilkinson:
No.
Fran Scott:
Our muscles are actually attached to something else. Something we couldn't do without, something that holds our entire body together.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Terry? Terry? Wake up. What do you want? Come on, it's your turn, you're up next, shake a leg. [LAUGHS]
How does exercise affect our muscles?
This is a shorter video clip from the follow-up programme focusing on how exercise affects our muscles.
Your class will need this downloadable activity sheet:
How does exercise affect our skeleton?
Hacker T Dog:
How do, Cockers? Hacker T. Dog here, yes. I'm like a dog with a bone, look. Over 200 bones to be precise, that's how many make up our skeletons, yeah. Now aside from looking tasty to a dog like me, your skeleton plays a really important role. Our skeleton gives our body shape and supports our weight. The skeleton protects us, too. Our ribs protect our heart and lungs, and our skull protects our brain and our eyes. Yeah. My skeleton and your skeleton are inside your body, but some animals, such as insects, crabs and lobsters, mm, lobsters. I got distracted. Some animals have skeletons outside their bodies, they're called exoskeletons. Yeah. I guess you could say that this tin of meat paste is like an exoskeleton, its meaty core is protected by a lovely glass jar. Meat. Paste. Ooh, science, I love it. [SNIFFS] [SLURPS] Nice thigh.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Seriously? Thank you, Hacker. Fran, imagine if we didn't have a skeleton. I mean, look we wouldn't even be able to shake hands, would we? It'd be impossible.
Fran Scott:
[LAUGHS] It is pretty impossible. We need our skeleton to carry out a number of functions and, like our muscles during exercise, it really comes into it's own. Hacker, and a slightly under-dressed Terry here, gave us a quick guide to our skeleton, but what does it do? To tell us more about the four main functions of the skeleton, here we are with Dr. Chris and Dr. Xand.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Well, I must start by just showing you something. Stand back to back with me Xand.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
What?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Stand back to back.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
I don't think we need to do this.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Stand back to back.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
No-one's interested in this.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Now…
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Stop it.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
…who do you think is taller?
Fran Scott:
Oh!
Naomi Wilkinson:
Ooh, Dr. Chris, you are slightly.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
That's right, only by 1 cm, and I'm wearing slightly flatter shoes.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
I'm taller this way.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Now, that is true, Xand, if you lie down you're taller than me. You might be wondering why that's important, well, one function of the skeleton is to give shape to our bodies.
Fran Scott:
It certainly is, and to help us look at other functions of the skeleton, Dr. Xand is gonna go for a quick row.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Ooh!
Fran Scott:
And to help us understand what the skeleton does and how it is used during exercise.
Naomi Wilkinson:
On you get. Get rowing.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
All right. All right.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Come on, no hanging around.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
All right.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
So, Dr. Xand is happily rowing here. Ahem.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
All right.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Happily, row, row.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Row and do it happily.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
But what if he was to slip off the rowing machine?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Whah!
Naomi Wilkinson:
[GASPS]
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Don't worry, it's not gonna happen, but if he did take a tumble, Dr. Xand's skull here would protect his brain, and his ribs here would protect the vital organs inside his chest or thorax, his lungs and his heart. And that's because another function of the skeleton is to offer protection.
Naomi Wilkinson:
All right, so our skeletons are they function to give us shape and protection. Is that all?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Well, our skeletons also offer a support. So as Dr. Xand rows back and forth, his skeleton is holding his vital organs in place, and his spine and his neck they're holding him upright.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Right.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
I think you're forgetting the main function of the skeleton when we exercise, Chris, which surprises me as it's pretty obvious. I mean, did you go to medical school?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Yes, yes, I thought I'd point out the subsidiary functions first. Obviously, one of the main functions of a skeleton is to enable movement. As Xand rows back and forth, we can-- come on row, we can see his arms and legs moving and that's 'cause his muscles are contracting in those antagonistic pairs to move his bones. So that's the most obvious function of the skeleton according to Xand, movement.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Ah, there you go, brilliant. Thank you very much to both of you there. So, to recap, we know our skeleton has four main functions: shape, protection, support and movement. Now, on your activity sheets we want you to match the image of the diver, Tom Daley, with a function of the skeleton. Are you ready? 30 seconds, start now!
Naomi Wilkinson:
All right, here we are, back with the audience, time is up. [Jamie], how did you get on? Do you want to tell us which one you think is the skeleton providing protection? …Which one did you put for that?
Jamie:
Diver's body hitting the water.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Absolutely right, 'cause his skull will be protecting his brain as he hits the water at high speed. Well done! Let's have a look, this should have been your answers. Again, well done if that's what your sheet looks like.
Fran Scott:
They are great answers there. Our skeletons are really important, not only do they protect, shape, support and move us, but they also play a role in blood production, because our bone is a living tissue with a blood supply. And our red blood cells, they're the ones that carry oxygen, and our white blood cells, which protect us a little bit against infection, they are both produced in the bone marrow of some of our skeleton's bones.
How does exercise affect our skeleton?
This is a shorter video clip from the follow-up programme exploring how exercise affects our bones and skeleton.
Your class will need this downloadable activity sheet:
How does exercise affect our joints?
Fran Scott:
Now it's time to look at our joints. We've learnt that our muscles are attached to our bones, and so, by moving a muscle like this, we can move our bones, too. But when we exercise, we have lots of different parts of our body moving at one time, don't we?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Thankfully, we have joints, which link two or more bones together. They help move our bodies in a variety of different ways, depending on the exercise. So, let's return to Hacker's guide to the human body to find out a bit more.
Hacker T Dog:
All right, Cockers, Hacker T. Dog here. Here I am with my old, very old by the looks of it, chum. Look at him. [LAUGHS] I've told you about his bones, haven't I? And I've been trying really hard to get my hands on this bone here, as it looks pretty tasty. But it's firmly attached, me old Cocker, look. So, what attaches all these bones together, eh? Hm. They're called joints, and joints like this hold your bones together and allow your rigid skeleton to move, like this. La, la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la. Whoops. And, without joints, moves like that would be no possible, Cocker. Eh, there are some joints that don't move though, like these ones in your skull. They stay still, keeping your big brainy brain in place. And would you look at this, look! An opposable thumb, eh? Ooh, you humans, with your fancy joints and opposable thumbs. Well, whatever, Cockers. I'm done here!
Fran Scott:
What are you guys doing? [LAUGHS]
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Well, we're trying to walk without bending our arms or our legs.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Right.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
It's pretty difficult, actually.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Yeah.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Oop, sorry.
Naomi Wilkinson:
[LAUGHS]
Fran Scott:
Do you know what, I'm really not surprised it's difficult, because Hacker just explained that, for muscles to move bones, we also need joints. And what joints do is they link two or more bones together. So, our skeleton bends joints such as at the knees and the ankles.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Ah.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Now we were trying really hard not to bend our knees, flex our ankles or bend our arms at the elbow.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
It really does just show how much our joints are vital for helping us move.
Fran Scott:
And it does make you look completely ridiculous.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
You look completely ridiculous!
Fran Scott:
[LAUGHS]
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Both of you.
Fran Scott:
Okay, right, I think it's time for you guys to try and look ridiculous. What we would like you to do is, without bending your arms, I would like you to try and shake the hand of the person next to you. Okay, so give it a go, without shaking your hands.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh, no, I think I'm bending my knee.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Ooh, no, I'm bending there.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Didn't really work, didn't really work.
Naomi Wilkinson:
No. I can't really do it.
Fran Scott:
Ahhhh!
Naomi Wilkinson:
I think we're still cheating a little bit.
Fran Scott:
Well, the thing is, technically, yeah, you did still use a joint because you moved your shoulders.
Naomi Wilkinson:
I was moving here.
Fran Scott:
Yeah.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So what happens when we move a joint?
Fran Scott:
Ah, well, everyone in the audience, what I wanna do is show you what happens when we move a joint. So, I want you to take your little finger, and I want you to wriggle the top part of your little finger. And it's a joint that's making that move, but what we're gonna do is look at that in a little bit more detail.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Great finger wriggling everybody in the audience, well done. So, what are we doing here?
Fran Scott:
Ah, well, this is an ultrasound machine, and we're gonna show you exactly what's going on inside your little finger when you move the joint. So, I'm just putting on some jelly.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
I love jelly.
Naomi Wilkinson:
[LAUGHS]
Fran Scott:
Here we go.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Have you got trifle, I'd rather have trifle.
Fran Scott:
It's not trifle, it's jelly, it's jelly.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Custard?
Fran Scott:
No, no, just jelly, just jelly. But I do need your little finger, Xand.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Here we go.
Fran Scott:
Okay, so this way up and like that, and I'll just get the machine ready. Okay, so.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
There we go.
Fran Scott:
And you put your finger on like that, and you should be able to see on the screen soon, what we'll do is that is actually looking inside the bone of Xand's little finger. And if I push this down here, and give this a wiggle.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
There you go.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Ooh, yes! I can see that.
Fran Scott:
Can you see the joint moving?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Very good.
Fran Scott:
That's pretty cool, isn't it? Now, that joint is known as a hinge joint, and that's because it doesn't rotate, it just moves up and down, but there are other types of hinge joints, just like the knee, and the elbow. But there's another type of joint, apart from the hinge one. Can you hold my knee, please?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
I have no kneed of this.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh!
Fran Scott:
Ah!
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Chris, take a knee.
Fran Scott:
The other type of joint is known as a ball and socket joint, and this allows movement in loads of different directions. So, like, we have that at our hip, as well, so. Yeah, we got the hinge and the bone socket.
Naomi Wilkinson:
And they're in our shoulders as well, haven't we? So we've got it, we've got ball and socket and hinge joint. Everybody in the audience, you should have a card on one side it does say "ball and socket" and the other side it says "hinge". We're gonna show you a number of actions being carried out and we want you to say which joint you think is being used. If you think it might be both joints, just hold it flat, like that. Okay?
Fran Scott:
If you wanna play along in your classrooms, you can shout out which type of joint you think is in action. So, it's either hinge, or ball and socket.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Are you ready to play? Dr. Chris, you're gonna take one of my cards from the pile.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
A card, so.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Show it to Dr. Xand and he…
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
First movement.
Naomi Wilkinson:
…will act it out for us.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Bowling a ball, Xand.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Bowling a ball?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Can you get the ball and bowl it?
Fran Scott:
Yeah, you want your band first.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Oh, hang on.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Bowling a cricket ball.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Properly dressed to demonstrate this. Right. Bowling a ball like cricket.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Like cricket.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Okay, here we go.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Everybody watch.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Okay. What joint do you think was used there? Ball and socket, or hinge joint, show us your cards now.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
A few hinges but pretty much ball and socket, which is absolutely right.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Very good.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Is that right?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Shoulder is a ball and socket joint, it's got movement in lots of planes. Okay.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Next card.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Next movement is throwing a dart.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Throwing a dart.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Securing the darts carefully.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Be very careful, don't do this at home.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Xand, throw the dart. And.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Watch the action.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Hold up your cards. Is it a hinge joint or is is a ball and socket?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Hold up your cards. Let's see. Hold them nice and high.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Mainly hinges, and the hinges are right.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Is it? Hinge is right.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
It is. The elbow is a hinge joint, it just moves in one plane.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Elbow. Next card.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Next movement is weightlifting. Now we need some weights.
Naomi Wilkinson:
[LAUGHS]
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
My special event.
Fran Scott:
There you go.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Surprised you're able to hand this over.
Fran Scott:
[LAUGHS]
Naomi Wilkinson:
Ready?
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Ooh!
Naomi Wilkinson:
Watch the movement. What joints are being used?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Now cards, remember you can pick both by holding it flat.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Hold it flat if you think both. What do we think?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Okay, quite a few people. Xand, that's good, that's good, maybe you should put it down.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Got a real mixture there. What's the answer?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
And that is right, so it's both ball and socket joints at his hips, hinge joints in his knees and elbows.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Final card.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Final card…
Naomi Wilkinson:
Here we go, watch carefully, everybody.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
…is kicking a football.
Naomi Wilkinson:
This one is a bit trickier. Let's get that out the way. …Okay. Watch closely. It's quite a tricky one.
Naomi Wilkinson:
What d'you think? Oh!
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Sorry.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Can we have our ball back?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Sorry about that. It'll be fine. Show us your cards, what do you think? Which joint was used for kicking a ball? …Loads and loads of ball and socket there, is that right?
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Well, the ball and socket is correct because it's the hip, but there was also a hinge joint at the knee, so I think you should have held your cards flat, it was both.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Bit of both.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Yeah.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Excellent sporting prowess there, Dr. Xand.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Course.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Very well demonstrated to show us all the different types of joints that we have in our body. Well done, studio audience, for those answers, too.
Fran Scott:
So, we've learnt that when we exercise, our joints are really important and that we have different types of joints, but our joints give us the freedom to flex or rotate using the joint actions.
Naomi Wilkinson:
And to demonstrate, let's use our own joints, is everybody ready because it's time for…
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Dr. Xand's aerobic workout!
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yay!
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Yeah!
Naomi Wilkinson:
Come on then, find a space.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Here we go.
Fran Scott:
Those of you in your classrooms you can join in, too. Studio audience, stay in your seats, but you can do the actions for your upper part of your body. Okay.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Okay, everybody, flap your arms up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Now, that's looking very good. Now these movements allow us to show the way that our limbs can be moved by muscles on our trunk either towards or away from our body. That's called adduction and that's call abduction. And you might see this kind of movement in the gymnastic rings, when the gymnasts pull themselves like that.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Okay. Now for some stretching, your legs going in and out. Extend, flex. Extend, flex. Extend, flex.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
You're enjoying this.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Extend. I am enjoying it.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
You're enjoying this too much.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
It's my aerobic workout.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Now, straightening the knee is called extending it, and flexing it is when you bend it. And this is a hinge joint, and you might see a rugby player making a flexing or extension movement, as they kick a ball.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
And, now, for some lifts.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Ooh.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Very elegant.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Course it's elegant.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Now we're bending our limbs both at the knees, the hips and the elbows, and you'll see weightlifters making these kind of movements. Ah, and now, being careful not to crash into the person next to you, let's rotate our shoulders.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
Hey. Wait a minute, this is my aerobic workout!
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
Not anymore.
Dr. Xand van Tulleken:
It's called Dr. Xand's aerobic workout!
Dr. Chris van Tulleken:
All right, all right. Well, what you're all demonstrating here is rotation, and we're using the muscles called the rotator cuff around the shoulder. And you might see this kind of movement when you're swimming butterfly. Or dancing like your dad.
Fran Scott:
Hey! That was really good work, everyone! Fantastic, especially Xand with the attractive headband there.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yes, I think we can definitely say we are all warmed up now, you lucky audience member. And we know so much more about our joints.
How does exercise affect our joints?
This is a shorter video clip from the follow-up programme taking a closer look at how exercise affects our joints.
Watch again: Live Lesson video clips
This set of shorter video clips is taken from the Live Lesson programme and can be used to teach individual topics.
How does exercise affect our brain?
Hacker:
Eye eye eye, cockers, Hacker T Dog here. As the brainiest dog to be born on the backstreets of Wigan, and the brainiest dog, well, in the room, I need to tell you humanoids all about what goes on inside your heads, and quite frankly, it's rather disturbing, cockers, and inside mine too, yeah, cause dogs have got brains as well, you know, and mine is pretty big. [SNIFFS] Ooh, parsley. [LAUGHS] This here is a human brain. Hmm, looks like a sort of sponge I'd take into the bath, cocker,to have a good old wash with, don't it? It controls everything you do, even when you're asleep, yeah, the brain never gets rest. It controls movement, balance, growth, and temperature. But that's not all, no, this spongy looking snail like thing… [SNIFFS] Ooh it's parsley and corned beef actually, yeah… Also supports our organs, like our heart and lungs. So the brain takes charge of breathing and circulation. Ooh, do you see, it does everything, and if that wasn't enough, the brain also controls our emotions. If you could see into my brain, it looks like this.
Hacker:
Sue Barker. Susan Barker, meat paste, Wigan. Oh Susan Barker.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Seriously, what is he like? Thank you very much, Hacker. Now as we have already noticed, Doctor Xand is sporting a very fetching snazzy hat.
Fran:
It is a hat, and it is a hat, but we'll come to what it actually is later on, Chris, we will reveal that. But before the start of the live lesson, Doctor Chris and Doctor Xand both took a reaction test.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Now this test involved them holding their finger down on a computer until they were told to release it, and the time it took from them being told to remove their finger to them actually removing it, that's their reaction time.
Fran:
We're gonna measure Doctor Xand's reaction time again after his exercise, and only then will we see if there's any difference. But that's not it, we'll also compare Doctor Xand's results to Doctor Chris's, and Doctor Chris won't have been doing any cycling.
Naomi Wilkinson:
OK, that's all very well and good, but can we please get back to the hat. What are you wearing?
Doctor Chris:
Well, actually, as I was trying to say earlier, this isn't a hat, it is a functional near infrared spectroscopy machine.
Fran:
Very easy [INAUDIBLE] to say, isn't it?
Doctor Xand:
It's the Greek word for a fancy hat. [LAUGHS]
Fran:
But what this fancy hat is being used for, it's being used by scientists at the University of Stirling, and they've allowed us to borrow it for today to measure the flow of oxygen, and so blood to Doctor Xand's brain, and the experts at the University of Stirling are the same people who would be looking at your results if you'd take part in the terrific scientific investigation about exercise. Now here is a video we made before the programme showing the machine in action, and this indicates the amount of oxygen flowing in Xand's brain. At the time, he was just sitting still and hadn't been exercising at all.
Naomi Wilkinson:
But in a few minutes time, we're gonna look at Xand's brain again to see if cycling increases the blood flow to it, and if the exercise has any effect on his test results.
Fran:
OK, but for now let's think to activity sheet number one from the start of the programme and the physical impact exercise has on our bodies. Doctor Chris, what I'd like you to do is tell us if our audience have got it right when we look at their sheets.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So here I am over with the audience, and I want to find out what physical changes have you two noticed happen in our body when we do some exercise?
Schoolgirl 1:
We sweat.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Sweat, that's a good one. I know I certainly do.
Schoolgirl 2:
Our muscles strengthen.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Our muscles strengthen. Doctor Chris, our muscles strengthen and we sweat. Are they right?
Doctor Chris:
Our muscles strengthen and our sweat, those are very, very good answers. They're not the whole story though because you also will find that your skin, particularly your face, gets redder as you send more blood to it to cool down, you breathe more deeply cause your muscles need more oxygen, and your heart rate increases, and we'll talk a bit more about that later.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Great. Very well done you two, and if you matched all the correct numbers on your activity sheet, it should've ended up looking something like this. So hopefully you got those right, well done if you did.
Fran:
OK, earlier, Hacker told us that breathing temperature and circulation are all controlled, in part, by our brains, and that is right, Chris, isn't it?
Doctor Chris:
That is right. It's important during exercise that we get enough oxygen to our muscles obviously, but we also need to send more oxygen, more blood to our brains, so to do this, we need to breathe deeply. This increases the amount of oxygen flow to our muscles, and to our brain, our heart, our lungs, and every, all the tissues of our body.
Fran:
Brilliant. And this oxygen is carried by the blood, and that's exactly what we're gonna be measuring right now with Doctor Xand's clever hat. And we're going to see if it changes when he starts cycling.
Doctor Chris:
So here is Doctor Xand's brain before exercise, we've seen that, very little blood flow, now let's have a look at what happens when he exercises.
Fran:
OK, Doctor Xand, get cycling now. So it started off all green before, and green means not much blood flow, not much oxygen getting in, and if we have a look now, you can see that it's changed a little bit and it's gone through the different colours, and a lot of it is blue and dark red, and what that means is a lot of oxygen, so a lot of blood, is getting right towards Xand's brain. Doing a good job there. Are you tired?
Doctor Xand:
Look, this is all well and good but I am getting a bit tired. Can I stop now?
Fran:
You can because do you know what? You have given us exactly what we need for that measurement.
Doctor Chris:
I think he could've done a little more.
Fran:
He could've, but we do have more measurements coming up because before the show, Doctor Chris and Doctor Xand both took a reaction test. So what we're now gonna do is repeat that reaction test and see if Doctor Xand's bike ride, and all that increased blood flow to his brain has had any impact on his reaction. Now, if you wanna give this test a go, it's very similar to the reaction test you'll be doing in classrooms as part of the exercise investigation. So I've got it here, and who wants to go first? Chris or Xand.
Doctor Chris:
I will.
Fran:
OK, so you know how this works, they touch on it, they're told to remove their finger, and then the time between being told to remove their finger and removing their finger is their reaction time. OK, so give it a go. Right.
Doctor Chris:
Green.
Fran:
OK, so remember that number, don't say it out loud. Remember the number. OK, your go. OK, remember your number. OK, now we're gonna reveal these numbers to our audience later on in the show.
Fran:
Let's get the result of our reaction test. Earlier, we asked Doctor Chris and Doctor Xand to both take a reaction test, and the results are in.
Naomi Wilkinson:
You will remember that Doctor Chris was our control, didn't really do anything much, and Dotor Xand was our variable, did lots of exercise, rowing and cycling. So we're gonna have a little show of hands now, see who thinks that Doctor Xand's reaction time will have improved from doing the exercise. Think about how you feel at school after play time, whether running around impacts your ability to learn more. So, wait for it. Fran?
Fran:
OK, audience, if you think Doctor Xand's results will be affected by the exercise, I would like you to put your hands up now. Do you think it will have changed?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh, everyone. [LAUGHS] It is a full house. Everybody.
Fran:
Yeah, that is quite a lot of people thinking that. OK, and let's have a look at what you thought in your classrooms might happen. Let's have a look. OK, we predict that Doctor Xand's reaction speed will improve after exercise, and that's from Simpson's Lane Academy. So they think it will improve. Interesting. So, Doctor Chris and Doctor Xand, are you ready to find out the results?
Doctor Chris:
Yes.
Fran:
OK. Now remember, Chris was our control and Xand was our variable. Now, right, so Doctor Chris, your reaction time got faster by 132 millisecond, just from ding nothing. Doctor Xand, your reaction time also got faster, and it got faster by 271 milliseconds, so yours improved much more than Doctor Chris's.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yay to audience, you all got it right. Give yourselves a massive round of applause. Well done.
How does exercise affect our brain?
This clip is from the main Live Lesson, and looks at the impact of exercise on our brain.
Your class will need this downloadable activity sheet:
How does exercise affect our lungs?
Hacker T Dog:
Hey, hey cockers Hacker T Dog here, I'd like you to meet my chum Trevor and his very lovely body, there he is. You alright Trev, Trevor, Trev, Trevor are you there kid, Trevor? He's really quiet, he's really confident, body confident old Trevor he's not bothered. Oh yes look at this, ahh, ahh, the lovely smell of meat paste filling my little old lungs, there's nowt better. The lungs take in oxygen from the air we breathe and this oxygen is then carried by the blood to the rest of the body and when Trevor exercises, Trevor, Trev? If Trevor exercised he would breathe more making his lungs work harder and to take more oxygen and that that would help his muscles keep on going, do you see? Oh it sounds like a lot of hard work to me cockers, I'll stick to what my lungs do best, sniffing an unopened jar of paste. Paste, paste, paste, paste, paste, paste, paste, paste.
Fran Scott:
You are absolutely right Hacker, our lungs play a really important role when we exercise and that's exactly what we'll be looking at right now.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yes, the amount of air we can fit into our lungs is called our lung capacity and for our next activity we're going to measure this.
Fran Scott:
Now if you don't wanna take part in this demonstration don't feel as if you have to and if there's any reason you shouldn't take part, seriously you don't.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Alright audience you should all have a little balloon in your activity packs, if you've got your balloons in your classrooms you can join in, if not don't worry you can give it a go after the live lesson.
Fran Scott:
And this is what we're gonna do, we're gonna stretch our balloons before we use it so we need to stretch it twice length ways and twice width ways. Good work. Then what I want you to do is take the biggest breath you can, blow out all the air from your lung into the balloon in one go and then keep hold of the top of the balloon and prevent the air from escaping. Okay.
Naomi Wilkinson:
[INAUDIBLE] you're doing this as well, well done. Keep hold of it tightly once you've done it, just one big breath, excellent well done audience, good work. You alright?
Fran Scott:
Well just about. Now what I'd like you to do is have a look at your balloon and the size of your balloon demonstrates your lung capacity and there's some really good efforts there, look at them.
Naomi Wilkinson:
That's your lung capacity.
Fran Scott:
But it's important to remember that when we breathe we don't always completely fill and completely empty our lungs.
Dr Chris:
I think that what's very obvious is that the main thing we've learned here is that my lung capacity is substantially larger than Xand's.
Doctor Xand:
What?
Fran Scott:
Do you know what though? This time it's not actually a competition.
Naomi Wilkinson:
No.
Doctor Xand:
Yeah it is.
Fran Scott:
No it's not because lots of things can affect your lung capacity like your height, your age, your posture, whether you're male or female and that might be why your balloon was bigger or smaller than the person's next to you.
Naomi Wilkinson:
And this is something you could investigate further in class after the lesson. For example, do the taller people in your class have a bigger lung capacity? Right everybody are we ready to let go of the balloons? On the count of three, one, two, three.
Fran Scott:
Okay I think it's about time that we move on. What we have just done and you'll be able to tell we've got balloons everywhere in the studio, we've just measured our lung capacity using these balloons but now lets find out if lung capacity is actually affected by exercise and to do this I am gonna use Dr Xand as my guinea pig.
Doctor Xand:
I love guinea pigs.
Fran Scott:
Good, good job. And what we're gonna do is measure his lung capacity using a spirometer and Dr Chris while I get my spirometer could you explain what one actually is?
Dr Chris:
Of course I can, I know exactly what a spirometer is, a spirometer is something that we actually use quite often in the hospital and it measures both the size of your lungs and how quickly you can get air in and out of them so it's a very useful thing for measuring lung disease.
Fran Scott:
And we are gonna do that right now, we're gonna measure his lung capacity. Now, what we need to do is I need you to take a deep breath in and then put your teeth around this and breathe out as much as you can in one go okay?
Doctor Xand:
Perfect, here we go, here we go.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Sounds a bit wheezy.
Fran Scott:
Okay let's have a look, let's have a look okay.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Okay we've got to wait for the result to come up on the screen.
Fran Scott:
Okay oh here we go, just need to press another few buttons. We're almost there. Yes okay, so 5.45 litres, that was your lung capacity.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Aright so now shall we see what impact more exercise has on your lung capacity? Dr Xand if you wouldn't mind jumping on our rowing machine here and get yourself moving okay?
Doctor Xand:
I was hoping you'd brought an actual boat.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh sorry.
Doctor Xand:
Where you have to do some fishing, see the ducks.
Naomi Wilkinson:
We might have water behind you though if you're lucky. Right get rowing, get rowing.
Doctor Xand:
Okay alright.
Dr Chris:
And I'll just stand here.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yes it's about control.
Fran Scott:
You know what? Instead of just standing there why don't you explain a bit now why lung capacity is important?
Doctor Xand:
Yeah Chris why don't you explain.
Dr Chris:
Well your lung capacity affects the amount of air you can get in and out of your lungs and the more air you can get in the more oxygen you can extract from that air. Now, inside your lungs air comes into contact with blood and the oxygen from the air binds to those red blood cells and then is carried around the rest of your body to your muscles and of course your brains.
Doctor Xand:
And one way we can increase our lung capacity is by exercising regularly.
Fran Scott:
Okay do you know what? As much as talking about that exercise you can actually stop now and what I'd like to do is measure your lung capacity again using the spirometer so hop you down.
Doctor Xand:
Alright here we go.
Fran Scott:
Your time just to collect your breathing back together and let's do it again okay?
Naomi Wilkinson:
So can you remember what it was before?
Fran Scott:
It was 5.45.
Naomi Wilkinson:
5.45 before, let's see how it has changed.
Fran Scott:
Let's see. Ah, 5.56, 5.57 actually.
Naomi Wilkinson:
It's actually gone up a little bit.
Fran Scott:
It has gone up a little bit, just a little bit but do you know what? You might think that that's because Dr Xand's lung capacity has got bigger just in that about 15 seconds of rowing but what's actually happened is he's warmed up and expanded the muscles in his chest meaning that his ability to push out the air has increased and you can only change your lung capacity with regular exercise over a much longer period of time.
Naomi Wilkinson:
That is interesting stuff, thank you very much Dr Xand for testing this out for us and Dr Chris for explaining.
How does exercise affect our lungs?
This clip is from the main Live Lesson, and looks at the impact of exercise on our lungs.
How does exercise affect our heart?
Hacker T Dog:
Oh be still my beating heart Susan Barker. If there's one thing guaranteed to get my heart racing it's a lovely photograph of Susan Barker but look over here cockers, it's a human heart just like the one that Trevor's got beating neath his lovely ribcage. Yeah, yeah, it's lovely ain't it? Basically a human heart is a pump right? And it pushes the blood around and around and around the body delivering oxygen and all sorts of things all around your whatsits. Trev's veins are like roads taking the oxygen, food and water in the blood to all of the main organs including his brain yeah. And if Trevor the lazy toad was so inclined to do a little bit of exercise, his heart would beat faster like Sue Barker makes mine due. Oh Sue you're so lovely. Sue Barker, Sue Barker.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Thank you very much Hacker I think. So far we've learnt all about our brains and lungs and how exercise affects them but in this final part of the programme as Hacker helped explain, it's all about the heart.
Fran:
Now oxygen is carried in our blood but it's our heart that pumps this blood all over our body's including to our brains and so the heart does a really important job.
Naomi Wilkinson:
What we're gonna show you the screen now is Dr Xand's heart activity.
Dr Chris:
That's right, I'm gonna use an ECG, an electro cardiograph which shows us the electrical activity in Xand's heart. What we can see here is each of those peaks indicates one beat of Xand's heart and they're called QRS complexes so I'm sure you knew that?
Naomi Wilkinson:
I definitely knew that.
Fran:
I knew that but this is a complex bit of machinery and it's measuring the electrical activity in the heart but do you know what? We can measure our own heart rate in a much simpler way, it's not quite as reliable but this is called taking your pulse.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Now your pulse is a measure of how fast your heart is beating, so the number of beats your heart makes in one minute so we measure it in beats per minute and your heart beats more or less beats per minute depending on what you're doing.
Fran:
Now you can feel your pulse at certain parts in your body and the easiest way to do it is to use your first two fingers and either place them on your wrist or on your neck and you can feel the pulsing.
Naomi Wilkinson:
If you can find it great well done but, if you can't don't worry too much cause it can be harder to find in some people than in others.
Fran:
Okay audience what I'd like you to do is feel your pulse now and I'd like you to concentrate on how fast it's pulsing, maybe give it a bit of a count.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Now I've got two volunteers from the audience, Isaac and Tilly come and join me, come and stand in front of me. Isaac you go this way, Tilly you come here, that's it, give us that microphone, thank you very much. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna walk on the spot for 15 seconds, Dr Chris you can walk with us as well okay?
Dr Chris:
Okay.
Fran:
However, Dr Xand what I'd like you to do instead of walking on the spot I'd like you to do a bit more you know, strenuous exercise, you're gonna use this step instead.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Okay are we all ready? Yes, ready to walk on the spot? Let's do it then. Counting down from 15.
Fran:
Okay.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Go.
Fran:
Let's go, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Naomi Wilkinson:
14, 13, 12, 11, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Dr Chris:
Come on Xand, come on faster. Three, two, one.
Fran:
Time is up. Now remember how your pulse felt before we started walking everyone?
Naomi Wilkinson:
Yeah.
Fran:
And then let's check it again now.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Okay so check your pulse, can you find it? Does that feel different than it felt before? How?
Tilly:
It's like going faster.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Is it going faster?
Tilly:
Yeah.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Could you maybe go boom, boom, boom into the microphone every time you feel it beat?
Isaac:
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh quite fast, well done so you can feel it beating harder and faster as well? Yeah we can feel a difference but what about Dr Xand?
Fran:
Well the thing is with Dr Xand yes you did a slightly more strenuous walk but instead of measuring your pulse, what we were using was the ECG so let's see if that had an impact on his heart, did the exercise do it?
Dr Chris:
So we can have a look, the top heart rate is after exercise and you can see those peaks, those QRS complexes are closer together so his heart is beating more frequently, more beats per minute, his pulse is higher, his heart's beating faster.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Thank you very much Dr Xand once again and thank you to our two volunteers as well. You can try that in your classrooms after the live lesson. See if walking makes your heartbeat faster. But, what impact do other activities have on our heart? Now on activity sheet number two you'll see you've got five activities and five heart rates, you have got 30 seconds to match the activity to the heart rate, ready? Go.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Time is up everybody well done. What's your name?
Tobias:
Tobias.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Right so what have you got as the slowest heart rate? 67 beats per minute, what have you put that with?
Isaac:
Sleeping.
Naomi Wilkinson:
And what about the fastest, 140?
Tobias:
Sprinting.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Sprinting I think that sounds about right, let's have a look once again at what your activity sheet should have looked like if you've completed it correctly. Well done, excellent work here in the audience.
Fran:
That was really good work everyone. So Dr Chris why does your heart beat faster for some activities than others?
Dr Chris:
Well, I can do this. Well the more strenuous the activity you do the more oxygen your muscles use and so you have to have a faster heartbeat to pump more blood around your body to supply oxygen to those muscles. We breathe quicker our hearts beat faster.
Naomi Wilkinson:
So it does sound like it's very important that we get enough oxygen in our body's when we're exercising, can you explain that in a bit more detail for us Fran?
Fran:
Of course I can, so the amount of oxygen your body needs differs depending on the type of exercise you do and let's try something everybody, okay I want everybody to hold their breath now.
Fran:
Keep holding, keep holding if you can keep holding…and stop…So you just held your breath for 9.58 seconds, now that is the time it takes world record holder Usain Bolt to run 100 meters.
Naomi Wilkinson:
No way, a 100 meters?
Fran:
Yeah.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Isn't that quick?
Fran:
It's ridiculously quick and exercise is like sprinting, what they do is they use a burst of maximum energy over a short period of time and during an activity like this we have to make energy really quickly but unfortunately the energy we make with oxygen just isn't really made fast enough.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Right.
Fran:
So what we've gotta do is we've gotta top up our energy by making it without oxygen as well. So during the first part of a sprint yes the sprinter might be breathing not that fast but by the end they will have a really fast heart rate and rapid breathing.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Out of puff? But what happens with long distance runners like Mo Farah?
Fran:
Everyone loves Mo don't they? Well with long distance running that's a bit more steadier and it's not as fast as sprinting so we can make the energy we need with oxygen so our breathing it just remains steady.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Okay on activity sheet number three you've got photos of some recognizable sports stars, now we want you to draw a line to match each sport type with the impact you think it might have on the athletes body. Ready? Time starts now.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Oh it goes quick doesn't it? Time is up, let's find out what you thought, who do you think might have rapid heart beat and fast breathing?
Female speaker with red top:
Usain Bolt.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Usain Bolt with his sprinting I think that's right, what about a steady heart rate and breathing?
Female speaker with white top and blonde pigtails:
Rory the golf.
Naomi Wilkinson:
Rory McIlroy the golfer I think you're absolutely right and obviously tennis players or football stars their breathing and their heart rate might alternate between fast and steady. Excellent answers here once again.
Fran:
So to summarise we know that some exercise such as sprinting requires a burst of maximum energy so we make energy without oxygen causing us to breathe deeply and quickly when it's over and this is called anaerobic exercise but, activities like cycling and marathon running we use the energy and we have actually the energy we can make it with oxygen and this oxygen is breathed steadily during and after the activity and this is called aerobic exercise.
Naomi Wilkinson:
And aerobic exercise is what I think I'm doing a lot of going to and from this audience.
How does exercise affect our heart?
This clip is from the main Live Lesson, and looks at the impact of exercise on our heart.
Your class will need these downloadable activity sheets:
Watch the full Live Lesson
Catch up with the Terrific Scientific Exercise - Live Lesson, brimming with information on how physical activity affects the way we think, feel and behave.
Primary BBC Live Lessons
Find out more about our Live Lessons designed for primary school students
BBC Live Lessons homepage
Return to the BBC Live Lessons homepage for more curriculum-linked Live Lessons across primary and secondary
