Medical graph help ASAP???

I am working with my 10 year old daughter on her science fair project which is due soon. Her project is to determine the effects of smoking a cigarette on heart rate and BP. She has two test subjects.

The experiment:

Measure subject 'at rest' vitals every five minutes for 20 minutes.
The test subjects will smoke a cigarette.
Measure subject 'at rest' vitals every five minutes for 20 minutes.

She has repeated this test two times so far. We plan on a third.

So far the vitals have increased by 10 points after the cigarette.

QUESTION?????

How is it best to graph the data?
Should systolic readings be averaged and graphed by test subject ( repeat average of diastolic then heart rate)?

Should both subjects readings be averaged?

Should each test run be graphed separately?

Other Q's to follow. Keep in mind that we have access to lotus 123 and a very basic knowledge of the program. I believe that I have figured out how to create the graphs.

We would appreciate any other thoughts.

THANKS /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

You don't have a whole lot of data points (eight for each subject, with three test runs), so I think you could graph all of them, rather than average them.

A really anal-retentive science project should have a snazzy title, a clearly stated hypothesis, a description of the project's methodology, a thorough presentation of the data, an interpretation of the data and how it supports or fails to support the hypothesis, and a summary/conclusion. It doesn't actually matter if the data supports the hypothesis or not... science is a *process*.

I'd suggest plotting subject #1's SBP, DBP, and pulse values on the same chart. You could use different colors for each variable. Time would be on the X axis, and mmHG/beats per minute would be on the Y axis. I think you could use the same numeric scale on the Y axis to plot all three, since pulse rate is typically in the 60-100 range (beats/minute), and the blood pressures will be in a broad 50-140 range (mmHg). Clearly indicate with a vertical line the point at which the cigarette is smoked, and then continue the data plots.

Make a separate chart for subject #2.

If you can neatly fit the data for all three test runs on a single sheet, go ahead. If it looks cluttered and confusing, graph each run separately.

Here's an example (what I was describing would cram the blood pressure and pulse data onto the same graph, since the numerical values will fall into a similar range):



I would use the average values and average variance from baseline values in the summary only. The presentation of the data obtained in the experiment should show the raw data.

I hope that wasn't too confusing.

I'll bet the engineers on this forum will have some useful comments to add.

Hooked on Photons + Bernhard,
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thanks.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thanks.gif
Thank you for your help. I will try my best to integrate this at a fifth grade level. This is my daughter's project and she must do the work but I will assist and guide her throughout. The second graph is as planned. Your point on the raw data is well taken. Some concepts may be beyond her abilities but they are there for her to discover. Tonight I get to introduce her to a spreadsheet. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

Perhaps once the data is graphed she will be able to draw a conclusion.

MrMom, have you considered having her draw the graphs by hand? Although he has not problems using the computer, I found that my son grasped the concept better by making the graphs by hand.