Today we conducted a range of activities before and after plunging our hands into ice/ ice cold water to explore the effects on our bodies.
We tied laces, wrote a sentence, built a tower of cubes and had to thread a nut onto a bolt. As predicted, these fine motor activities were slower after the hands had been exposed to the cold.
We learned to take our pulse. Some of us braved the icy water for 2 minutes, after which we found the pulse rate significantly slowed.
We learned that the temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean for the Titanic passengers would have been -1 to just 2 degrees. The effects were catastrophic within about 10 minutes of exposure in most cases. This sort of cold affects circulation (blood flow) , respiration (breathing) and nerve receptors, as well as the brain signals around the body.
While some of our measurements and results were not scientifically accurate, we did have great fun and still developed our understanding!
