Activity 1.1 · Worksheet Packet

Part A · Build the word

Part B · While you watch the video

List the four vital signs you will measure in this activity.

Part C · Think like a detective

1A nurse has only two minutes with a new patient. Why is measuring vital signs a good use of those two minutes?

Measuring vital signs is useful because ______, and it helps the doctor ______.

2Detectives look for evidence. How is a vital sign like a clue at a crime scene?

Part A · The steps, in your own words

1. Set the stopwatch to ______ seconds.
2. Use your ____________ and ____________ fingertips. Never use your ____________.
3. Place your fingertips on the wrist, on the ____________ side, palm ____________.
4. Count the beats for 15 seconds, then multiply by ______.

Part B · Practice the math (15 seconds × 4)

Part C · Your data

Part D · Reflection

1Compare your pulse with your partner's. Did you get different readings?

2If the readings were different, why do you think that happened, and what might it mean?

My pulse was ______ than my partner's. I think this happened because ______.

Part A · The steps

1. Partner sits with feet on the ____________ and breathes ____________.
2. Set the stopwatch to ____________ minute.
3. Count every time the chest ____________. That is one breath.
4. Stop at the beep and record the number.

Part B · Your data

Part C · Reflection

1Why is it important to get a resting respiratory rate instead of a rate while a person is active?

A resting rate is better because ______. If the person just ran, the rate would ______.

2Compare your resting rate with your partner's. What differences do you notice, and why might they differ?

Part A · Average or rule?

1Fill in the blanks.

98.6 °F is an , not a .
A healthy person at rest is somewhere between °F and °F.
A doctor calls it a fever at °F and above.

Part B · One healthy person, one whole day

2Coldest at about   warmest at about   and the whole swing is about °F.

3Nobody on this graph is sick. So why does the time of day belong on your evidence log next to the number?

Part C · Core or skin?

Tick one box for each. Does it change the core (the real inside temperature), or only the skin on the outside?

Part D · Talk it through

4A friend reads 98.0 °F and says "my temperature is low." What would you tell them?

98.0 °F is ______ because the normal range is ______.

5Two healthy people measure at the same moment and get different numbers. Give two reasons, with nobody being sick.

6Predict. Tomorrow we measure on the forehead — on the skin. Name one thing that could make a forehead reading wrong.

Part A · Practice readings

Part B · Your data — indoors, resting

Part C · The sun test

One minute in direct sun, forehead uncovered, then measure again immediately. Nobody looks at the sun.

1Is the reading taken after one minute in the sun a valid measure of your partner's body temperature? Why or why not?

The sun reading is / is not valid because the thermometer measured ______, and what we wanted was ______.

Part D · Reflection

2What should a person do before a forehead temperature is taken, so the reading can be trusted? Give two things.

3What other ways can body temperature be taken, and why are some more accurate than others?

I think ______ is more accurate than ______ because ______.

Part A · Two numbers, not one

1Why does the bottom number matter, if the heart is resting at that moment?

The bottom number matters because the arteries ______.

Part B · A target, not a rule

Part C · What pushes a reading off

Fill in the direction each mistake pushes the top number, and why.

2What do almost all of these mistakes have in common?

Part D · Talk it through

3Your partner jogged in from lunch and is telling you about it while you measure. Name two things that would push the reading off, and say which direction.

4Tomorrow the cuff goes on the upper arm and the arm rests on the table. Predict why the arm has to be level with the heart.

The arm must be level with the heart because ______.

Part A · The two numbers

Part B · Set up the cuff

1. Partner rests ______ to ______ minutes, sitting still, legs uncrossed, not talking.
2. Cuff goes on the ____________ arm, at least ______ inch above the elbow crease.
3. The arm rests level with the ____________.
4. Record the reading as ______ / ______ mm Hg.

Part C · Your data

Part D · Reflection

1How might a patient's blood pressure be affected if they are nervous at the doctor's office? Why might it be good to check it more than once?

2What other factors might change a person's blood pressure?

Second reading (optional — if a number looked strange)

Station check-off

1What observations did you make when you compared your data with the normal ranges?

My ______ was ______, which is inside / outside the normal range of ______.

2What could you do to raise or lower one of your vital sign measurements?

If I ______, I think my ______ would go up / down because ______.

Case study · the clue that solved it

A patient came in with pain near the kidneys, but no kidney stones were found. The nurse noticed an abnormal respiratory rate, and the doctor found a blood clot in the lungs. Why does this case show that you must check all the vital signs?

Question 1

Why is it necessary to check more than one vital sign on a patient?

Claim:

Evidence:

Reasoning:

Question 2

How might vital signs change the decisions a medical professional makes while investigating an illness?

Claim:

Evidence:

Reasoning:

Careers

Name two other careers that need to check vital signs, and one thing that would be hard about it in that job.