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Guide Index

Spring Man

Better Baseball

High Anxiety

Speed Sailing
in the classroom
TEACHING GUIDES


SCIENCE OF SPORTS: High Anxiety

Mountain sickness can be dangerous to your health. And with more and more weekend adventurers participating in sports that take them to high altitudes, the dangers are increasing. In this episode, a German research team heads for the Alps to see if a test can predict who will adjust successfully to reduced levels of oxygen. Even though the volunteers are aware of the risks, the situation nearly turns fatal for one of them.

Curriculum Links
Activity: Learn More About the Physiological Effects of Hypoxia


CURRICULUM LINKS

BIOLOGY

circulatory system,
digestive system 		ETHOLOGY


nature, nurture		 HEALTH


lung capacity 		PHYSICAL EDUCATION

aerobic breathing


ACTIVITY: LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF HYPOXIA

Climbers long ago realized that some people are affected by mountain sickness, even to the point of death. You will find a detailed explanation of the condition seen on FRONTIERS in Scientific American. Search online or look in the library for the October 1992 issue and read the article "Mountain Sickness" by Charles S. Houston. It explains what happens to the alveoli in the lungs and some of the other reactions that take place when a person experiences hypoxia.

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Scientific American Frontiers
Fall 1990 to Spring 2000
Sponsored by GTE Corporation,
now a part of Verizon Communications Inc.