There remains a strong movement for Introductory Physics for Life Sciences (IPLS) courses to better integrate physics and biology. Part of the challenge for IPLS educators is to introduce fundamental physical law while simultaneously establishing the relevance of physics to biological science. Life science relevant laboratory experiences are…

Open-ended problems are a very effective tool for engaging student interest. In this paper, we report a physics activity that provides insight into the lifestyle of theropod dinosaurs. This activity generates great enthusiasm among the students since virtually everyone is interested in dinosaurs. In the spirit of the "spherical cow"…

Myocardial contraction is triggered whenever a wave of electrical impulses passes through the heart. The pattern of electrical excitation spreads coordinately over the structure of the heart. This results in a measurable change in potential across the surface of the body of a subject. The recording of the resultant signal from specific body points…

Consider the following ConcepTest. A platelet is drifting with the blood flowing through a horizontal artery. As the platelet enters a constriction, does the blood pressure increase, decrease, or stay the same?

Two of the most frustrating things for me as a teacher are the way units and jargon can get in the way of understanding concepts. When I teach pre-nursing and medical students about blood pressure, they end up memorizing a lot of information that would be obvious if they had remembered some of their basic physics--particularly the ability to…

Modeling real-life situations is an important part of introductory physics. Here we consider the question "What is the largest weight of backpack a hiker can manage?" A quick perusal of the Internet suggests that as the weight of a healthy adult increases, the largest backpack weight W[subscript bp] also increases and should be about…

The acoustics of speech production allows the prediction of resonances for a given vocal tract configuration. Combining these predictions with aerodynamic theory developed for mechanical whistles makes theories about human whistling more complete. Several experiments involving human whistling are reported which support the theory and indicate new…

Although breathing is a universal activity among physicists (and others), few have bothered to estimate the number of molecules inhaled in a single average breath. Some simple calculations and comparisons related to this phenomenon are provided to improve students' appreciation of the awesome numbers related to Avogadro's number. (JN)

Summarizes research done on the resting and action potential of nerve impulses, electrical excitation of nerve cells, electrical properties of Nitella, and temperature effects on action potential. (GS)

Describes an experiment in which students work together in small groups, take data, and make a calculation to roughly determine the diameter of the blind spot in their eye. (WRM)

Discusses some calculations and demonstrations illustrating the role of physics in cardiovascular system. Describes a model for the system, work done by the heart, pressure in blood vessel, and gravitational effects. (YP)

Describes the measurement of blood speed in blood vessels by using the Doppler effect. (WRM)