AP Biology Online Poster
By: Nicole Tan & Abhilash Vanam (6th period)
Does gender affect the time spent exercising daily on weekdays among teenagers?
Our Hypothesis
Gender will not affect the time spent exercising daily among teenagers of different genders.
Parts of the Experiment
Independent Variable: Gender of Test Subject
Dependent Variable: Amount of Time Spent Exercising Daily on Weekdays
Control(s): None
Constants: Medium upon which data was collected, Age Group
Type of Experiment
This investigation is a comparative investigation as the daily exercise time on weekdays is being compared between both genders.
Data Table
Range Error Bars
Standard Deviation Error Bars
Analysis
Gender does not affect the amount of hours students spend exercising on the weekdays. A trend noticed throughout the experiment was that males generally spend a few more minutes exercising as compared to the amount of hours females spend exercising.
According to the results of the experiment, the average amount of hours spent exercising on weekdays for males is approximately 1.23 hours and approximately 1.12 hours for females. When comparing the average hours spent exercising for both genders, it is evident that they are not statistically different, which further supports the preliminary hypothesis. Moreover, the p value garnered from the t-test was approximately 0.65, which is much higher than 0.05, proves that the independent variable (gender) has no effect on the dependent variable (Amount of hours spent exercising). Lastly, as seen in the bar graph, the error bars of both graphs overlap, indicating that there is no significant difference between the data received as they both could possibly have the same true mean.
Males and females both generally spend equal amounts of time exercising because exercising helps to keep people in shape, makes them happier, and also increases one’s potential to live a longer life. Exercising boosts the production of good cholesterol (High - density lipoprotein) and decreases the amount of unhealthy triglycerides, which can reduce the chance of having strokes, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Exercising also releases natural stress relievers also known as endorphins, which can help boost self-esteem and improve sleep. Additionally, as the target group for this experiment is young and involved in multiple extracurricular activities-most of which consist of sports-gender has little effect on the amount of time spent exercising. Since exercising has lots of benefits to the body, both genders would most likely try to incorporate as much exercising time as possible, thus supporting the preliminary hypothesis and the data received.
Conclusion
Sources of inaccuracies/Errors
Bibliography
Goldberg, Joseph. "Exercise and Depression: Endorphins, Reducing Stress, and More." WebMD. WebMD, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 07 Sept. 2015.
"Fitness." Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity. Mayo Clinic, 5 Feb. 2014. Web. 07 Sept. 2015.