The Cardiovascular System | Edexcel A-Level Physical Education (9PE0)
The Cardiovascular System
- 66 questions
- 4 subtopics
- Component 1: scientific principles of physical education
- Component 1
The Cardiovascular System is examined in Component 1, Scientific principles of physical education.
It covers heart structure and the conduction system, blood vessels, circulation and vascular shunting, heart rate, cardiac output and bradycardia and exercise responses and the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle.
Sample questions from The Cardiovascular System
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Heart structure and the conduction system
Where are the semilunar valves, and what do they do?
Show the answer
The semilunar valves guard the exits into the aorta and the pulmonary artery. The valves stop blood flowing back into the ventricles. -
Heart structure and the conduction system
What are the bundle of His and the Purkinje fibres?
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The bundle of His carries the impulse down the septum to the apex of the ventricles. The Purkinje fibres spread the impulse up through the ventricle walls, causing ventricular systole. -
Blood vessels, circulation and vascular shunting
What are arterioles, and why are they important in exercise?
Show the answer
Arterioles are small arteries with smooth muscle in their walls. The smooth muscle lets arterioles widen or narrow to control blood flow to each tissue. -
Blood vessels, circulation and vascular shunting
Why does a runner who stops suddenly after a race risk feeling dizzy?
Show the answer
The skeletal muscle pump stops, so blood pools in the legs. Venous return, stroke volume and blood pressure fall, and less blood reaches the brain. -
Heart rate, cardiac output and bradycardia
Calculate the cardiac output of a student with a stroke volume of 70 mL and a heart rate of 72 bpm.
Show the answer
The cardiac output is about 5.0 L min⁻¹. Stroke volume × heart rate = 70 mL × 72 bpm = 5040 mL min⁻¹. -
Heart rate, cardiac output and bradycardia
What is recovery heart rate, and what does a fast recovery show?
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Recovery heart rate is the heart rate in the minutes after exercise as it returns towards resting. A faster fall indicates better cardiovascular fitness. -
Exercise responses and the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle
Name the lifestyle choices that damage the cardiovascular system.
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Physical inactivity, smoking and excess alcohol all damage the system. A diet high in saturated fat and salt and long-term stress do so too. -
Exercise responses and the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle
How does high blood pressure damage the cardiovascular system?
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High blood pressure makes the heart work harder with every beat. The extra pressure damages artery walls and raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The 4 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Heart structure and the conduction system | The four chambers, the thicker left ventricle, the septum, tricuspid, bicuspid and semilunar valves, the myocardium and major vessels, the SA node, AV node, bundle of His and Purkinje fibres, and the cardiac cycle. | 16 |
| Blood vessels, circulation and vascular shunting | Red and white blood cells and platelets, arteries, veins, capillaries and arterioles, pulmonary and systemic circulation, venous return and its pumps, the dizzy runner, vascular shunting and the share of cardiac output reaching muscle. | 17 |
| Heart rate, cardiac output and bradycardia | Stroke volume from end diastolic and end systolic volumes, cardiac output and its equation, Starling's law, resting, working, maximum and recovery heart rate, heart rate reserve, worked calculations and bradycardia. | 17 |
| Exercise responses and the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle | Heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output and blood pressure in exercise, the warm-up, and atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, saturated fat, smoking and inactivity. | 16 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
Edexcel A-Level Physical Education Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,108 questions with their answers.