As an experiment, have the students create their own dance language to simulate the bee wagging dance, and try to communicate simple instructions to other classmates. First, they should create a specific vocabulary or set of instructions, and then act it out to get their message across. Simply put, blood pressure moves blood through the arteries and veins of your body and is created by the beating of the heart muscle. Each time your heart contracts, pressure goes up as blood is forced through the arteries and when the heart relaxes, pressure drops back down. High blood pressure, or hypertension as it is technically called happens when the pressure does not drop back down.
Doctors measure blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer.
By wrapping an air bag around the patient's arm, the doctor uses air pressure to temporarily stop the blood flow. Using a stethoscope to listen, they slowly release air until the first pulse of blood is heard. This first reading is called the systolic blood pressure, or the pressure exerted by the heart in full contraction. The diastolic pressure happens when the pulse stops completely, and it represents the resting heart. The health risks associated with hypertension are enormous.