International A Level Biology / Muscles, movement and the heart

Reading ECGs

Edexcel International A Level Biology (YBI11), chapter 21: Muscles, movement and the heart, specification point 7.12. Part of the full course.

Read the revision notes · International A Level Biology past papers

An ECG records the heart’s electrical activity from electrodes on the skin. Reading its waves and rhythm helps you calculate heart rate, recognise abnormalities and compare traces.

More lessons in Muscles, movement and the heart

• How muscles, tendons, ligaments and the skeleton produce movement
• The structure of a skeletal muscle fibre
• Fast and slow twitch muscle fibres
• The sliding filament theory
• The myogenic heartbeat: SAN, AVN, bundle of His
• Negative and positive feedback
• Cardiac output
• Controlling heart rate: the cardiovascular control centre
• Controlling breathing: the ventilation centre
• Core practical 17: spirometer traces and exercise