1.

What is the chemistry part of your research

- chemical formula, type of hormone, what secretes it, primary functions, how is it related to
the research

- Cortisol
-adrenal glands/Adrenal Cortex
- As Longhurst, 2018 had stated, Cortisol is an important hormone that affects
virtually all of our organs and tissues. It serves a number of purposes, one of
which is to control our body's stress reaction. Helping to regulate our body's fat,
protein, and glucose utilization, as well as our metabolism.
-Now, when we are stressed no matter what the reason, the hormone Cortisol is
released as a response to the stress. This puts our body in a state to be prepared
to deal with potentially dangerous or worrisome events. But when we're
constantly stressed, though, this response doesn't necessarily go away. Thus,
Cortisol and other stress hormones can affect all of your body's processes,
increasing your risk of heart disease, obesity, anxiety, and depression.

- Endorphins
-hypothalamus and pituitary gland
- Endorphins are neurotransmitters that are released by the brain to alleviate pain
and promote pleasure.
-Which is why one way to mitigate high cortisol levels would be through physical
exercise as the body in response automatically secretes endorphins. Through the
endorphins, we feel pleasure and other feelings, the stress levels will decrease
because of this, since endorphins make our minds feel better. It also improves
our ability to sleep, which really helps when stressed.

2. How does the hormones you mentioned affected the physical activity
- The hormones that we mentioned, endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, are produced
during physical activity and mostly affects our mind and mentality like our thinking and
decision-making, which is mostly affected by the stress that people feel other than the
physical effects of stress.
- Their stress was reduced through utilizing the positive emotions released after engaging in
 exercise such as being energized, rewarded, happy, fulfilled, calm, peaceful, motivated,
relieved, ready, and satisfied. This proves the role that endorphins have after exercising as
they relax or calm the whole body which in effect reduces stress.
- As Kim & McKenzie said, people’s stress after exercising is reduced because of the positive
emotions induced after it. Thus, physical exercise has positive effects for the students and has
helped them become stronger physically and mentally. This is because increased levels of
endorphins contribute to the positive emotions felt right after engaging in Physical exercise
as the body is put into a state of relaxation and pleasure.
- Stress has affected their attitude and the way they perceive things such as how they view
their academics, personal problems, other people, and themselves all point out to the role
Cortisol plays in stress in our bodies.

-When we workout, our body will be fatigued which will be seen as pain or discomfort,
which is why endorphins are released As Stults-COLEMAYNEN & Sinha said, exercise is
an effective way to reduce stress as it aims to achieve enjoyment, self-expression, and
meaningful participation which all aid in achieving stress reduction.

- Bruce says that Endorphins, or feel-good chemicals, are produced in the body as a result of
exercise. They are a stress and pain-relieving hormone generated by the brain and pituitary
gland in response to pain or stress which are linked to amino acids.

-- Endorphins give off a “euphoric," feeling as they lessen the feelings of pain and fatigue
experienced during exercise

- when stress is experienced cortisol is released, stress has been proven by Stults-
COLEMAYNEN & Sinha to affect an individual's desire to workout which in effect cuts them off
from being able to do exercise which efficiently secretes more endorphins when one exercise
more.

3. How about the types of exercises that they do?

-We are told to choose exercises that make us comfortable, is suitable for us, and in our
interest so there aren't specific exercises that people need to do. It is said that almost any
type of exercise will help reduce stress.
(Harvard Health, Mayo Clinic)
- It was proven in a study in Japan, which shows that walking everyday is capable to reduce
stress during the pandemic. (Ejiri et.al.)
- The interviewees had some similar exercises but also had many differences in their training
because of different reasons like being a part of varsity, because of injury, and more.

4. why g11 stem students?

 -they are accessible and grade 11 students are culture shocked with the workload and
deadlines.
-We chose grade 11 STEM students because it is easier to identify the participants and it is
most relatable to us being in the same grade and strand. We also chose them because the
STEM strand has the most number of sections in the whole batch.
-We chose Grade 11 STEM students so that we the interviewers could closely relate to our
topic. We chose Grade 11 since that is the grade for the start of Senior Highschool, so we can
consider that the students would start thinking of their future.

5. how do the hormones affect the mood?

-Serotonin is the brain chemical responsible for modulating mood. If serotonin levels are
high, so are our moods. If levels are low, mood drops. (Smith 2017)
- dopamine makes us feel pleasure and is a big part of the human ability to think and
plan, affecting our learning, motivation, sleep, mood, attention, and more ( Cristol, 2021).

6. Do you think that adding females in the study would help expound the topic of
exercising being able to reduce stress?

-The hormones cortisol and endorphins are present in the human body. There isn’t a
difference in the hormones when comparing the two genders.

- A 2014 study by Kim and McKenzie that included both male and female participants
physical activity appeared to be significant in implying that physical activity aids
successful problem-focused coping by eliciting good feeling.

7. Do you think including other strands will give new results?

- If we include the other strands in our research, it will give us new results since students
from different strands have their own experiences.

- Students from different strands may have different experiences compared to students
like us in the STEM strand because they have different subjects and schedules so their
stressors may potentially vary, including the time they have for exercise.

8. How about the stress experienced during workout?

- So stress experienced while exercising is also reduced as endorphins put the body into
a state of calmness

- Because the body is put to work when exercising, and endorphins are produced to
counter the pain that we feel when exercising, the stress that we feel during exercise
would be temporary or reduced because as the endorphins produce, we will feel its
benefits also during exercising.
9. Will including adults change your results or benefit the topic.

- Yes, because adults have other main sources of stress which aren’t academic stress. Their
consistency to exercise is also a factor as they are more committed and have more resources
in doing so.

- The bodies of adults are already developed thus are more capable to engage in physical
activity, while the bodies of younger adults are still developing. Thus, adults can exercise
better with a higher intensity.