Graphing Our Galloping Gains With The Help Of Gadgets!
My students need a basic pedometer (one each-classroom of 18 plus one for me to properly model) to track the amount of steps they take at school and home.
Gadgets here, gadgets everywhere! We all see children with some form of technology entertaining them daily. Why not use a gadget to encourage a love for health and fitness all the while using mathematics! I want to get my students intrinsically motivated to get off the couch and into moving!
My students are fresh out of first grade at a magnet school for mathematics and engineering.
Many of these students have family incomes at or even below the poverty level with the majority receiving free or reduced lunch. My students are eager learners and love to think outside the box. The staff encourages the use of higher order thinking skills and the children are excited to share their strategies for success in all subjects. Due to the financial situation many of my students may experience, school can be a place where money doesn't exclude them for experiencing and exploring the magic and power of learning something.
My Project
How is it that children in the elementary age range are now three times more likely to be obese than they were twenty years ago? We could guess and speculate all day. However, I am more interested in finding solutions that these very children can participate in and find realistically applicable. My students will be able to incorporate the use of technology in the effort to become more physically active all the while self-monitoring through mathematics (graphing). We will use our pedometers, the technology piece of my project, to track their movement efforts. I will encourage the students to track their steps at school and extend that number at home, where the tendency to move is far less than that fully engaged at school. Every morning, my students will graph the efforts of the previous day. We will do this daily and the top three "movers" will get a prize from me! The kids will become aware of their physical activity and will also get a firm grasp on graphing data.
With numbers rising on the percentage of children at risk for long-term health problems due to obesity, it is important to teach children responsibility when it comes to their own health and well being.
They can make choices when it comes to activities at home and at school. Take the stairs or the elevator? I hope my project creates an intrinsic motivation for students to stay moving. By using technology and simple mathematics, I hope my students are motivated to make healthy lasting choices.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Green-Uber and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.