Amy Wheeler
HHS
PE, Grades 9 & 10

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Overview: Students wear and record pedometer data each PE class.  They use the data to create a spreadsheet that calculates totals.  At the end of the year, students are able to see how many steps they've taken, how many miles they've walked, and how many hours they've been active over the school year.  They also earn "$1" (PE Money) for each step accumulated earned to work through a word problem which includes monthly bills and scenarios that require money to solve.  Hopefully students have made enough of an investment in themselves and earned enough money to pay for the different real-life scenarios they're facing in the word problem.

SOL: Personal Fitness 9.3 (c), 9.4, 9.5 (a, b,c), 10.3 (a,b), 10.4, 10.5 (a,b)

Time Required: Daily over the course of a year

Technology Used: Pedometers, computers, Excel spreadsheet & Internet

Procedure:

  1. Develop an efficient, space-friendly system to house pedometers and fitness portfolios.
  2. Reserve and become acquainted with the computer lab several weeks in advance.
  3. Collect data and have students record their own scores DAILY!
  4. Check student progress every 2-6 weeks depending on school district requirements.  Recordings are a good way to objectively grade the students (honest, accurate data; make note of any corrections needed using a post-it note or different color pen)
  5. Have students use a different color pen for their six/nine weeks totals.
  6. Plan to give extra assistance to students with special needs like ADHD, ESL, etc. Certain students may need daily reminders to record or keep their folders in a more easily accessible area. During the exam, these students may benefit by being provided with a blank template.
  7. Before starting the exam, provide an example of a finished product to the class in order to point out common trouble spots (ex. LCD projector)
  8. Allot a large amount of time for the first data entry. This exam can be given as a midterm and a final exam or it can be used just as the final exam. If you have 50-minute class periods try to schedule 2-3 days in a lab or use a full exam period. For those teachers with 90-minute blocks, about one class period and a half should be sufficient in the lab.

Assessment:

  • Check student recordings every 2-6 weeks depending on school district requirements.
  • The use of a rubric for the spreadsheet (Total Pedometer Steps Accurate, # of Miles Accurate, Exercise Minutes Accurate, Total Exercise Hours Accurate, Spreadsheet is Organized and Readable)
  • The use of a rubric for the word problem (able to Pay “Needs”, Upgrade Living Environment, Venn Diagram, Money & Expenses, Definitions)

Describe how the use of technology affected student learning: Students develop a good habit of logging their daily step-count and develop an understanding of what information their data is providing. Students learn at the beginning of the year that each step earned equals $1 (PE money). Many students are motivated to earn as much "$" as they can throughout the year, therefore they maintain a higher activity level during class. Each class goes into the computer lab once per grading period to create an accurate and organized spreadsheet. Students learn how to input formulas that convert steps into miles and calculate totals (steps, miles, exercise time). At the end of the year, students use the total amount of steps aka "$" earned to answer a word problem. This word problem includes monthly bills and scenarios that require a solution. Hopefully students have made enough of an investment in themselves and earned enough money to pay for the different real-life scenarios their facing in the word problem. They are encourage to use simple searches on the Internet to gather information. If they have any money left over after taking care of their "needs", then they can then start looking into the costs for items they "want". Students develop a good understanding of "budgeting" after this project.

This activity is used all year long to track students progress using pedometers. It also teaches real-life concepts of working hard to earn benefits (health &/or monetary), deciding between "wants" and "needs", and budgeting.