Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.6C Grade 8 CPI 2

 

Standard: 2.6 - Fitness

 

Strand: C -   Achieving and Assessing Fitness

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 -  The student will perform at the intensity level needed to enhance cardiovascular fitness, as determined by target heart rate, perceived exertion, and recovery heart rate.

 

Grade: 8

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        IN THE TARGET ZONE - An important concept for training is the ability to monitor one’s heart rate and modify exercise to stay within an appropriate aerobic zone. Teach students how to determine their maximal heart rate and then have students determine the upper and lower limits of their aerobic target zone. (Review ways to monitor the pulse rate during exercise, or introduce heart rate monitors if available.) Once students are comfortable taking and recording their own pulse, explain why it is so important to monitor one’s pulse rate during exercise. Introduce the concept of intensity level, and show students a simple chart to help them gauge how hard they are working when they exercise (e.g., create a scale from 1 (very, very light) to 10 (extremely hard). Each student jumps rope at a slow pace for 30 seconds, takes and records his/her pulse, and then rates the intensity of the exercise. Next, each student jumps rope at a medium pace for 30 seconds and repeats the pulse and intensity recording. Finally, each student jumps rope at a challenging pace, one that puts him/her in the target zone. After recording the appropriate data, students evaluate if they were above or below the target zone and adjust the next exercise accordingly. Discuss the importance of reaching the target zone and using it to get the most benefit from exercise.

 

·        TRAIN FOR GAIN - For this activity, create a six-station aerobic circuit lasting 30 minutes. Students complete the circuit and related activities two to five times per week for six weeks. Each time the students participate in the circuit, they perform the designated activities for one minute with a one minute break between circuits. At each new interval, students record their pulse rate. Following the six week training circuit, students graph their pulse rates and include the graph in a report detailing the rationale for the physiological effects that occurred.