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The Cardiovascular System for Fourth Graders: Heart Rate and Physical Activity during PhUn Week
Author(s) -
Brown Jaylyn,
Jarrett Steven,
Miller Breena,
Hayslip Rachel,
Gurovich Alvaro
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.541.13
Subject(s) - curriculum , medicine , class (philosophy) , physical activity , mathematics education , physical therapy , psychology , computer science , pedagogy , artificial intelligence
Physiology Understanding (PhUn) week is the APS K‐12 outreach program that helps increasing awareness about STEM education. Here, we combined PhUn week and health education to show the cardiovascular system (CV) and how the heart rate (HR) increases through physical activity, integrated into the 4 th grade science curriculum. The activity was divided in 5 different sessions, one per room, in two different days, reaching 116 elementary school students. Each room was divided in small 4‐student groups with the following general activity set‐up was: 1) brief presentation about the CV system, 2) measuring HR during 3 different conditions, 3) analyzing collected data, and 4) discussing obtained results. Two children per group were connected to an EKG via Biopac MP40 system and data was analyzed with the Biopac Science Lab software. Electrodes were placed on the right wrist, right ankle, and left ankle. Resting, hula hooping, and running EKGs were recorded. After collecting EKGs, other two students analyze the data, using the computer, to determine HRs during each activity. The students recorded these values in a data table that they would later use in their science class to plot and compare HR values. Finally, a discussion was performed to integrate findings with CV physiology. By the end of PhUn week, 4 th graders collected data from 40 class mates and each teacher had enough HR data to enhance their science curriculum. Overall, we expect that the goal of enhancing the elementary students' knowledge of the cardiovascular system was achieved; however, we are sure that at least they have ‘PhUn’. Supported by IU AHEC 14/15 #PIU081 and APS PhUn week program