Activity Title: 'Biking the Tanami!'

Subject Area: Physical Education

Theme: Determining Fitness Levels

Grade Level: 4th - 6th

 

Students will investigate their own level of fitness. This is done through calculating the recovery rate of a person’s cardiovascular system.

Colorado Standard(s) and/or Benchmark(s) addressed in this activity:

Grade	Content Area	Standard	Benchmark
4th - 6th	Physical Education	2-demonstrate competency	2.1-develop health-related fitness, cardiovascular endurance.
4th - 6th	Physical Education	2-demonstrate competency	2.4-use personal fitness programs and technology to maintain physical fitness.

 

National Standard(s) and/or Benchmark(s) addressed in this activity:

Grade	Content Area	Standard	Benchmark
4th - 6th	Physical Education	Demonstrate competency	Proficiency in movement forms
4th - 6th	Physical Education	Achieve/maintain level of fitness	Exhibit physically active lifestyle

 

Introduction:

You are about to set out to ride 330 miles through the infamous the Tanami Desert from the Aboriginal community of Yuendumu to the cattle station (ranch) of Moolooloo. The temperature will be over 100 degree and there is no water other than what you will carry with you. So it’s a good idea to find out how fit you are before setting out!

Vocabulary:

• recovery rate
• cardiovascular

 

Materials:

• stop watch or watch with second hand
• journals
• pencils
• map of the Northern Territory, Australia showing the aboriginal community of Yuendumu and cattle station Moolooloo.
• Stationary or exercise bicycle.

 

Preparation:

Learn to calculate the recovery rate of a person’s cardiovascular system. A traditional way to do this investigation is measuring the pulse before and after exercise to determine the time taken for an individual’s heart rate to return to normal.

• Pair up with someone and make sure you have:
• A stopwatch (1 between 2), and
• Your journals and pencils.

Procedure:

• One member of each pair measures the pulse of the partner. Holding the wrist (or any other point of the body they know for checking the pulse), count the number of heartbeats per 60-second period.
• Count how many beats in 15 seconds and then multiply it by 4 to get the total number of heartbeats per minute. Once the figure is found, it is recorded into your journal.
• The person whose heart rate was checked pedals on the bicycle for 2 minutes. No pulse is checked immediately afterwards. Exactly 4 minutes after the 2 -minute biking session the person’s pulse is checked again for a 60 second period. The findings are written down. The partners switch roles and repeat the process.

 

Analyze and Conclude:

 

Assessment Rubric:

Advanced proficient 4	Proficient 3	Partially proficient 2	Unsatisfactory 1
Student figures pulse rate for 60 seconds; uses a multiple step process involving multiplication	Student is able to find pulse and compute the heart rate for a 60 second period	Student is able to find their pulse; they have difficulty computing the heart rate for 60 seconds	Student is unable to find their pulse; they are unable to figure the heart rate for a 60 second interval
Student pedals consistently for two minutes; completes the activity to determine fitness level; designs an additional activity to determine fitness using computation	Student is able to pedal consistently for two minutes; after resting, they find the pulse and complete the exercise	Student is able to pedal for two minutes; they are unable to keep track of the time for accurate measurement to complete the exercise	Student is unable to pedal for two minutes consistently; the heart rate computation is inaccurate

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