Kids' Health and Fitness

Learning Quest > Occasionally - The Occasional Carnival > Teacher's Notes > Learning Quest Parts

Introduction

This stage explains details of the Occasional Carnival Learning Quest. It is setting the scene for what the students will be doing and what the focus is.

The main focus of the Occasional Carnival Learning Quest is for students to:

		Build up ideas that there are a wide range of sports and physical activities conducted during a Special Event like a sports day, swimming carnival, cross country or fun run. These are occasional activities that occur a few times a year and involve ‘huff and puff’ activities.
		Understand the difference between everyday foods needed for energy to do these activities and the occasional foods that are often available at these events.

Special Event

This stage will build up students understanding of the large range of activities they are involved in that they may not play or be active in, much of the time. They will also investigate what they eat and can safely do leading up to or during these events and what foods are available at these events.

As part of this, students will need to think about and discuss what they might do to prepare safely for these occasional events. Ensure that students are aware that safety is always the first priority. Importantly this activity only requires students to plan for their preparation, however it is still extremely important for students to understand that any training they might do must always be under the supervision of a suitably qualified teacher.

Templates are included to help support the brainstorm and also student preparation.

.:. top

Energy Balance

In this stage students will be thinking about balance and energy in and energy out. It is important that you explain the concept of energy balance simply and clearly.

In ‘Energy In’, students will learn about the energy and nutrition requirements for physical activity, especially for ‘huff and puff’ activities and sports day activities that require strenuous or extended periods of effort.

Energy for moving comes from the food we eat. It is important for students to learn about the right type and amount of nutrients for everyday activity and also consider extra requirements for activities that make them huff and puff or require longer periods of activity.

In ‘Energy Out’, students will learn more about energy used for activity. This is determined by the type and amount of activity performed. If undertaking strenuous or longer duration activity the body uses more energy meaning it is important to have enough ‘fuel’ to perform these activities. It is also important that the energy that is used during these activities needs to be replaced after the event. Click here to learn more.

Overall, there is a simple mathematics equation that can be followed.

ENERGY IN = ENERGY OUT = BALANCE

Energy requirements of the body change everyday due to the level of activity we undertake. The important concept for students to learn is BALANCE. Trying to balance energy intake with energy needs.

Importantly, we do not want students to be preoccupied with counting energy requirements or kilojoules. Just simply to be discerning about the different amounts of energy that certain foods can provide and whether these are suitable for their physical activity requirements. Students should also learn the different roles that everyday and occasional foods play.

.:. top

What Happens?

There is no easy answer when students ask, “what happens when I eat or when I am physically active”? However, in What Happens, students will be learning more and investigating further what happens to their body.

To help students understand what happens when physically active. Try:

Running On The Spot

Students can perform this activity to develop a basic awareness of what happens to the body during exercise. Remember to familiarise yourself with safety.

Activity:

Students will need to take their pulse rate before and immediately after the activity. You will need to instruct and demonstrate to students on how they should take their pulse rate. We recommend that the pulse should be taken over 15 seconds and then multiplied by 4 – we all have trouble concentrating and counting each beat for 60 seconds. Children can be advised to put their hand over their heart and count the beats or to take the pulse in their neck as it is easier to isolate. The radial on the wrist can be more difficult to take.

Find a clear and appropriate free space for students to jog on the spot for one (1) minute, beginning slowly and building up to a faster pace.

Have students list the changes to their body.

Encourage students to discover why these things happen?

Students could use a diagram to help them explain what they think is happening. Students will be recording what they believe and find happens to their bodies when they are physically active.

In this stage of the Learning Quest students will also investigate what happens when eating and drinking.

It is important that students have a good understanding about the digestive system and the group of organs. The interactive websites listed in the learning quest are a good support for both yourself and your students. Also visit: http://www.innerbody.com/text/digeov.html to get an overview of the digestive system. Also note that some of the websites listed in this stage are interactive and may take a while to load on your system at school. It is worth checking these prior to the class as some of them may not be appropriate as they may take too long to load.

In this stage, a pulse rate template has been supplied to support students in recording their pulse rates in different situations. It is important that you spend time discussing that people have different pulse rates even though they are doing the same thing. Make sure students don’t think they are unusual or different because their rates are different.

To check that students can identify organs and systems to do with physical activity, eating and drinking and they can describe their functions, have each student devise one question related to a body system. Assign peers to attempt the questions, comment on appropriateness and suggest improvements. You could publish the questions and then select several to act as a written assessment tool to be given to the class.

.:. top

Carnival Recommendations

In Carnival Recommendations your class has been asked to make recommendations for the next sports carnival. The main aim they want your class to achieve is for more students to participate, prepare and take on roles and responsibilities to make the occasional event a fun one.

In this stage it also asks students to include a warm up activity before physical activity. It is important that students are aware about the importance of warming up prior to physical activity.

Demonstrate with the class a range of safe warm up activities that are good to prepare and warm up prior to physical activity. Try the Wheel Relay. Also remember to check the safety tips .

Click here for some everyday warm up activities you may want to try with your students

Safety Tips

		Provide students with a large flat area with a non slip surface
		Place marker cones around the outside of the wheel for students to run around, making sure that there is at least a metre between student 1 and the beginning of the wheel. Students waiting must remain at least a metre back from the markers
		Remind students to always watch where they are going, especially when they enter the wheel
		A student already running has right of way over a student entering the wheel
		If students need to overtake others they must do so on the outside

Here are some ideas for Carnival Days that you can share with your class.

What Have I Discovered?

This is the evaluation stage and it is an opportunity for both the teacher and student to reflect on the learning from the Occasional Learning Quest. If only part of the Learning Quest was completed then the Assessment rubric will need to be altered to suit your class.

.:. top