Week of 10/19/2015: First Grade Health

Activity Log:  A sheet will come home today (Monday 10/19) or tomorrow with first grade students.  One side is our "Pulse Fair" (experiment) side (see below for description).  Students recorded their pulse fast or slow for our different activity levels today.  On the other side is an activity log.  Please help your first grader fill out this activity log until next Tuesday, October 27.  Bring it to school that day!  We'll post the returned activity logs on a bulletin board to show the whole school how active we are!  

Mrs. Stoops' example activity log

Here is a blank activity log!

Monday's lesson included a discussion of pulse.  We started with what it is -- heart pumping and making arteries, tubes that carry our blood, expand.  We then talked about how our hearts pump faster and harder when we are active, because our muscles need more blood and oxygen when we are moving around.  Because our hearts beat faster, our pulse is faster when we are active!

We then talked about the two most common places to find our pulse, wrist and neck.  We then went over directions for how to check pulse for each place, and each student tried to find their pulse in  both locations.  I helped many students find their pulse on their wrists!

Then, our experiment part of the class:  we first checked our pulse when sitting.  Students felt their own pulse and decided if it felt fast or slow, and then wrote a F for fast or S for slow on their paper.  We then ran in place, stopped to feel our pulse, and students marked F (fast) or S (slow).  Then we rested and felt our pulses again at rest, followed by another bout of activity (jumping jacks, hopping, jumping, scissor jumps, and more!) and another pulse check.

The experiment reinforces that our pulse increases when active, and decreases when resting.  We will check our pulses throughout the school year, with more relative conclusions like we used today (fast, slow, medium) instead of numbers.

We also discussed why it is important to be physically active, how experts recommend 60 minutes of activity every day for children, and how things we do everyday at school do help count toward our activity time (PE class, activities at recess, during music class, etc.).

Example pulse experiment chart.  This is not homework, as we completed it together in class.  If your student was absent, you could try the experiment at home!