Converting Minutes to Seconds

Since the beginning of the year we have been learning how to tell time and what role does time play in physical education. We have used the clock to tell us what time we begin and end pe class and analyze our schedule in pe class. Now we are learning about how to record smaller units of time like minutes, seconds and hundredths of a second. One of the things we are doing this week is converting minutes to seconds. We have been using the stopwatch to time sprints and laps. We will be using this conversion in the coming weeks to determine such things as the average time run for members in a relay race, adding race times to get a total time, determining the difference between the fastest and slowest times and using time for the Fitnessgram. The by products of this learning is that students begin to develop a sense of time, they learn the difference between minutes, seconds and 1/100 of a second and they learn to work a stopwatch.

Learning About Time And Distance

We have been learning about time and distance this week. We have been using the stop watch to time sprints, relay races and laps.
For the sprints we grouped the students in 7 even lines. Each group has a timekeeper. The timekeeper works the stopwatch and tells the other students what their time is. The students were instructed to run 3 races. They wrote their fastest time down in their journal. They also had to write down how far they ran. We also gave the older students a bonus question. How far did you run total? Example of journal entry-
Today I ran 75 feet in 6 seconds.
bonus  75 feet
           75
         +75
         225 feet

For the relay races again we grouped the students in 7 lines. Each group had a timekeeper and a recorder. The recorder went first and the timekeeper went last. At the end of the race the timekeeper communicated with the recorder the time of the relay race. The students ran 3 races. Then the students had to return to their journals where the recorder shared the information with the rest of the group. The students had to circle the team's fastest time. We talked about how far each person ran- 60 feet there and 60 feet back. We talked about how we measure the distance and what tool we would use- a tape measure compared with a ruler.. The older students were given a bonus question. What was the total time of the three races? Example of journal entry- race 1-1:20
                     race 2- 1:15-fastest
                     race 3- 1:17
bonus         total time 3:52 min.

For the laps we grouped our students in their ability groups. One of the students was chosen to be the timekeeper for each group. Depending on their ability level the students ran between 3-6 laps along with doing between 10-40 push ups and 25-50 sit ups in a circuit format. The students were given their stop time and their total time from the stopwatch. They were then asked  to determine what their start time was. For the younger students we only recorded their time and talked about the difference between seconds and minutes and how long of a distance could be covered in each. We also talked to the students about how long we have for PE so that they can begin to develop a sense of time.
Example of journal entry- Date 10-5-12, Temp 76 F
Pu 40  Su 50 Laps 6    end time 10:50 am
                                   total time 12:00
                                   start time 10:38 am
                                    

Balancing The Checkbook

This week we began to balance our checkbooks(the PE journal). We started by having the students add up the coins they have earned. On each page they added up their coins and put the total at the top outside corner of the page. This teaches them how to chunk and organize their data. On a page in the back of the journal they will add up how money they have for a particular month. They are saving up for a free choice day in PE which costs them $8.00.
We have also started giving bonus questions that the students must go home and research and then bring back the answer. They are given $1.00 for bringing back the right answer. Overtime work = overtime pay! This week the bonus question was how does one calculate their max heart rate? We discussed where to find the answer. The students now know how to go to experts to find their answer.

Money Stamps In Journals

During Strength days, you can earn money by completing different level of exercises. You must complete the following:

Crawfish Level = 10 Push-ups, 25 Sit ups, 3 laps = 10 ¢ (ten cents)

Fish Level = 25 Push-ups, 40 Sit ups, 5 laps = 25¢ (twenty five cents)

Shark Level = 40 Push-ups, 50 Sit ups, 6 laps = 50 ¢ (fifty cents)

During Agility days, you can earn money by your quality of work.

You must complete the following:

Math/language art problems must be answered and set up correctly the first time = $0.25 (twenty five cents)

Problem is set up correctly but not answered correctly the first time = $0.10 (ten cents)

Problem is not set up correctly or answered correctly the first time it is checked = $0.00

What can I buy with my money?

You can get the following:

$8.00 (eight dollars) free day at PE. A day with no journaling, no exercise with rest of class, choice of game.

Teaching About Numbers And Grouping

We continue to interweave numbers into our pe class. This week we counted our jumping jacks and other exercises. First we would count how many jumping jacks we performed. We would ask the question, "What are we counting?" The typical response was, "Numbers." We would then explain that we are counting the number of jumping jacks in a set. We gave the kids our explanation of what a set is and how we group our exercises. Then we would do another  "set". This time we would count by 2's or 5's. For example we would count up to 50 by 5's. We explained how this is using multiplication. Some examples of our questions we ask are, "How many jumping jacks did we just do?", "How many jumping jacks did we do in the first set?",  "Which set did we do more of?",  "Which set did we do less?"
We would manipulate how we counted. We would count forward and backward. We would count by 2's, 5's, 10's 100's. We would count forward and backward by those multiples.
Grouping is essential to pe. We group into lines to run relay races. We try and form even groups to move to different pe centers. We showed the students two different ways to group. We can use actual numbers or use estimation. We showed the students how to count off and divide into groups and explained we would this type of grouping if we are playing team sports so that the numbers will be fair. We also used estimation to get into groups that were somewhat even. We explained that estimation is a quick way for us to break into groups to move to centers of skill training. We explained that exact numbers weren't as important in the centers.

Using The Journal To Teach About Money

We will be using our PE journals to teach about money. Using money stamps we will reward the students' work with different denominations of money stamps. The students will then be able to "buy" different prizes. They will also be able to bid on prizes in an auction format. Effectively we will turn their journal into a checkbook.

Treasure Hunt

We have started hiding little "treasures" ie shark tickets, side walk chalk, etc. The students must then use the compass and meter wheel to find the treasures. The directions to the treasure are simple. Here is an example. Start on the southern tip of Texas. Go 180 degrees South for 50 meters. Then go 330 degrees north for 55 meters. We hide stuff under cones, under rocks, etc. The kids really seem to enjoy it. At the conclusion we will go over their course. I will show them how they traveled in a triangle. This is an introduction into vectors, trig. We will also start using gps systems this coming week.