By Matthew Bassett
Part 3 of a 4 part series.
After students have learned to use pedometers there are a number of ways that you can integrate them into different subjects or concepts.
Perceived exertion. A pedometer can be used to work on perceived exertion, another physical education standard. A student can make comparisons to the number of steps taken to a perceived exertion chart. This chart was originally designed to work off of a person’s heart rate but a teacher can guide students to a moderate activity (through steps) and can help the student make a judgment on their location of the perceived exertion chart.
Multiplication. A teacher can use a simple math integration for every lesson while using the pedometers. A student who has learned their stride length can estimate how far they have traveled by multiplying the number of steps by their stride length. The result will be the approximate distance traveled. Having students figure out this simple multiplication problem can be a simple cross-curricular lesson.
Estimation. I have students run across the field and ask them to estimate how many steps they would take in order to travel that distance. They can also use some of their own knowledge of their stride length and field length to determine an answer. This involves using division to find their answer.
Graphing. Having students graph the information that you have written down through the the tracking of data is also a useful math lesson. After a few weeks of using pedometers, a class period can be devoted to graphing the data.
Compare and contrast. A Language arts integration can be to use the data to compare and/or contrast different types of activities. Any time that you can ask a student to write about what they have been doing helps to deepen their content knowledge in physical education and helps to integrate language arts as well.
These are just a few of the ideas I have used to integrate pedometers into physical education and other subjects as well. The sky is the limit and I encourage the reader to be as creative as possible in attempting to integrate pedometers into their lessons.