At the end of Week Six, look at your chart and figure out how much you’ve increased your workouts. Did you find that you were able to do more each week without becoming winded as quickly? What is your favorite kind of exercise?

     •   Check your pulse after exercising and multiply the number of beats within 10 seconds by six to determine your heart rate. (You can add a column to your chart and note this at the beginning of each week. Did your heart rate change after the six-week period was over?)

Vocabulary

myocardium, ligament, tendons, rectus abdominus, flexibility, aerobic, oxygen, circulatory system, valves, vessels, diaphragm, musculoskeletal system, striated, heart, bones, skeleton.

Activities

     •   Draw or copy a diagram of the heart. Label all the parts.

     •   You will need: Pencil, paper, stopwatch, or watch with a second hand. Watch the clock and count how many times you breathe in one minute. Write it down. Now run in place for 30 seconds. Watch the clock and again count how many times you breathe in one minute. Did you breathe more or less times after you ran in place? Why?

     •   You will need: Pencil, paper, stopwatch, or watch with a second hand. Count the number of times you feel your pulse in one minute. Write the number down. Now count a friend or sibling’s pulse and write it down. Now count the pulse of an adult and a baby. Does everyone’s heart beat the same amount of times per minute? Why or why not?

     •   Game: Blob Tag

You will need: A group of kids to play!

How game is played: When the tagger tags someone, they join hands to form a tagging pair. The pair becomes the taggers and gives chase while holding hands, moving as a “blob.” When they tag someone else, that person becomes part of the tagging blob.

     •   What games can you think of that would be good exercise? Go ahead and play them.

Writing

     •   Write a report describing the function of the heart, how it works, and how to maintain a healthy heart.

     •   Write two different stories about a man. Choose a name for him, an age, and where he lives. In the first story, make your character a man who exercises regularly. What does he look like? What kinds of exercising or activities does he do to stay fit? What kinds of hobbies does he have? What kinds of foods does he eat? When he goes to his doctor, what kind of report is he given?

In your second story, have the same character be a man who does not exercise regularly. Answer the same questions about him.

Reading

     •   Why Must... I Exercise? by Jackie Gaff (ages 4-8)