Our students have been using Polar Heart Rate monitors for 10 years now. In the past three years we have incorporated them into the writing, reading and technology curriculums.

In the 4th and 5th grade we use the numbers from the heart monitors and teach the students to put them into an Excel spreadsheet. We then have the spreadsheet make a graph with the numbers. That graph is then inserted by the student into their health and fitness portfolio that is kept on the computer. Then the students write a journal entry into their portfolio that explains how they did, how long they were below their zone, how long they were in their zone and how long they were above their zone. Students can also compare graphs that they did to see how different sports make different graphs.

I get assistance with this from our technology assistant and the classroom teachers use this as a computer lab lesson. Next year I hope to have 4 laptops in the gym so students can use them as a health and fitness portfolio station and analyze graphs right when the activity happens. Making and reading graphs is a big part of our statewide tests here in Washington so I get a lot of support from classroom teachers for this project.

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