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ERIC Number: EJ744913
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Dec
Pages: 11
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1059-0145
EISSN: N/A
The Pedometer as a Tool to Enrich Science Learning in a Public Health Context
Rye, James A.; Zizzi, Samuel J.; Vitullo, Elizabeth A.; Tompkins, Nancy O'Hara
Journal of Science Education and Technology, v14 n5-6 p521-531 Dec 2005
The United States is experiencing an obesity epidemic: A science-technology-society public health issue tied to our built environment, which is characterized by heavy dependence on automobiles and reduced opportunities to walk and bicycle for transportation. This presents an informal science education opportunity within "science in personal and social perspectives" to use pedometer technology for enhancing students' understandings about human energy balance. An exploratory study was conducted with 29 teachers to investigate how pedometers could be used for providing academic enrichment to secondary students participating in after-school Health Sciences and Technology Academy clubs. Frequency analysis revealed that the pedometer activities often investigated kilocalorie expenditure and/or incorporated hypothesis testing/experimenting. Teachers' perspectives on learning outcomes most frequently conveyed that students increased their awareness of the importance of health habits relative to kilocalorie intake and expenditure. Pedometers have considerable merit for the regular science curriculum as they allow for numerous mathematics applications and inquiry learning and target concepts such as energy and equilibrium that cut across the "National Science Education Standards." Pedometers and associated resources on human energy balance are important tools that science teachers can employ in helping schools respond to the national call to prevent childhood obesity.
Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A