Polar Heart Rate Monitors
At John R. Briggs Elementary School we are dedicated to improving the students physical fitness and health during Physical Education class. One of the areas of the program that we would like to improve is the students’ understanding of Heart Rate (HR) and how the body reacts to physical activity. Currently the students are taught how to take their Heart Rate manually, which 4th and 5th grade students find very difficult to do while exercising.
We think the Polar Wrist Heart Rate Monitor would help bridge this gap and the students would be able to track and log their Heart Rate during PE and develop a better understanding of how their effort during exercise affects their HR. The Polar HR Monitors will allow me to chart and assess students’ HR during my classes. I can then use this information to provide students with adequate feedback to improve their physical fitness and health while adapting my own lessons to improve student learning and the amount of time students are active during my class.
Technology has become a major part of student learning and by incorporating it into physical education the students will be able to see the effects of physical activity on their heart rate, and will motivate them to work harder to improve their overall fitness and knowledge. Through the use of the HR monitors, we will be able to guarantee students’ success through the data and feedback that the HR monitors will provide after each class. We will then adapt lessons to improve student fitness. In addition, with the use of the HR monitors and data, we hope to improve cross curriculum education between Physical Education and the classroom teachers. There are many age appropriate ways to interpret the data and to see how hard the students are pushing themselves.
–Troy Berg, Physical Education Teacher, J.R. Briggs Elementary School
Grant Year: 2021-2022
Grant Recipients: Bill Foss, Troy Berg
Receiving Schools: J.R. Briggs Elementary School