"Artery Avengers": Phys Ed combined with Health Ed...

-K-2 students finished up their last week before winter break learning about humans Arteries and Veins.  We started this lesson by gathering in front of the picture of "John" on the wall of the LCS gym.  "John" is the boy on the poster that was made by the American Heart Association.  What is so cool about "John" is that he is approximately the size of a K-2 student and he does not have any skin...  Instead you can see right through him and see his Arteries, Veins, Heart and his two Lungs.  We look at his Arteries and his Veins and talk about what the inside of a K-2 students Artery and Vein looks like? 

We brainstormed that a healthy K-2 student probably has very clean and clear Arteries and Veins that allow a lot, a lot of blood to flow through them.  A healthy K-2 student does not have any fat clogging up their Arteries or Veins because they are young and active.  We then looked at a RED hula hoop that was completely empty of anything inside of it.  This was our example of a clean Artery that blood could flow freely through.  We then filled up the RED hula hoop with foam frisbees (fat) and gator skin balls (fat) and looked at how these blockades would not allow free throwing blood to flow through.  The students then started to grasped what a clogged artery looked like. We then talked about how students could keep their Arteries and Veins clear of Fat and other things through exercise!

This chat lasted about 5 minutes and then we got to play "Artery Avengers" where students were on two teams and got to try and throw orroll gatorskin balls and throw or skim foam frisbees on the ground into the other teams Arteries or Veins.  Once a piece of fat (gatorskin or foam frisbee) was in a teams Artery or Vein it stayed there.  A student could get one piece of fat out of their Artery or Vein by doing 10 jumping jacks because exercise helps keep healthy Arteries and Veins.  The object of the game was to have the least amount of fat in your teams Arteries or Veins while trying to clog up the other teams. 

Best,

-Mr. Shackett 

The RED Arteries being clogged up...

Students standing in front of RED arteries were "guarders"

Student demonstrating the proper way to throw a frisbee...

Looks good!!!

"John" the K-2 student

The BLUE Veins...