ABCs of Cardiovascular Health
Grade: P3 ‑ P4
Cardiovascular Health: Avoid Tobacco Use, Better Eating Habits, Commitment to Physical Activity
Overview: You will learn the benefits of avoiding drugs, improving eating habits, and a commitment to physical activity. At the end of this unit, you will be able to identify healthy behaviors that promote cardiovascular health.
Major Focus
Academic Expectations:
2.30 Students evaluate consumer products and services and make effective consumer decisions.
2.31 Students demonstrate the knowledge and skills they need to remain physically healthy and to accept responsibility for their own physical well‑being.
2.32 Students demonstrate strategies for becoming and remaining mentally and emotionally healthy.
2.34 Students perform physical movement skills effectively in a variety of settings.
2.35 Students demonstrate the knowledge and skills that promote physical activity and involvement in physical activity throughout their lives.
Essential Content:
Influences on consumer decisions
Impact of diet on growth and development
The food guide pyramid and its significance
Basic food groups according to the food guide pyramid
Various stretching, strengthening, and cardiovascular endurance activities and their benefits
Feel and hear their own heartbeat
Body changes that occur during physical activity
Risks of non-medicinal drugs
Decision‑making strategies
Organizer:
Ready, set, go –Race for a healthy heart
Essential Questions:
How does my cardiovascular system work?
How do the ABCs of cardiovascular health affect me?
How does advertising influence the choices I make?
How do I make positive choices for good cardiovascular health?
Culminating Project
Your class will participate in a health fair at the end of this unit that will be open to the school and community. The fair's theme will be the "Kentucky 500" complete with pit stops featuring information concerning nutrition, drug use, physical activity, and cardiovascular health. There will be pit stops showcasing information gained from classroom activities on cardiovascular health. Parents and community members will help with fair. The following should be components of the Kentucky 500 health fair:
You will develop advertisements to display around the school and community. Pit crew T-shirts may also be created. (Optional)
Get your program ‑ Student‑created pamphlets will be distributed with information about the "Kentucky 500."
Fuel station ‑ Information about healthy snacks for good nutrition will be displayed along with healthy snacks prepared by students.
Exhaust station ‑ Information about the risks and consequences associated with tobacco use will be displayed. Use Sam the smoker from Get Real About Tobacco Kit.
Fit pit ‑ Proper warm‑up, pre‑stretches, and cool‑down stretching techniques will be demonstrated. Participants perform various stretches. They also will monitor their resting heart rates and calculate target heart rates.
Qualifying run ‑ Participants complete a cardiovascular endurance test. Physical education teacher might collaborate with this activity.
Engine room ‑ Participants learn how the heart works. Have a heart doctor, nurse or EMT there as an expert.
Body Shop – Participants will make a collage showing a healthy life style.
Judges' Station – Judges use fitness test results (e.g., Presidential Fitness Test ) to assess participant's cardiovascular health. (Optional)
After you have visited the fair, show in pictures/words 4 healthy choices presented at the fair.