Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Let’s discover active spaces

20 minutes

Find Out: Action stations

25 minutes

Take Action: Promote and launch

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

design an interactive Healthy Heart Trail around their school that encourages physical activity and shares heart health information, promoting it to the school community.

Success criteria

Students can:

create activity stations that incorporate skipping or movement related to heart health, and select appropriate locations and routes in the school
explain how movement supports heart health
design signage or proportional materials to guide others through the trail and share heart health messages.

Tune In: Let’s discover active spaces

Step 1

Walk students out into the school grounds, stop outside and explain to the class that they are on the hunt for possible locations to set up Healthy Heart Stations as part of a Healthy Heart Trail. Clarify that the trail is to be used by students during breaks to activate their energy levels and keep their hearts healthy.

Provide each student with a school map (either digital or hard copy) to record their ideas for locations for the Healthy Heart Stations and map out their suggestions for a potential Healthy Heart Trail. Select 2-3 places to stop and invite the students to discuss with a partner, ideas and inspirations.

Ask students to think about what places would make you want to stop, move or look at something interesting and why? Select students to share their ideas throughout the walk, checking for understanding and encouraging others to develop creative ideas for the ‘Healthy Heart Trail’.

Encourage students to also think about the physical space available and what is needed for a particular activity, identifying if it is a busy area, a quiet area or under cover, etc.

Step 2

Back in the classroom, display a large copy of the ‘Healthy Heart Trail Plan - School Ground’ map to the class.

Ask students to choose a partner they don't usually work with to share their ideas, which are recorded on their maps. Invite the students to share their ideas with the class by providing the location, activity and reasons that this station works in the location and how it promotes healthy heart activities. Student can then plot their potential location and activity onto the draft map.

Find Out: Action stations

Step 1

Show the students images of different activity stations found in a variety of public outdoor areas:

Outdoor activity stations with equipment: Geelong, Victoria - equipment stations.
Outdoor activity stations with no equipment: Open areas - skipping races

Show the students the image of students skipping.

Use the ‘See, Think, Wonder’ activity in the Student Worksheet. Ask students to identify what they ‘see, think and wonder’ about the location of the activity. Inquire if the surface for the activity is suitable. Ask students to show a thumbs-up or down. Check for understanding by selecting a student to share their reasoning for why? Or why not? Prompt by asking, ‘Is the area out of the way, near stairs or on a surface that is good for skipping ropes?’

Clarify that the location is very important to the success of the station. Placing the right station in the location is important for ease of use and for the safety of others in the area, especially when skipping with a rope.

Conduct a class ‘brainstorm’ activity about possible ‘Heart Health Trail’ activities. Write the ideas on the board or on a large piece of paper to show the students' ideas. Ensure that there is a variety of active stations and fact-based stations, for example:

Skipping for 20 seconds: to get heart muscles pumping.
Skipping ladder: skip once, pause, skip twice, pause and keep adding until you reach 10.
Skip along a line: focus on skills of accuracy using a basketball court or other surface.
Trick station: try a criss cross, backward skip or double jump for accuracy and to test out skills.
Pulse station: stop and check (feel your heart beat), count beats for 1 minute.
Non-active fact stops: sharing messages like ‘‘your heart is a muscle - skipping makes it stronger’ (www.heartfoundation.org.au).

Choose the number of stations to create (start with 6 stations). Additional stations can be added once the first stations are developed and written.

Extension: Create clues to find the next action station or add a degree of difficulty score rating from 1-5.

Step 2

Organise the class into groups to design instructional cards. Activate student voice by asking students to choose which cards they will work on. Determine the groups, and ask students to use the Student Worksheet to create the activity station cards. Each student in the group takes on a role: the writer, the researcher or the illustrator. This helps the students complete multiple tasks and collaborate as a team.

As groups finish, encourage the students to test out their cards by swapping with another group to see how well they understand the instructions on the cards. Ask the group to give feedback about their cards by recording their feedback on the Positive, Minus, Improvement (PMI) chart on the tudent Worksheet. Students then refine the card and make adjustments to create the final action station card.

Take Action: Promote and launch

Step 1

Display the list of resources to be created to promote and launch the ‘Healthy Heart Trail’.

Final Healthy Heart Trail map
Activity station cards and displays
Assembly launch script and plan
Class invitations
Promotions: newsletter or posters

Encourage students to nominate for different tasks. Organise students into small groups of 4 students to focus on particular parts of the promotion and launch of the ‘Healthy Heart Trail’.

Step 2

Organise the students into groups to complete the tasks for their Healthy Heart Trail launch.

Group 1: Finalised map (showing the stations that make up the trail and the locations).
Group 2: Activity station cards (complete cards and plan how they will be distributed, either at the stations around the school yard or a starting station where participants can collect a set of cards.)
Group 3: Assembly launch (script to share the Healthy Heart Trail with the school, inviting students to participate).
Group 4: Invitations to classes (official date, time for when the trail will be available for their use).
Group 5: A digital promotion (a short promotion piece such as an article for the school newsletter or as a poster for the school noticeboards).

Invite the students to share their work with the whole class.

Reflection

Reflect on what needs to be refined and what worked well. Consider the overall messaging when another class completes the trail. What message would you want them to remember about heart health? Invite other classes to participate in the Healthy Heart Trail. Send your message to the community to activate and invite them to participate.

Healthy Heart Trail

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Summary

Learning intentions

Success criteria

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills Required

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Information

In this lesson