Physical Education

A Healthy Life

As an 8th grade physical education student at Twin Peaks Middle School, you will research, design, and implement a personal fitness and nutrition program.  The object is to become knowledgeable in fitness and nutrition and be able to design a personal program that will assist you in attaining and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Basically, you will become a personal trainer with your client being you.  The goal will be personal improvement, which cannot be expected overnight.  Slow, but sure progress towards a more fit and healthy you is the ultimate goal.  Good luck and be sure to include things that you enjoy; this will ensure your success.

Task

Your task will be to develop a personal fitness and nutrition program that will fit in with your personal goals and interests.  You must:

• Define your personal goals for fitness and nutrition.

Examples:

• Do you want to slim down?  By how much?
• Do you want to gain muscle mass for increased strength?
• Would you like to improve your cardio vascular endurance?
• Are you in good physical shape already and want to maintain the way you look and feel for the rest of your life?
• Do you eat a lot of junk food and want to establish better eating habits?
• Would you like to be able to make better choices when you eat out?
• Would you like to increase your energy levels and feel better?
• Identify at least two lifelong fitness activities that you enjoy that will keep you active when you are not working out.  Examples might be rollerblading, surfing, swimming, or tennis.
• Develop a weekly exercise program.  Be sure to include what you are already doing in physical education, i.e. – one day of running cross country, one day of weight training, etc.  Include any after school and weekend activities that you participate in.
• Develop a one-week menu incorporating proper nutritional habits.  Be sure to include all meals and daily snacks.
• Rationale – Why you chose the foods and exercises that you did.  Explain the reasoning behind the choices you made.

Process

1. The class will be divided into groups of two in order to complete the project.  You and your partner will visit web sites to gather information to create your exercise plan and menu.
2. Each student will be responsible for developing their own custom fitness and nutrition program utilizing the resources available.
3. Be sure to include and to refer to your results from the 7th grade Fitness Gram (if available) and Body Analysis Cards while designing your personal program.
4. Start a project journal to use for note taking, exploring ideas, brainstorming, etc.
5. Identify problem characteristics of your lifestyle that might need changing or need to be accounted for when designing your program.  Refer to your measurements from the 7th grade Fitness Gram (if available), and your Body Analysis Cards.  Health history, existing health issues, and medical considerations such as asthma, broken bones, or Osgood Schlaughter’s disease would be important factors to consider and should be noted in your journal and rationale.
6. Design your exercise program.  Remember to consider the time and resources (access to equipment, transportation, etc.) that are available to you.  Identify your strengths and weaknesses.  Record your reasoning in your project journal.
7. Develop a menu for yourself for one week.  Use the food pyramid to nutritionally balance the menu.  Set maximum amounts for daily calories consumed and grams of fat consumed.  Include between-meal snacks and lunch at school.  When designing meals, consider preparation time, access to ingredients, etc.  Be sure to include healthy foods that you like and will actually eat.  Record your reasoning in your project journal.  Example:  I chose these particular foods because they’re healthy, or I like them, or we grow them in our garden, or my neighbors have fruit trees, etc.
8. Use your project journal to create a rationale for your program.  Explain the decisions you made in determining your menu and fitness program.  Support your ideas and choices with an evaluation or analysis of the information you gathered during your research.
9. Prepare a personal portfolio that includes all components:
   • Brief personal goal description
   • Identify at least two lifelong fitness activities that you enjoy that will keep you active when you are not working out.  Examples might be golf, hiking, snowboarding, or biking.  Sports do make you fit!
   • Exercise program
   • Menu
   • Rationale

Resources

• American Dietetic Association
• Nutrition.org
• iVillage.com - Diet and fitness
• MensFitness.com - Exercise, Health & Nutrition Advice, Weight Loss
• Nutrition Navigator - Nutrition information on the Web
• Weekly Menu Planner - Excel spreadsheet

Evaluation

Your personal portfolio, which will include a personal fitness program, a one week nutritionally balanced menu, and a rationale supporting choices made, will be evaluated by an 8th grade physical education student, in another class, using the following rubrics:
 

Personal Fitness Program

Personal Fitness Program

Fitness Program	Outstanding 4	Proficient 3	Adequate 2	Novice 1	Score
Research	All information correct and written entirely in student’s own words.  Comprehension of topic evident.	Most information correct and written in student’s own words.  Shows comprehension.	Some incorrect information and /or mostly copied from sources.  Little comprehension of topic.	Incorrect information and/or copied directly from sources.  No comprehension of subject.
Thinking Skills	All ideas supported with evaluation and /or analysis of information.	All ideas supported with some evaluation of information.	Some ideas supported by sound reasoning.	No evidence of sound reasoning.
Impact	Reader eager to continue reading and finds the exercise program top notch.	Reader’s interest maintained for entire program with some eagerness to continue.	Reader’s interest maintained for most of the program.	Reader unmotivated to read entire program.
General Appearance	Is organized and creative.  Appealing to the reader.	Shows some organization and creativity.	Doesn’t have clear organization.	Lacks organization and creativity.

One Week Menu

One Week Menu

Menu	Outstanding 4	Proficient 3	Adequate 2	Novice 1	School
Food	Healthy	Mostly healthy	Some unhealthy foods were included	Didn’t follow direction of healthy requirement
Nutritionally Balanced	All meals were nutritionally balanced.	Most meals nutritionally balanced	Some meals nutritionally balanced	No meals were nutritionally balanced
Meals	All meals were included.	Almost all meals were included	There were several meals missing	Very few meals were included
General Appearance	Is organized and creative.  Appealing to the reader.	Shows some organization and creativity	Doesn’t have clear organization	Lacks organization and creativity

Rationale

Rationale

Rationale	Outstanding 4	Proficient 3	Adequate 2	Novice 1	School
Thinking Skills	All ideas supported with evaluation and /or analysis of information	All ideas supported with some evaluation of information	Some ideas supported by sound reasoning	No evidence of sound reasoning
Impact	Reader eager to continue reading and keeps the readers full attention	Reader’s interest maintained for entire text with some eagerness to continue	Reader’s interest maintained for most of the text.	Reader unmotivated to read entire text.
Organization	Developed with logical sequence, good use of transitions; effective beginning and ending	Paragraphs organized with clear main ideas and supporting details	Paragraphs used but no clear main ideas and little logical sequence	No logical sequence, paragraphs not used
General Appearance	Paper is word processed with proper margins, very neat and easy to read	Handwriting is easy to read, paper is neat	Handwriting is clear, paper is in good condition	Handwriting is illegible, paper is dirty, wrinkled, or torn

Rubric for Grading Time Management, Group and Individual Work
(To be completed by teacher)

Rationale

Time Management

	Outstanding 4	Proficient 3	Adequate 1	Novice 0	School
Participation	Student participates fully and is always on task in class	Student participates most of the time and is on task most of the time	Student participates but wastes time regularly and /or is rarely on task	Student does not participate, wastes time, works on unrelated material
Listening	Student listens to others and obviously pays attention to what they have to say	Student listens most of the time	Student listens some of the time and seldom interrupts	Student never listens to others and/or interrupts often
Cooperation	Student works well with partner and shares the work load equally	Students work together most of the time and share the work load some of the time	Students work together some of the time	Students do not work well together
Time Management	All of the parts of the assignment are completed and turned in on time	Most of the parts of the assignment are completed and turned in on time	Some of the parts of the assignment are completed and turned in on time	None of the parts of the assignment are completed or turned in on time
Work Habits	Student is always on task, never needs reminders to do the work, and encourages others to stay on task	Student is usually on task and seldom needs reminders to work on the assignment	Student is sometimes on task and may have to be reminded to work on the assignment	Student is never on task and constantly has to be reminded to work on the assignment

Conclusion

You have learned, throughout this process, about the importance of personal fitness and nutrition to a healthy and productive lifestyle.  Activity helps you to deal better with stress and enjoy better health during your lifetime.  At the completion of this project, you will be able to explain why nutrition and fitness are important to teens as well as to adults.  You should also be able to explain to others how any type of food can be fit into a balanced diet, even if it is only eaten once in a while.  Reflecting on what you’ve learned may encourage you to make better decisions about the foods you choose or choose not to eat and the activities that you choose or choose not to participate in.  If you put the information that you have learned to good use, it will help you lead a long and healthy life.