Interactive Projects

Overview
In the activity, students visit Web sites that provide information on physical fitness essentials and on the advantages and disadvantages of different types of fitness equipment. Using this information as a jumping-off point, students working in small groups map out plans for a fitness center in their school that meets the specific health needs of a teenage population. Students recommend a budget and specify a location for the facility, then present this information to the school's administration in the form of a written proposal.

Objectives

• To use information on physical fitness and fitness equipment found on the World Wide Web to develop a proposal for a fitness center in the school.
• To recognize the role various types of exercise equipment play in improving physical fitness.

Getting Started
Introduce the activity by calling upon volunteers who have worked with or are familiar with exercise machines to describe some of these devices. Ask: Which of these devices have you seen advertised on TV or in magazines? What are the different types of workout these pieces of equipment provide?

After allowing time for discussion, invite students to read the on-line screen directions to the activity silently while a volunteer reads the directions aloud. Urge students to visit the Web sites in the order in which they are listed under Health Links. Explain that the first of the sites provides basic information about the components of physical fitness, and the second and third may be used to compare and contrast various pieces of equipment in terms of benefits and prices. Observe that at the last of the sites, students may fill a theoretical "shopping cart" with their purchases, the total cost for which is automatically tallied for them. There is no requirement for students to enter information to purchase items at the site.

Classroom Follow-up
Allow time for groups to share their plans. Invite the class as a whole to draft a proposal for a fitness center that incorporates the best ideas and recommendations from all of the plans considered. Have them write out a formal version of the proposal to be presented to the school administration for future consideration. As further follow-up, have students write a brief description in their private Health Journals about what they learned from the experience.