Physical Education connecting with Math, Music and Science
The opportunities for and connecting physical education with math, music and science are unlimited. Below are some of the numerous ways they occur at Bear Creek.
MATH
Math pervades physical education. We count while bouncing balls, jumping rope and counting our pulse. We practice patterns and sequences with balls, while performing skills (a lay-up is a pattern of a step, hop and reach), and during creative dance. Getting into groups means practicing division. We do estimation of time during the training for the mile run. We use pedometers for tracking our steps and make predictions about how many steps we take during class. We graph the resting heart rates of the class as measured by heart rate monitors.
MUSIC
Athletes have a sense of rhythm and beat that underlies their performance. By incorporating musical instruction with physical education, each child will become a more proficient, athletic and graceful mover.
Kindergartners practice patting body parts to a steady beat. First graders move to a steady beat: walking, running, hopping, and jumping. They move to a drum and different tempos of music. Second graders move to an uneven beat when skipping, galloping and sliding. They start with a drum and then use these locomotor movements to practice aerobic conditioning. Third graders jump rope to the beat of music for improving their fitness. Fourth grade students practice basketball dribbling to music while also skipping, galloping and sliding. This is a very complex brain-body task because their eyes are focused ahead and not on the ball. Fifth graders develop routines with music for fitness using fit balls and steps.
SCIENCE
Physical Education is science. Heart health (fitness) includes learning anatomy (heart parts) and physiology. We take our pulse; learn about circulation and how the heart pump works. Science is incorporated when learning how to increase the force in throwing: increase the range of movement of the body segments imparting force, utilize sequential movement of the muscles of the body, and utilize a follow through. We have also measured and graphed heat production in the body during exercise.
Connecting math, music and science with physical education instruction helps students learn through more than the kinesthetic modality and improves their knowledge of how their body works when moving and how they can control and perfect those movements using math, music and science.