Let Your Kids Give PE Their Best Shot
It’s March Madness and you know what that means for PE… It’s time to break out those familiar round orange balls and step onto the court for everyone’s favorite unit, basketball.
As a sport that is played in over 200 countries, basketball comes in second on the list of most popular games in the world. In the home of basketball, the United States, this sport is a staple among elementary, middle school, and high school physical education programs across the country. In fact, in a national study done in the United States about top activities nonparticipants in physical activity aged 6 to 12 years would like to learn, basketball was found to be in the top four (after camping, swimming, and biking) (Physical Activity Council, 2016). As a game that can be practiced alone or played with groups indoors or outdoors, by humans of all abilities and ages, it is no surprise that basketball has topped the charts in popularity.
In addition to being a great way to socialize and accessible to kids of all ages and levels, basketball has a number of health benefits. As a fast paced game with a variety of movements, such as dribbling, shooting, passing, defense, rebounding and more, a significant amount of calories are burned after an extended period of team play. Sprinting from one end of the court to the other and back again will not only burn calories and work up a sweat, but there will be lots of ups and downs when it comes to heart rate.
As such an intense game, sometimes accessibility requires accommodation so all kids are able to participate and enjoy a round of basketball. For example, students may have visual impairments, autism, cerebral palsy, or may use a wheelchair. Modifications can allow for each student to put in their best effort to get the most out of the game. With our physical education technology, you can measure effort with live heart rate during classes and save that data in reports for grading, progress checks, etc. Heart Zones sensors (both the Blink 3.0+ & Blink 24) also can record steps if enabled in our app, Heart Zones MOVE, along with our step-activity trackers. Using our step tracker or sensors, your students can have a contest to see which student has taken the most steps – point guard, center, who knows? But what you can be certain of is that all your students are getting involved, getting their heart rates up, and giving basketball their best shot!
