Overview
Students learn how exercise affects their bodies and that it uses energy. They demonstrate how they use energy through a fun song and by drawing pictures.
Instructions
What you'll need
- Paper
- Pencils, pencil crayons, and markers
Get energized
- Take your class outside or the gym so they have a lot of space to play. Have students move around the space in different of ways:
- Travel from one end to another using your feet and legs.
- Find a way to travel without using your feet.
- Run or jump while counting to 30.
- Have students put a hand on their chest to feel their hearts beating, then ask the following:
- Can you feel your heart beating?
- Why is your heart beating fast?
- How do you feel after exercising?
- Why is it good to exercise?
Thinking about energy
- Back in class, tell students when they move their bodies, they're using energy. Ask them where energy comes from.
- People need energy and every action uses energy, even small ones like blinking and thinking.
- We get our energy from what we eat and drink.
- Have students think of and share sentences using the word energy. Say a few examples to help them get started:
- I use energy to jump up and down.
- I eat fruit to get energy.
- Record the sentences on strips of paper or on a poster board to display in the class.
Let’s sing a song
- Use the "We need energy" lyrics in the "Teaching notes" section to lead your class in song.
- Have students demonstrate the actions.
- Ask students to choose an action to create a new verse.
- Change the last line of the song to reflect the season and weather. For example, “On wet and rainy mornings”, or “On cool and rainy mornings”.
Circle time
- On a piece of paper, have students draw a picture showing how they use energy. Encourage them to be creative.
- To close, let students share how they used energy in their pictures.
Modify or extend this activity
- Do a variety of gym activities with your students, and have them record and compare heart rates after each activity.
Curriculum Fit
Physical and Health Education K, 1
Content
- Practices that promote health and well-being
- Relationships between food, hydration, and health
Curricular competencies
Physical literacy
- Describe the body’s reaction to participating in physical activity in a variety of environments
Healthy and active living
- Identify and explore a variety of foods and describe how they contribute to health
Teaching Notes
In this activity, students connect the word energy to exercise. Energy use is a complex idea for young children and connecting its use to how they move makes the idea easier to understand (when we jump, we are using energy).
We need energy (song lyrics) – to the tune of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush"
We need energy to skip to school, skip to school, skip to school
We need energy to skip to school
On warm and sunny mornings
We need energy to run to school, run to school, run to school
We need energy to run to school
On warm and sunny mornings
We need energy to hop to school, hop to school, hop to school
We need energy to hop to school
On warm and sunny mornings
We need energy to walk to school, walk to school, walk to school
We need energy to walk to school
On warm and sunny mornings
We need energy to jump to school, jump to school, jump to school
We need energy to jump to school
On warm and sunny mornings
Assessment
- During circle time, listen for use of the word energy when students talk about their physical actions.
- During circle time, ask students how their body felt after exercising.
