Chapter 1 - The Revolution

Chapter 1 - Welcome to the Revolution: A Case Study of Exercise and the Brain

Introducing the reader to Naperville Central High School, Neil Duncan, and his PE class was the easy part. Understanding why their heart rate is supposed to average 185 beats per minute is the hard part. 

From the chart above you can see that is just a tad over 90% for a 20 year (actually 89% for a 14 yr old). This is Zero-Hour PE and from the first introduction it is not your typical PE class, other than running the mile for no apparent reason. But they do have a reason..."They're required to stay between 80 and 90 percent of their maximum heart rate...we're trying to get them prepared to learn, through rigorous exercise." 

These students that volunteered for Zero-Hour PE will improve 17 percent in reading & comprehension, compared with a 10.7 percent improvement by students who took the standard PE classes. There was still a larger improvement by the students that had a literacy class directly after Zero-Hour PE rather than those that took it during the last period of the day. 

The "New PE", as it was decided, came from a simple start of trying to fight the obesity epidemic. In their PE classes there was simply too much inactivity! IN PE CLASS!!! So students would be graded on effort rather than solely skill...gone are the days of the Varsity star getting an A in PE, and heart rate monitors provided the irrefutable evidence. Now don't get me wrong, I still feel it's important to understand how traditional sports are played, and there is a lot to be said about the crossover of strategies in similar games. Even the New PE model didn't rule out sports for a solely fitness based type of class. But they did begin to assess students on their efforts during that sport, which leveled the playing field when it came to achieving good grades. 

This isn't only about the students' grades in PE though, what about how they ranked on standardized tests in other subjects and how being physically fit may allow them to be more successful in the traditional classroom setting. Take, for example, California's 279,000 ninth graders in 2001 compare their scores on the Fitnessgram to that of the Stanford Achievement Test. Those who scored a 6 out of 6 on the Fitnessgram ranked, on average, 67th percentile in math and 45th percentile in reading compared to the 35th percentile and 21st percentile that students averaged, who scored a 1 out of 6 on the Fitnessgram. It's a correlation that can't be ignored. Two main areas of the FitnessGram which seem to be particularly important in relation to academic performance is body mass index and aerobic fitness. I'm often reminded however that correlation does NOT equal causation and that there needs to be more proof behind the observations. So a swim-cap type of headgear unit was outfitted with electrodes to measure electrical activity in the brain, otherwise known as an EEG (electroencephalogram). Low and behold the scans revealed that fit kids had more brain activity when performing memory and processing speed tasks than those that were unfit. 

Back to Naperville though, as that is where we started. In Naperville they have taken PE to something beyond only fitness. It has been used to have a positive impact on mood, attention, self-esteem, and social skills. There is even scripted conversations students have in the freshman PE square dance unit that allow them to practice proper social skills in a controlled setting. 

If better overall fitness facilitates learning for individuals, then its hard to argue, just from reading chapter 1, that PE classes shouldn't be revised. All standards and many traditional sports and activities can still be included in the curriculum with a little modification. Bring on the revolution!...lets grow some brain cells in PE!