Step Count Accountability Activities

1. Using FITstep Pedometersfor Instruction & Accountability Robert P. Pangrazi Arizona State University Gopher Sport Educational Specialist

2. Room #_____ Name__________________ Pedometer #_______ Activity Log

3. Understanding Individual Differences in Step Counts Find a partner. If possible, find someone who is taller or shorter than you. Place your pedometer in the Step mode. Clear your pedometer and walk for about two minutes in a follow the leader fashion. Trade places a couple of times so each of you get to lead. Stop, open your pedometer and compare steps . Record your steps and your partner’s steps. Calculate the difference in steps. • Compare steps and discuss what could cause a difference. Discuss the following points: • Taller or shorter partner • Pedometer placement isn’t accurate • Didn’t follow the leader exactly • Longer or shorter stride length

4. Comparing Steps and Activity Time Find a partner. If possible, find someone who is taller or shorter than you. Clear your pedometer. Walk with your partner for about two minutes in a follow the leader fashion. Trade places a couple of times so each of you get to lead. Stop. Open your pedometers and record your Steps and Activity Time. Compare Steps and Activity Time. What might be the reasons for the differences? Were your step counts different? Were you active for about the same amount of time? Which difference was larger – Activity Time or Steps For comparing your activity to others, which is the best to use – Activity Time or Steps?

5. Walking and Jogging – Calculate Step and Activity Differences • Clear your pedometer. Walk a specified distance. Record your walking steps and activity time. • Clear your pedometer. Jog the same distance and record your jogging steps and activity time. • Find the difference between your walking and jogging steps. • Find the difference between your walking and jogging activity time. • Calculate the percentage difference in your scores. Divide the differences by the walking steps and activity time values.

6. Estimation: How Many Steps Will It Take? • View the course that you will walk. Estimate how many steps you think it will take to walk the course. Record your estimate in the table below. • Put your pedometer in the Step mode. • Clear your pedometer; close it and walk the course. • Stop, open your pedometer and record the actual number of steps it took to complete your walk. • Calculate the difference (Estimation Error) between your estimate and the actual number of steps your walk required. Compare your Estimation Error with others. What are some reasons why you over or under estimated the number of steps. Discuss how you could estimate a distance if you knew your stride length.

7. Estimation: How Much Time Will It Take? • View the course that you will walk (or jog). Estimate how long you think it will take to walk the course. Record your estimate in the table below. • Put your pedometer in the Activity Time mode. • Clear your pedometer; close it and walk the course. • Stop, open your pedometer and record the actual Activity Time it took to complete your walk. • Calculate the difference (Estimation Error) between your estimate and the actual amount of time your walk required. Compare your Estimation Error with others. What are some reasons why you may have over- or underestimated the amount of time. Discuss why it is important to be able to accurately estimate how long it will take to cover a certain distance.

8. Calculating Average Steps and Activity Time (4-6) • Make sure your pedometer is counting accurately each day. See the chart “Pedometer Placement and Accuracy” if you need help. • For four days, record your Steps and Activity Time. To find a meaningful accurate daily average, the periods of measure must be equal, i.e., 30 min in PE, the school day, 24 hr. • At the end of four days, calculate your Average Daily Steps and Activity Time by totaling the four days of data and dividing by 4. Use the table below. • The four days do not have to be consecutive. Your average will be used for personal goal setting.

9. Calculating Average Steps and Activity Time (7-12) • Make sure your pedometer is counting accurately each day. See the chart “Pedometer Placement and Accuracy” if you need help. • For eight days, record your Steps and Activity Time. To find a meaningful accurate daily average, the periods of measure must be equal, i.e., 30 min in PE, the school day, 24 hr. • At the end of 8 days, calculate your Average Daily Steps and Activity Time by totaling the eight days of data and dividing by 8. Use the table below. • The 8 days do not have to be consecutive. Your average will be used for personal goal setting.

10. Setting Your Step Count Goal • Use your Average Daily Step Count calculated in an earlier lesson. • Calculate your personal step count goal by adding 10% to your average daily step count. • Try to reach your personal goal each day for the next 14 days. If you reach your goal the majority of days (8 or more), increase it another 10%. If you did not reach your goal at least 8 of the 14 day, maintain your current goal. Goals must be set for specific time periods such as recess, lunch hour, PE, afterschool, and for 24 hours. What is a reasonable terminal step goal. In other words, how many steps each day are enough for you to be healthy?

11. Setting an Activity Time Goal • Use your average daily activity time data calculated in an earlier lesson. Round off your time to the nearest minute. • Calculate your personal activity time goal by adding 10% to your average daily activity time. • Try to reach your personal goal each day for the next 14 days. If you reach your goal the majority of days (8 or more), increase it another 10%. If you did not reach your goal at least 8 of the 14 days, maintain your current goal. Goals must be set for specific time periods such as recess, lunch hour, PE, afterschool, and for 24 hours. What is a reasonable terminal activity time goal. In other words, how much activity time each day is enough?

12. Name_________________ Class_______ Pedometer #_____ My Average: Steps______ Activity Time______ MVPA______ My Goal: Steps______ Activity Time______ MVPA______ Monitoring My Goals

13. Comparing My Fall and Spring Steps & Activity Name:__________________________ Class:___________ See the chart titled “Calculating Average Steps and Activity Time” if you have forgotten how to find your average activity level. Important: Be sure your pedometer is counting accurately each of the four days.

14. Physical Activity Report To the Whitman School Parents and Students From: Ms. Jones, Cle Elum Physical Education Teacher Re: Physical Activity Report for your child A major outcome for the Cle Elum physical education program is to increase the amount of physical activity students accumulate each day. Your child has learned to use a pedometer to track their activity. This year they have learned how to measure the number of steps and the amount of activity time they accumulate each day. On the back of this sheet, you can see how active your child was at the beginning of school. The spring reporting period shows your child’s activity level compared to the fall reporting period. Your child measured their physical activity during the school day. This information will give you some idea about how active your child is during lunch, recess, and physical education. In addition, students now receive activity breaks in the classroom. To give you some indication of how your child compares to others in our school, the following information is offered: Range of Activity for Steps: 2010 to 10,010 Range of Activity for Activity Time: 35 min to 115 min Average Number of Steps: 5688 Average Minutes of Activity Time: 62.4

15. Measuring Stride Length • Place two lines 30 ft. apart. A volleyball court is 30 ft. wide and can be used to easily measure your stride length. • Start 10-15 feet behind the starting line and walk toward the line at a normal pace. Count the first step as the one that touches the ground inside the starting line. Continue walking and counting steps until a foot touches outside the finish line. That is the number of steps used to calculate stride length. • Use the chart below to find your stride length.

16. Converting Steps to Miles • Place pedometer in the step mode and reset it. • Gather step data during the PE period or school day. When finished, open your pedometer and record the number of steps you have accumulated. • Enter your stride length in feet. See your chart on Measuring Stride Length. • Find the distance walked in feet by multiplying your steps times your stride length. • Convert the distance in feet to miles. Divide the distance in feet by 5,280. • Calculate the number of steps needed to walk 1 mile. Divide 5,280 by your stride length.

17. Determining Steps per Minute (Intensity) • Place pedometer in the step mode and reset it. • Gather step data during the PE period or school day. When finished, open your pedometer and record the number of steps and activity time you have accumulated. • Find your steps per minute by dividing the number of steps you accumulated by your activity time. • How does steps per minute help you understand the intensity of your activity? • Calculate how far you could walk in one hour.

18. Identifying Your MVPA Level MVPA is an acronym for Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity. Put your pedometer in the Step mode. Clear your pedometer; close it and briskly walk (swing your arms) for exactly one minute. Stop, open the pedometer and check your step count. Round it down to the nearest multiple of 10. For example, if 94 steps, round down to 90 steps. That is your MVPA Level. Record it in the box below. Put your pedometer in the MVPA mode and hold down the Set button for 10 seconds. When the MVPA threshold screen pops up, keep press & release the Set button until you reach Your MVPA level value. Push the Mode button. Your MVPA level will remain set until you re-enter a new value. It does not reset.

19. Activity Time vs Sedentary time At the start of the school day, clear the pedometers and note the time of day, i.e., 8:05 AM. Carry out normal classroom activities. At a specified time, open the pedometers and record Activity Time and MVPA Time. Have each student calculate their sedentary time. Discuss how excessive sedentary time impacts health

20. In the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, physical activity intensities are defined as, light < 3.0 METs, moderate 3.0-5.9 METs, and vigorous ≥ 6.0 METs. For most activities, the intensity categories for standard and corrected MET values are similar. However, for activities with a standard MET level at the upper range of an intensity category (i.e., 5.8 METs, moderate intensity) or for persons with high body mass and older age, correction of the standard MET level may increase the intensity of an activity into the next higher category (e.g., 6.3, vigorous intensity). What is the Definition of MVPA?

21. MET Values of Various Activities

22. What is moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity? Experts roughly agree on what constitutes light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity. METS (resting metabolic rate) are used to quantify activity. One MET equals the number of calories expended at rest (resting metabolism). Two METS is activity that is twice as intense. Three METS requires three times the energy as compared to being at rest, and so on. Activities of three METS or less are considered to be light activities. Examples are strolling (slow walking), slow stationary cycling, stretching, golfing with a motorized cart, fishing (sitting), bowling, carpet sweeping, and riding a mower. Moderate activities range in the area of 3.0-5.9 METS. Examples of moderate activities are shoveling, sweeping, and walking at 2.5 mph. Activity that expends more than six times the energy expended at rest (more than six METS) is considered to be vigorous (high intensity) in nature. Examples of activity at this level are brisk walking, running, stair-climbing, and rope-jumping. A study by Harrell et al. (2005) showed that children burn more calories at rest and during exercise than do adults. When using a standard adult MET table, the values should be increased somewhat (because values for adults are lower than for children) to compensate for the energy expenditure differences between adults and children. MVPA – Defined by MET Values