Lesson Title: Heart Rate and Physical Subject: Science

Activity

Unit Title: Understanding Life Systems Time: 2 45-minute periods

- Human Organ Systems

Teacher Candidate: Grade: 5

Curriculum Expectations (Overall)

Science Curriculum
2. Investigate the structure and function of the major organs of various human body systems

Math Curriculum
D1. Data Literacy

Health and Physical Education - Active Living

B2. Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of being physically active, and apply physical fitness concepts
and practices that contribute to healthy, active living

Curriculum Expectations (Specific)

Science Curriculum
2.2. Use scientific inquiry/experimentation skills to investigate changes in body systems
2.5 Use a variety of forms to communicate with different audiences and for a variety of purposes

Math Curriculum
D1.3 Select from a variety of graphs, including stacked-bar graphs, the type of graph best suited to represent various
sets of data; display the data in the graph with proper sources, titles, and labels, and appropriate scales; and justify their
choice of graph

Health and Physical Education - Active Living

B2.3 Assess a specific component of their health-related fitness by noting physical responses during various physical
activities, and monitor changes over time

Learning Goals (What do you want the students to Success Criteria (What will you observe that tells you
know or be able to do at the end of the lesson?) that students are successful?)

Students will be able to:
● Explain what heart rate is and how to find it
● Understand the difference between resting heart
rate and maximum heart rate
● Calculate their own heart rate
● Predict, record, graph and interpret their heart rate
following a variety of physical activities
● Describe the effect of exercise on heart rate
● I can count each heartbeat for 15 seconds and
multiply that number by 4 to measure my heart
rate
● I can display my heart rate data using different
forms like a chart and graph
● I can describe what happens to my heart and
within my body as I exercise
● I can identify reasons why exercise is good for me
 ● Understand how exercise positively affects the
heart
● Name examples of cardio-related exercises
● Describe why an athlete’s resting heart rate is
lower than non-athletes
Background Knowledge Required (What prior
knowledge and or experiences need to be in place?)
● Understand how the circulatory system functions
- It includes: the heart, blood vessels, blood
- Specifically: arteries carry blood away
from the heart and heart pumps blood
throughout the body
● Safety procedures for physical activities (students
would have already informed the teacher of
physical limitations)
● There are 5 components of physical fitness - body
composition, flexibility, muscular strength,
muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance
● Data Literacy
- Plotting data (bar/line graph), labelling
and titling the graph
● Two-digit by one-digit multiplication
Key Questions to Ask/ Provocations to Provide
● What is heart rate?
● What is the difference between resting heart rate
and maximum heart rate?
● How do you calculate your heart rate?
● How do you feel before exercise? After?
● How does your breathing change with exercise?
How do you think that is affecting your heart and
● I can explain why my resting heart rate differs
from an athlete’s
Accommodations (How will you meet the needs of your
students? What management strategies will you use?)
● Graphic organizers + exit card will be available in
computerized format
● If a student can’t participate in any of the
activities, they can either: pair up with another
student and help calculate their heart rate or me
assist with timing
● If a student can’t participate in some of the
activities, they will be changed to accommodate
the student
- For example, if a student can’t do
jumping jacks, they can do arm circles
instead
● Time of each physical activity can be reduced if
needed
● Provide longer rest times as needed
● Provide pencil grips for the writing portions of the
instructional time
● A calculator can be provided when multiplying by
4 if teacher sees fit
● Model behaviour (ex. Counting my own heartbeat
and recording the heart rate,
running/jogging/jumping jacks, safety procedures
for physical activities)
● Encourage students to get out of their comfort
zone and participate in class
- Praise students for trying even if their
answer isn’t correct
Materials Required
● Chart paper
● Stopwatch
● Upbeat music (to play during the activities)
● Graphic organizers
● Writing utensils (pencil)
● Ruler (recommended for the graph)
 the rest of your body?
● How does your heart rate change after exercise?
● What is happening inside your body as you
exercise?
● Why is exercise good for us? How much exercise
should we do daily?
● How does your resting heart rate compare to an
athlete’s resting heart rate?

Instructional Time

Period #1
Minds On (How will you engage and motivate the students?) Duration: 20 minutes
Groupings: Class
1. Review the learning goals and success criteria with the students so they understand what is expected of them for
this lesson
- Record it on chart paper and post it throughout the class so they can reference it
2. Engage students by writing the word heart rate on the board and ask them to define it
- The goal is to form a definition similar to “the number of times your heart beats in 1 minute” and “heart
rate varies from person to person”
3. Ask students: “Does anyone know how to measure their own heart rate?”
- Instruct students to be very still and quiet
- Explain to students that they can feel their heart beating on parts of the body where arteries lie close to
the surface
- Show two examples: the upside of their wrist just underneath their hand or the side of their neck
just below their jawbone
- Instruct students to take their pointer and middle finger and press them gently against those areas
- Tell students they can’t use their thumb because it has its own pulse and this would affect the
results
- Walk around to observe and ensure everyone is practicing and can feel their heart beat
- After practicing, inform students we can measure our heart rate by counting the beats for 15 seconds and
multiplying that number by 4
- Tell students “We are going to try measuring our heart rates now. I will time you for 15 seconds,
then you can use a piece of paper to multiply that number by 4 and then keep this number for the
next activity”
- Tell students this is also known as their resting heart rate because they are sitting/at rest
4. Then, ask students:
- Do you think your heart rate can vary? Or, does it always stay the same?
- What kinds of situations may cause your heart rate to change? (ex. Exercise, walking up stairs,
nervousness)
- Have you ever felt changes in your heart?
- What were you doing? How did the rest of your body feel?
- Has your heart beat faster doing one activity over the other? What activities were they? How would you
classify these activities as 1 of the 5 health-related components to physical activity?
- What type of physical activities do you participate in?
- Answers can be recorded on the board to show students there are many different ways to be
 active
- *Note: these questions are supposed to help students notice that cardio-related exercise alters heart rate
5. Explain to students there is also something called your maximum heart rate
- Say, “this is the average maximum number of times your heart should beat per minute during exercise”
- Inform students it can be found by subtracting your age from 220
- Grade 5 students are 10-11 years old, so I will demonstrate to students how to find their maximum heart
rate with each age on the board

Action (Explore, Explain. What will students do?) Duration: 20-25 minutes/period
Groupings:
Individual/Pairs/Class
● Students will explore and record their heart rate changes during a variety of physical activities
1. Distribute the graphic organizer
2. Have students fill in their resting heart rate (number they wrote down during minds-on), maximum heart rate,
and their predictions
3. Students will be asked to bring a pencil, their graphic organizer and line up to go to the gym
4. Once in the gym, students will be reminded of the safety procedures for physical activities and to move at their
own pace
- Example: it doesn’t matter if your classmate is running faster than you because you could be working
just as hard as they are!
5. Students will be asked to find their own area within the gym and follow me in a warm-up/stretches
- Remind students it’s important to get the body warm before participating in moderate physical activity!
6. Following the warm-up, students will be instructed:
a. They are participating in 1 of the 5 components of physical fitness - cardio exercises - that directly
target the heart
- Tell them cardio-related exercises increases your heart rate
b. To stay in their own little area for the first two activities, then we will move and line up across the gym
wall for the last two activities
c. I will use a stopwatch to time them for 1 minute doing each activity, then time them for 15 seconds to
calculate their heart rate
- Students will be reminded to multiply that number by 4
- Students will be instructed to use the back of their graphic organizer if they need to work out
their calculations on paper
d. I will inform them when to start/stop each part of this activity
e. Between each activity, students will have about 2 minutes of rest where they can multiply their heartbeat
by 4 and ponder the questions at the bottom of the graphic organizer
f. If students lost count of their heartbeat, they will be instructed to raise their hand and I will come over
and time them again
7. Once the activities are complete, instruct students to find a spot within the gym and fill out the questions on the
bottom of the graphic organizer. They can use full sentences or make jot notes to focus on their key findings.
8. Ask students if they have any questions about the activity they just completed!
9. Students will return to the classroom, be asked to keep their graphic organizer in a safe place and this will be the
end of period #1 **

Period #2
1. Have students reflect on the graphic organizer from the previous period and ask if anyone has questions
 2. Students will be given a new graphic organizer where they will be asked to graph their resting heart rate and
their heart rate following the activities done in the gym
- Inform students this will be graded based on the graph they pick, their justification, including a title,
appropriate scale and labels (this is written on the graphic organizer for students to reference)
- Inform students since it is being graded, it may be a good idea to use a ruler when constructing the
graph!
3. Once the graph is complete, students will participate in a think-pair-share activity
- Think: students will have a moment to reflect on both of their graphic organizers - so their chart,
answers and graph
- Pair: as students are finishing the think portion, they will raise their hands when they are ready to be
paired
- Once they are paired, they will be asked to pick a spot within the classroom to compare their
heart rates and discuss their findings/graphs, what they learned and their thoughts. They can also
think of questions they want to ask during the class discussion
- Share: class discussion will begin!
- Students can share their thoughts and findings to the whole class
- Students will have the opportunity to ask any questions if they need clarification
- Questions to prompt the discussion include:
- What have you learned about heart rate?
- How did you feel as you became more active?
- How did your breathing change?
- How did you feel following the exercises? Tired? Stronger? About the same?
- Did anyone reach their maximum heart rate?
- What do you think the relationship between heart rate and physical activity is?
- What was your favourite activity?
- What did you like about this lesson? What did you not like about this lesson?
- What is your main takeaway from the 2 periods?
4. Explain to students that exercise makes their heart stronger
- Remind them their heart is a muscle
- Tell students that the harder they exercise, the faster they breathe and the more oxygen their body needs.
This causes our hearts to work harder (because it is beating faster) to deliver oxygen (blood) to the rest
of the body
5. Ask if there are any more questions

Consolidation (How will you check for understanding? Connect to overall themes?) Duration: 20 minutes
Groupings:
Class/Individual

1. Elaborate by discussing the resting heart rate of athletes

- Ask students:
- Who is your favourite athlete?
- What sport do they play?
- Take a look at your resting heart rate from your graphic organizer. Do you think their resting
heart rate would be the same as yours? Why or why not?
- Do you think a slower resting heart rate means a healthier heart? Why or why not?
- Is it better to participate in strenuous activity every once in a while? Or participate in easy-
 moderate exercise daily?
- How much physical activity are you supposed to do daily?
2. Ensure students know:
a. A child’s heart beats faster than an adult’s heart and everyone’s heart rate varies
b. Athletes have slower resting heart rates than children and adults
c. Since exercise strengthens the heart, this causes the heart to pump the same amount of blood with fewer
beats
- That is why an athlete (who exercises daily) has a slower resting heart rate!
- The stronger the heart = the healthier the heart
d. Strengthening your heart is not solely dependent on the strenuousness of the activity but rather on time
and frequency
e. The recommended amount of physical activity per day is a minimum of 30 minutes
3. Evaluate each student by giving them an exit card to complete. They will be asked to finish the following
statements:
- “I learned…”
- “I never knew…”
- “I was surprised…”
- “I enjoyed…”
- “My favourite physical activity is…”
● At the end of the period, students will be asked to hand in both of their graphic organizers and their exit card

Assessment (How will you know that the students have achieved the learning expectation? What assessment tool will
you use?)
As, Of or For? Product, Conversation, or Observation?

Assessment ‘FOR’ Learning - Product

● Exit cards will be used to check for understanding of the topic learned today and the students’ readiness to move
on to the next topic
- This assessment is only for me (as the teacher) to inform me of how much the student learned and if I
should make adjustments to my teaching practices

Assessment ‘OF’ Learning - Product

● Students will be graded on their graph (from the 2nd graphic organizer) on the basis of:
- The appropriateness of the graph they picked (bar graph/line graph are most suitable) and their
justification
- A proper title
- Proper labels
- An appropriate scale

Next Steps (Homework? Follow up lesson?)

Fun homework!
Students will be asked to participate in a physical activity for 30 minutes (the recommended amount per day) after
school for 1 week. They are invited to write a journal, include pictures, and/or video/voice record them
demonstrating/talking about the activity and monitoring their progress. My main goal is for students to have fun and be
creative in sharing their physical activity adventure! They will be asked to use the following questions as prompts:
- What physical activity did you participate in? Did you have fun?
 - What was your resting heart rate? What was your heart rate following the activity?
- Did they differ?
- How do you feel after the activity?
- What other activities could you participate in that are similar?
- What have you noticed with your body over the last week? Is the physical activity getting easier? Is it harder?
- Has your heart rate varied each day? Have you noticed a pattern?
- How does doing this activity reinforce what we learned in class?
Possible follow up lessons: students can share their homework with the class OR students can observe/learn about:
their heart rate recovering after an activity; heart rate after one of the other 5 components of health-related fitness (ex.
muscular strength); what happens to other parts of your body (ex. muscles) when you exercise

References

https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/heart-failure/watching-rate-monitor

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise-intensity/art-20046887

https://eduref.org/lessons/physical-education/srf0201

https://discoverycentre.telethonkids.org.au/siteassets/pdfs/lets-get-active/for-teachers/4---lesson-plan---
how-does-your-heart-rate-final.pdf

https://www.bioedonline.org/lessons-and-more/lessons-by-topic/human-organism/fitness-and-physical-
activity/heart-rate-and-exercise/

Ontario. (2007).The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8: Science and Technology. Toronto: Ontario,
Ministry of Education.

Ontario. (2019). The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8: Health and Physical Education. Toronto: Ontario,
Ministry of Education.

Ontario. (2020). The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Mathematics. Toronto: Ontario, Ministry of
Education.