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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids elementary school works heart rate monitors into curriculum
In a momentary lull in activity during their physical education class on Tuesday, fifth-graders at St. Matthew's Elementary in Cedar Rapids didn't stand still. As they waited for the next activity with the giant parachute they were playing with to begin, they did jumping jacks or enthusiastically punched the air.
They were trying to keep their heart rates up, and they could see the results, projected on a wall of the gymnasium.
The students were wearing heart rate monitors on their wrists. Similar to FitBits or other exercise monitoring watches that have become all the rage, the devices from Heart Zones USA digitally record their heart beats and give feedback in real time.
Students could instantly see if they were in the blue zone, with a heart rate consistent with lower activity, the yellow zone for medium or the red zone for high activity. Their goal is spend a certain amount of time in each zone during the class period.
Physical education teacher Heath Mueller, 37, said the small devices have completely changed the class.
'I have never seen them work so hard,” he said. 'It's instantaneous feedback.”
'I've seen heart rate monitors since college. They've come such a long way,” Mueller said.
'I honestly feel like this is the future of P.E.,” he said. 'When you look at individual exercise, this is what it is going to. When they become adults, this is what they'll use, and they'll already be comfortable with it.”
Heart Zones USA, the company that supplied the monitors and works with schools across the country, said St. Matthews is the first Catholic school in the nation to use their program and the second elementary school in Iowa.
The school uses the monitors for second- to fifth-graders and is considering expanding to first-graders next year.
Along with keeping track of their physical activities, Mueller has incorporated lessons about heart rate into his curriculum. Kids learn how things like medication, whether or not they ate breakfast and how much sleep they got can affect their heart rate.
Students lie on the floor to gauge their resting heart rates during Heath Mueller's grade 5 physical education class at St. Matthew's Elementary School in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. The class is using heart rate monitors in an effort to make students more aware of their activity levels during exercise. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Students stretch before taking a jog around the gym during physical education class at St. Matthew's Elementary School. Teacher Heath Mueller has incorporated lessons on heart rate into the curriculum to go with the heart rate monitors students wear during class.
Rebecca F. Miller photos/The Gazette Students race under a giant parachute Tuesday during Heath Mueller's fifth-grade physical education class at St. Matthew's Elementary School in Cedar Rapids. The class uses heart rate monitors to maximize its activity during the short period. Mueller said students have become much more active during the class as a result of the real time feedback provided by the monitors.
Students punch giant parachute during Heath Mueller's grade 5 physical education class at St. Matthew's Elementary School in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. The class uses heart rate monitors to maximize their activity during the short period. Mueller says students have become much more active during the class as a result of the realtime feedback provided by the monitors. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Ramon Rivera grabs for a parachute handle during Heath Mueller's grade 5 physical education class at St. Matthew's Elementary School in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. The class uses heart rate monitors to maximize their activity during the short period. Mueller says students have become much more active during the class as a result of the realtime feedback provided by the monitors. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Students analyze data generated by their heart rate monitors during Heath Mueller's grade 5 physical education class at St. Matthew's Elementary School in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Mueller says students have become much more active during the class as a result of the realtime feedback provided by the monitors. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Rosa Pham's heart rate monitor blinks during physical education class at St. Matthew's Elementary School in Cedar Rapids. Teacher Heath Mueller said St. Matthew's is the second school in Iowa and the first Catholic school in the nation to purchase the technology.
Ramon Rivera and Tristan Mueller place their heart rate monitors after their gym class at St. Matthew's Elementary School in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Mueller says students have become much more active during the class as a result of the realtime feedback provided by the monitors. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
