Fit for Life Quest

A WebQuest for 7 - 8th Grade Physical Education

Designed by

Alicja Jablonski

jalicja33@hotmail.com

 

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page


Introduction

Do you like to play sports, watching games, dancing, jumping rope, swimming and relaxing?  Did you ever consider a career in the sport or recreation business?  Do you know how many interesting career possibilities sport and fitness industry hold?  Have you ever wanted to be a "Gym Teacher"? Coach? Personal Trainer? Aerobic Instructor?  You know that physical activities are important to maintain good quality of your life.  Your health and fitness are important for your well being and self esteem.  As you are getting ready to go to high school.  You need to know what are your choices in maintaining your physical activity level, in pursuing career in sports and/or dance, and in recreational activities.  You want to be an informed customer about programs and facilities available to you.
 


The Task

You  and your friends have decided to design and publish a section for the Spring edition of  your school newspaper.  It will contain information about:

  • High school athletic programs
  • Local parks recreational programs
  • Local YM/YWCA's and their programs
  • Specific Sport's Clubs in the area
  • Other programs available in your community

You are going to  evaluate and rate all the above and publish your findings.   You will be working with desktop publishing program available to you.


The Process
 

To accomplish the task, you will be working in groups of five students.
 

    • First the group will elect the Leader/Editor
    • Then the group will brainstorm and decide on the title, format and size of the publication.
    • Everyone in the group will assume a role:


    Researcher 1
will explore NOT FOR PROFIT organizations such as local YMCA/YWCA, Public Swimming Pools and Parks, Youth Centers (BONNIES YOUTH CLUB), Churches (for example Riverside Church), Open Public Events (NY Marathon, Bicycling Race, fund raising walks, Jump Rope for Heart and such), and School/Community Camping Programs,

    Researcher 2
will explore admission free facilities such as local parks and community centers, events, after school programs such as Jackie Robinson Centers   for a Physical Culture.  You will also contact local High Schools Athletic Directors for information about their teams and Sport Scholarship Programs. You will also explore local Sports Clubs (baseball such as BONNIES YOUTH CLUB, football, soccer, tennis, gymnastics such as NOVA or BROOKLYN GYMNASTICS, basketball such as Riverside Church or USA -BASKETBALL, volleyball, swimming, hockey, figure skating, cycling, track and field like ATOMS TRACK CLUB etc...) to find out about their recruitment for training future Olympians.

    Researcher 3
will gather information about Fitness for Profit facilities in the area.  (Bailey's, New York Sports, Golf clubs, Golden Gym, and other Fitness Clubs in the area, Ballet/Dance Classes, Martial Arts classes, Body Building Gyms... and such.)  Skating Rinks You will also ask for a career options.  How can you become fitness instructor, how much can you earn as a part time worker, is there a possibility to get an afternoon/vacation job.

All researchers will access the on-line resources,  interview  management, speak with Athletic Directors of high schools and/or sport clubs and gather all information necessary to make your publication informative.

    Graphic Designer/Database Programmer
will explore free graphics sites and design the layout for the publication.  Will organize information collected from researchers and design presentation of the data.

    Editor
will prepare a narrative editorial essay using information from researchers and other sources.  Editor will meet with the team for brainstorming, obtaining information for progress reports and publication.

    TEAM
will meet with the teacher 4 times - once a week during their class for 15 minutes to report progress, ask for advise and/or voice concerns.  (In case of emergencies teacher will be available during your homeroom period.)
 
 

    • For the final week everybody in the team will work on the publication itself.  Researchers may write comments and stories about their adventures in exploring places, making a map of the area, composing rhymes and/or drawing pictures to enhance your final product.
    • Last day of the process teams will examine and evaluate products of their competition and compare to their own.  Winning publication will be presented to the Principal and/or the District for printing.


Evaluation

Your work has been completed. Now is the time to evaluate your work. Your publication will be graded using the following rubrics.

Content

Beginning 1

No subject knowledge is evident Information is missing. No comments.

Developing 2

Fulfills minimal requirements. Some subject knowledge is evident, however it is confusing. hardly any original input.

Accomplished 3

Includes essential information. Subject knowledge is evident in most of the publication. Original comments and/or stories.

Exemplary 4

Covers topic in depth and very detailed. Excellent use of resources. Interesting comments and stories.

 

Mechanics

Beginning1

Publication has 5 or more misspellings and grammatical errors. Poor design and minimal use of graphics.

Developing 2

Publication has 4 misspellings or grammatical errors. Layout is not very clear. Some graphics used.

Accomplished 3

Publication has 3 or fewer misspellings or grammatical errors, and interesting layout and graphics.

Exemplary 4

Publication has no misspellings or grammatical errors, is pleasing to the eye and uses adequate amount of visual enhances

 

 

Originality

 

Beginning1

Work is minimal. No effort to make publication interesting to the reader

Developing 2

Publication uses only templates. No original ideas.

Accomplished 3

Publication shows some original thought. Work shows new insights. Interesting design and use of visual art.

Exemplary 4

Publication shows a large amount of original thought. Ideas are creative and excellent use of graphics and visual art.

 

 

Teamwork

Beginning1

The workload was not divided equally and only one or two people did the work.

Developing 2

The workload amounts varied between a few members.

Accomplished 3

Most team members contributed their fare share of the work.

Exemplary 4

The workload was divided and shared equally by all the team members.

Score

 

 


Conclusion

The Physical Fitness Quest is a project that has taken your team through the exciting adventure of publication. You have learned how to gather data and information and then transform your ideas into a well design publication. Your team has worked together and used skills to become a publisher. Do not stop. Use these skills for other projects and activities in school at home and in your community. Good luck! :))


Credits & References

Thanks to my good friend Jennifer Ivey, from the Jackie Robinson Middle School 320 in Brooklyn Teacher Center, who helped me to put my project together and my friends and colleagues who helped me find graphics that I used in the project.

Last updated on February 12, 2002. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page