Grantosa Elementary School Takes to the Internet to Tackle Issues of Nutrition, Exercise and Maintaining a Healthy Body
With an ever-growing popularity for new technologies and gaming among today’s youth, one Milwaukee Public School is taking a new approach to teaching about the body systems, nutrition and exercise. Fourth-graders at Grantosa Elementary School are going virtual with the help of Children’s Health Education Center (CHEC). Through CHEC’s Web site, www. bluekids. org, students are taking part in a new online course called “Energy Extreme.”
Milwaukee (PRWEB) June 15, 2006
With an ever-growing popularity for new technologies and gaming among today’s youth, one Milwaukee Public School is taking a new approach to teaching about the body systems, nutrition and exercise. Fourth-graders at Grantosa Elementary School are going virtual with the help of Children’s Health Education Center (CHEC). Through CHEC’s Web site, www. bluekids. org, students are taking part in a new online course called “Energy Extreme.”
For nearly a decade, educators in southeastern Wisconsin have applauded CHEC, located in Milwaukee, as a field trip destination that truly supports teachers as they educate children about science and health. Now, CHEC has taken that experience to the Web, creating www. bluekids. org, a Web-based portal offering a series of online health and science courses available online.
Currently, a large portion of Internet-based educational content is either “do-it-yourself” activities for students -- the equivalent of downloadable activities that require little teacher involvement and do little to help teachers plan and deliver lessons -- or a text resource where students passively read information. “The bluekids. org courses offer an Internet-based curriculum that involves and supports educators,” said Hope Liu, CHEC’s distance learning project manager. CHEC’s online curriculum provides fun and engaging student-learning activities, lesson plans, pre - and post-lesson activities and other tools for teachers. Added Liu, “In addition, teachers can track student progress – something teachers, administrators and parents can appreciate.”
All e-field trips are aligned with federal and State of Wisconsin standards for health and science curricula and technology use in the classroom, use the infrastructure for Internet-based learning that already exists in most Wisconsin public schools and takes advantage of students’ fascination and familiarity with interactive electronic media through use of animated graphics, sound effects, creative self-expression and interactive games.
Bluekids. org online courses are aligned with federal and State of Wisconsin standards for health and science curricula and technology use in the classroom, uses the infrastructure for Internet-based learning that already exists in most Wisconsin public schools and takes advantage of students’ fascination and familiarity with interactive electronic media through use of animated graphics, sound effects, creative self-expression and interactive games.
Energy Extreme is one of the first courses in a series of 10 that CHEC will test throughout the state. Through Energy Extreme, fourth - and fifth-grade students discover six different body system, learn about the effect nutrition has on the body, and discover how exercise, both mental and physical, can significantly affect the overall body system. Grantosa Elementary School is one of only a few schools involved in CHEC’s Energy Extreme pilots.
Children’s Health Education Center (CHEC), a member of Children’s Hospital and Health System, offers resources and programs for children, teachers, parents and caregivers to help keep kids healthy and safe. Last year, more than 90,000 children and adults experienced the center’s high-energy health education, including popular field trips and outreach programs. The only one of its kind in Wisconsin, the center is one of 38 health education centers nationwide. For more information, visit www. bluekids. org.
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