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Media Release

May 6 2008

Turning kids on to science through sport

Learning module on game analysisUniSA researchers are finding that sport is the new way to turn kids on to science using real world examples that are relevant to the contemporary lives of students.

With surveys showing that most children have an interest in sport in some form, Professor of Exercise Science, Kevin Norton is building on that interest by combining interactive, computer-based learning tools with sport examples to reinforce key elements of the general science curriculum.

Aimed at students in the middle and senior years of high school, “Science Through Sport” includes learning modules that help students to understand the science of how Newton’s law involving force, mass and acceleration works in sport; understand how their bodies produce, use and store energy; how their bodies work to exercise and move at speed; analyse games such as football; and search for sports that suits them. Every module includes a textbook, user-guide to the tool, worksheets and answers, and a teacher’s guide, which shows how it dovetails into the curriculum.

“Interactive computer games and ‘what if’ scenarios help children to see and understand what changes in the learning module on Newton’s law when they enter data in response to questions such as ‘What if I hit a golf ball with a club at a certain speed, how far will the ball go?’ or ‘What if I change my mass, how will that affect my acceleration?’ By being able to manipulate the data on the computer, kids can determine how their figures affect outcomes,” Prof Norton said.

“Understanding human energy systems and how they operate during exercise has been made simpler using interactive computer simulations that help students ‘see’ these energy systems in action. The students can use their own data to compare their energy levels with sporting champions and with their peers, and manipulate fitness levels and exercise intensity and duration to explore the way in which energy is transferred within the cells,” Prof Norton said.

In the biology of exercise module, students can program a “virtual student” to do exercises and observe the physiological changes – increased heart rate, sweat rate, and blood pressure changes – and it’s all generated in the simulation in a realistic lifelike manner, according to Prof Norton.

“Using the game analysis module, students can track the player movement patterns during games on TV or live during their school competitions in about 10 different sports such as soccer, football and netball, and then examine player moves through game analysis. It is a good way to reinforce concepts such as how humans move, their speed breakdown and typical patterns of attacking, and how specific actions are useful predictors of game success,” Prof Norton said.

“How muscles are designed, move and are recruited during increasing levels of exercise intensity are featured in the biology of speed module. Using a computer simulation, students can choose a key (runner) to race against the other runners in the starting blocks. The simulation shows why there are delays in reaction time - processing in the brain and transmitting messages to muscles - before they react and start running,” he said.

“In Sport Search, students can do a battery of tests – broad jump, strength tests, sprint tests, aerobic tests, as well as measurements of body size and proportions – and enter their results into the computer, which then finds and ranks three sports that kids are most suited to, and three that they are least suited to from a list of more than 100 different sports in the database.

“Students can also do another search, which reflects where they think they might be when they reach adulthood, with increases in areas such as height, speed and strength,” Prof Norton said.

Prof Norton has been seconded to the Commonwealth government funded International Centre of Excellence in Sports Science and Management. Working in the centre Sport Knowledge Australia, Prof Norton has assembled a team of experienced teachers and computer programmers to develop teaching and learning resources for the Science Through Sport series.

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