Wednesday, April 27, 2011

PE pacer test

The students pictured below were participating in the PACER test in PE last week. We had one Birch Meadow student break a school record completing over 100 "laps" of the PACER.

You can see the details of the PACER according to the web site http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/cardio/the-pacer-fitness-test.html

The PACER Fitness Test, also referred to as the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run test, is a fitness test designed to test your ability to stay on pace and stay in shape. In general, the PACER fitness test is used by young children in grades K-3, and by sports teams looking to gain an advantage and learn to pace themselves on the court or field. It is seen as being a particular effective test for younger children, because it's seen as a fun activity for them. It also helps them build up their self-esteem, because those children that finish last or are in the least shape actually finish the PACER fitness test first. It helps the kids stay in shape, too, but doesn't force them to run laps or sprint around the gym or field to do so.

How The PACER Fitness Test Works
Line up the runners at the starting line and press play on the CD. Each runner should then run the full 20 meters, touch the line at the end of the 20 meters with their foot and wait for the CD to beep. When it does, they can then pace themselves and run back to the starting place. Runners then wait for the next beep before repeating the run. They continue doing this until they cannot get to the next line before the CD beeps. The beeps will start off slow, so be sure to tell them to pace themselves before trying the PACER fitness test. Once they fail to reach the other end before a beep twice, they are finished.
Each 20-meter run counts as one lap. As a runner runs, have a partner handy to mark down each lap that he runs. Once he fails to make the run before the beep, they are finished. Their total laps is their total score. The CD contains 21 minutes or 21 levels of this. The highest score wins the PACER fitness test.


The time between each beep decreases every minute requiring students to increase their pace.



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