A Million Minutes of Activity
Brain research has consistently shown that students who exercise at least 40 minutes a day have improved executive function and achievement and that consistent exercise alters brain activation.
With this in mind, embarked on a middle school project called "A Million Minutes of Activity." We are using a fun new website, http://www.zamzee.com, and a program developed specifically for 'tweens and teens' that is powered by physical activity. Each student will receive a Zamzee meter, a three-axis accelerometer, which will record how much they move around. Recorded activity is translated into points that power a user's online experience at zamzee.com.
At zamzee.com, our students can: 
- view their activity by minute, day and week
- take on challenges
- work toward goals
- compete and share with friends
- earn badges in twelve different categories as they work towards conquering the 17 different levels of achievement - from "Friend of Zed" to "Z-master".
Research has shown that Zamzee boosts physical activity in tweens and young teens by more than 30% – nearly an extra marathon a month of running!
In addition to the exercise component, Zamzee will be sending us the data from our activity every two weeks. Students will be using this authentic data in Math classes, in their statistics units. In science, students will use the project to further their understanding of the scientific method. Do boys exercise more than girls? Do 8th graders exercise more than 5th graders? Do students exercise more than teachers? (Yes, all Middle School teachers have zamzee meters too - and they are part of Team GHA - as we work towards our 'million minutes' goal). Our students will be blogging about their experiences through the duration of the project too - and we hope you will follow along.
Each grade has it's own blog, and you can read them by following these links:
Our hope is that in addition to the health and education benefits of this project, our students will develop the habit of exercising daily. Our Middle School team is going to have to hop, jump, skip, walk and run a lot to reach our 'Million Minutes of Activity' goal, and we look forward to your support as we exercise our way there!
Follow us on twitter @GHAminutez
