Can Academic Success Come from Five Minutes of Physical Activity?

• Main Authors: Lynn M. Randall, Julienne K. Maeda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brock University 2003-01-01
• Series: Brock Education: a Journal of Educational Research and Practice
• Online Access: http://brock.scholarsportal.info/journals/brocked/home/article/view/40

Being physically active helps not only in the areas of health and fitness, but also in the area of academics, more specifically, mathematics. Brain-based teaching can play a large role in enhancing student learning through the use of movement, in particular, a short running activity on math fluency in addition problems. Could five minutes of a moderate to vigorous activity have any effect on students’ addition fluency? The purpose of this article is to share with readers the effects of infusing a short physical activity into an already busy day. Two primary findings were gleaned from this study. First, although there was a small positive effect on math fluency, there was no negative effect. Second, positive changes in students’ behavior were noted by the classroom teacher.