Concept mapping is a great technique in all subject areas of school. There are times when I would be sitting in school and taking notes, listening to the teacher talk. I would be understanding what the teacher was saying but not grasping the full concept. When I drew it out visually, for example in a concept map, it helped me learn processes of certain overall functions better. As new teachers going into the field we need to remember that many of our kids may be visual learners and we need to give them a learning tool that helps strengthen their understanding of topics that are taught.
Concept mapping might not be as prevalent in health and fitness, but there are definitely ways my students may use them. In the fitness portion of class we could have a fitness week. The students can make a goal that they want to reach by the end of the week and each bubble can represent what they will need to accomplish every day in order to reach that goal. They can also use it as a way to remember what lifts they need to do for the day. They can write the day of the week in the middle and then have what muscles they want to work on for that day in the bubbles.
I personally believe that concept mapping will be used more often when we are in the health portion of our class. Learning about the human body is extremely interesting, but it can be daunting on the amount of information that is required to memorize. A great concept map that I found on the website was a map about the skeletal system. They had the human skeleton in the middle, and then branches off of it were types of bones, organization of bones, and functions of bones. I believe this would be a great way for my students to learn about the body. I could also have them put a single organ in the middle of the web and list its functions and purposes in the bubbles. Another topic that concept mapping would be useful for is drugs and alcohol. I could assign each student a substance/drug and have them do some research on the effects that it has or consequences of taking it on the body. Once they found the information I could have them complete the web and turn it in, or even have them write a mini report using their webs.
Concept mapping is a great tool for students to organize information easily and visually see the information gathered. It also works for all ages of students in every classroom. I believe that concept mapping should be taught in the elementary school as a basic organization tool that they will be using throughout their school years.
Concept mapping will be great for my students to learn systems. There are many systems in the body, muscular, digestive, hormones, and many more. By using concept mapping for this the students will be able to look at each piece individually and see how they function. Then when put into the concept map see how systems work together for the end task of what the body needs to perform.
In order for my students to use a concept map, I would want to make sure that there are many elements that tie together and have something in common. I will decide whether the maps are necessary. I do not want to make them use the concept map if it only uses time and doesn't help them grasp a concept I am teaching. I also may have them do it when they begin a research project for a health topic. That way the students will decide which areas they want to focus on for their presentation.
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