Lab 8 - Communication and Cooperation Using Hula Hoops

1. Explain three important benefits of hoop play.
Hula Hoops serve as a very useful vehicle for enhancing hand-eye and foot-eye coordination as well as body awareness. In this lesson Hula Hoops also serve to promote patience, exercise communication skills, practice telling time and develop better understanding of ecology. In lab 8 we used the activities of Hoop Race and Hot feet inorder to develop the students physical fitness. Hoop Race helps develop students speed while the activity of Hot Feet helps students work on agility and quickness.

2. Give an example of how hoops can be used to reinforce a cognitive concept linked with classroom learning.
There are many ways in which hoola hoops can be used to reinforce a cognitive concept linked with classroom learning. One idea we learned in lab was to use the colors of the hoola hoops for students to run to when she called out a certain color. This here reinforces the students learning of colors which in return will help them in the classroom. Another idea we learned in lab was to use the hoola hoop as a clock. The teacher told us students to stand on a certain "o'clock" on our hoola hoops. We also learned clockwise and counterclockwise. All this information that can be presented in physical education can most definitely help reinforce classroom learning!

3. Describe how hoops can be utilized to promote growth in the affective domain.
After participating in this lab, I realized that hoola hoops can be a great way to promote growth in the affective domain. In the activity Inside Instant Color, the teacher calls a color that the students must enter the hoop of that color and work cooperatively to accomodate other students inside the hoop. The work cooperatively part is where the affective domain comes into action. Students must "make room" inside the hoop to allow remaining students to enter inside that certain color. This teaches them good attitudes and morals and also respect to others. Great activity!

4. Utilize the internet to gather information about ponds and related ecology to use in your field experience teaching or future teaching.

In a future teaching lesson, I could teach my students about how an ecosystem works, how all living things have complex relationships with other species and with their environment, and more specifically the ecosystem of ponds.

On PE Central, I found an activity that could lead into a lesson about ecology. You could go into and talk about how the plants in the ecosystem provide a resting spot for frogs. And also how frogs can hop around the pond "ontop" of the water.