W.T. Clarke Middle School science research students Joe Carlino, Erin Connolly and Stephanie Papoutsakis are setting out to prove that walking throughout the day can be the key to fitness and the solution to teenage obesity.
Under the direction of science research teachers Donna DelVecchio and Wendy Wansor, English teacher Cindy Dale and physical education teacher Tim O’Malley, these student-scientists are conducting an experiment to illustrate how a pedometer application on a cellphone can help teens become more physically fit. Thirty classmates and 10 teachers have enlisted in this one-week experiment, and the results will be entered into the Christopher Columbus Research competition, along with projects from 60 additional honors research students.
According to the students, the presidential initiative “Let’s Move” recommends walking 11,000 steps per day for a teenage girl and 13,000 for a teenage boy. Each participant has downloaded a free pedometer application on his/her cellphone, which will clock the number of steps taken per day. The students are also planning to create an awareness routine for the school’s student body by hanging posters about the benefits of walking and the number of steps from one school destination to the other.
Erin remarked that this experiment has opened her eyes to the limited number of steps she takes each day. “When I started the experiment I walked only 5,000 steps a day, and now I know that I have to walk a lot more to keep fit.”
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