Can Games Consoles Be Good for Your Health?

Can Games Consoles Be Good For Your Health?

It has been reported that playing on the Nintendo Wii is better for your health than using other games consoles. Gareth Stratton, Lee Graves and a team of scientists in Liverpool have actually conducted an investigation to see if you do use more energy when playing on a Wii compared to an XBOX 360. In the box below is what they concluded.

This team of scientists decided further work would be needed to investigate gaming and energy expenditure, so it is over to you….

Watch the video clip of Lee talking about his work http://faraday09.theiet.org/wii/leegraves.cfm

You are going to investigate if the Wii increases the mean heart rate of your class (as an indication of how much energy you are using) more than other types of games consoles. Scientists often look at work done by others to help them carry out their research. Look at the version of the Liverpool scientist’s work, which has been adapted from their original scientific paper, to help you plan your work. You can use the worksheet to help you. You may also want to explore the IET Faraday website for more information.

Tips and points to consider for teachers

Using scientific articles as a stimulus

The brief can be more/less detailed depending on the ability of the student.

More able students may be able to access the original version of the research paper.

You may need to further adapt the research paper for weaker students.

The following activity is based on the Learning Skills for Science resources. This can be adapted to provide more or less scaffolding depending on the ability of the students.

This can also be used to teach the structure of a scientific article.

The students can then plan, carry out, record, present and conclude their investigations in the normal way. You might like them to try some more novel approaches such as the use of video, photostory or cartoons to record and present their work.

The practical

If you want the class do something all together, so the session is relatively quick, then the jogging activity on the Wii Fit is a good one to pick. Only one student needs a Wiimote and the rest of the class keep pace with that student.

If all the students are going to have a turn at a more competitive activity e.g. tennis on Wii Sports(4 can play at once), then it is advisable to construct a time table to use. If students are keen, and it is logistically possible some time slots may be outside class time. Some students expressed a preference to do the activity outside class time as they did not want other students to observe them e.g. when doing yoga on the Wii Fit.

A data logger could be used with one or more students to gain a more accurate picture of how physiological factors change with exercise e.g. heart rate, ventilation rate and blood pressure.

The activity could be videoed for later analysis e.g. to interpret the data logger results in terms of the amount of effort that was being put into the activity.

As a more large scale class investigation you could get groups to analyse the data generated in different ways e.g. anonymously group relative to BMI (you could use Wii to do this and compare it with manual calculations), boys vs girls, sporty vs non sporty.

To compare the Wii with other gaming products you could get the students (if possible) to bring in their games consoles. If this is not possible they may be able to conduct some of the investigation at home, or get them to play a game of some description on a computer using a mouse or keys, or play a game on their mobile phones.

Further ideas for investigations using the Wii can be found in a later section.

Other skills which could be explored through this activity:

·  Evaluating a website

·  Watching a video

·  Engaging with a presentation

·  Making sense of text

Suggested Activities using the Nintendo Wii

and it’s games

To follow is some possible ideas which could be used in the classroom. They have not been written as full activities, the hope is that teachers can take the ideas and develop them for use in their teaching. All can be differentiated to suit a range of abilities from Key Stage 3 through to post 16 studies. There is a wide variety of suggestions from starter/stimulus ideas through to larger projects and questions the children could explore.

Wii Sports

This is the game which is supplied with the console. It contains tennis, boxing, golf, baseball and bowling from which you can choose to play. The tennis game is particularly good for the classroom as 4 children can play at once (you will need 4 Wiimotes) which alleviates some of the time pressures which can result from using the Wii. Other games can be play together, but this often involves taking turns e.g. bowling or golf.

·  This can be used a starter activity to get the students warmed up in the style of a ‘Brain Gym’. In games such as tennis, 4 children can play at once and the games are short. This should make the students more alert for the lesson.

·  All the sports could be used as stimulus material to look at reaction time, neural pathways, hand eye co-ordination or the senses. The children could be deprived of one or more of the senses and see how this affects performance.

·  The baseball game calculates the speed of the ball as it is thrown. If you could provide information about the size of the pitch, then the children could do calculations relating to speed, distance and time.

·  The game also can calculate a ‘Wii fitness age’. The children could keep retesting this to see if their ‘training schedule’ improves this age.

·  Does the Wii simulate realistic game play? Does the tennis game improve your ‘real’ tennis skills? The children could devise training programmes, for both the Wii and ‘real’ game play and see if their skill levels improve. (This could also be used in PE as well as Applied Science). For tennis you can substitute any of the other sports to provide variety within the classroom.

·  Can the Wii contribute to a healthy lifestyle?

·  Discussion of the muscles, tendons, joints and bones involved when moving the wiimote.

Wii Fit

A potential limitation of this game, for whole class use, is that you can only register 8 Miis. This means that only 8 children can track their progress per console and game. Only these Miis can unlock the other games (games are unlocked as you spend more time using the WiiFit). The solution is to have more than one console/game set (which may prove expensive), have the remainder of the class use Wii sports (which comes as part of the console package), or enter the games using Guest Miis (which will give you access to only the basic games). Some of the ‘unlockable’ games may be of use in the science classroom, e.g. skiing and balance bubble are really good when considering centre of gravity.

A second point to consider is the games using the balance board, only allow one player per game, and so this can be time consuming in the classroom situation. The few other activities can be completed by one child having the Wiimote and the rest of the class following – making sure they keep time/follow the activity exactly. I would compare this to an exercise class you may take at the gym e.g. aerobics (jogging using the Wii Fit), Yoga, step or muscle toning exercises. The progress of the ‘lead Mii’ could then be tracked, and it would be assumed that this is representative of the whole group. Progress can be charted in BMI and Wii Fit age, which could be useful in Applied Science, PE and general consideration of a healthy life style. Consideration needs to made for those who are unable or self conscious about exercise. Some could complete the activities outside normal class time, or the children could work in pairs – one exercising, one taking and recording the data.

·  BMI – manual calculation vs Wii. This could stimulate discussions about accuracy, reliability and precision.

Please be aware the BMI is calculated by performing a body test when you first access the game. This can take 5-10 minutes per individual, which may not be acceptable with some classes. For some of the time the children not doing their body test could be occupied by manually calculating their BMI, or completing other related work. In practice, the children like to watch each other. You will also need to be aware of any potential related issues as the Wii can declare you obese or underweight quite publicly!

·  Can the Wii help to reduce/ maintain/increase your BMI over a 3 month period?

·  The yoga games could be used to help support the teaching about ventilation and it’s control. The movement of the diaphragm could be discussed as well as how you can consciously control your breathing patterns. It could be linked to a more active game, such as jogging, and the discussion furthered to talk about the subconscious control of the rate of breathing. For both of these only one child needs the Wii Fit board or Wiimote.

·  The step game again could have one ‘leader’ and the rest of the group follow (so all are doing the same amount of exercise for the same time). This could be used to investigate basic physiology in relation to exercise e.g. heart rate, and so stimulate a discussion about fitness. It could also link to senses e.g. could you still keep time without the sound – the Wii does score you on keeping time.

·  Hula hoping is another active game that could be used in conjunction with physiological measurement (as stated for the step game). Groups of children may wish to compare the various games to see which provides the ‘best’ physical activity and why.

·  Using the balance games such as tight rope and skiing you could consider the following - Does your skill level at a particular game improve with practice? Is this transferable e.g. does improvement in one type of balance game mean you are better at other balance games?

·  Any of the games could be used to stimulate discussion about reflex pathways, how receptors work and how the nerves get you muscles to work.

·  The active games could be used as a stimulus to discuss the changes that occur in the body during exercise. One child could be observed/videoed, possible whilst connected to a data logger, and the reasons for the observed changes could be discussed and explained e.g. control of hear rate, ventilation rate and temperature regulation.

·  The children could highlight on a diagram of the brain which areas are active when playing the various games

Other potential questions/projects to consider

·  Does the Wii simulate realistic game play? Does slalom skiing game improve you skiing abiltity?

·  Can the Wii contribute to a healthy lifestyle?

·  What are the benefits/limitations of the Wii compared to more traditional forms of exercise?

·  Is the Wii any better for you than other gaming technologies?

·  What is the optimum usage of the Wii? How often should you use it to make a difference?

·  Does the Wii improve flexibility/muscle strength/co-ordination/balance? Assembling a healthy life style programme to include the Wii e.g. a single new mum getting back to fitness, recovery after surgery, use with the elderly.

·  How do the active Wii games affect heart rate/blood pressure/ventilation rate? (using a data logger) How does this compare to other gaming technologies?

·  Experiments involving centre of gravity e.g. Wii Fit balance games such as the bubble ball and ski jumping.

·  Awareness of Centre of Gravity – why is this important? Exploring balance, posture and nerve activity.

·  Exploring the technology behind the Wii (motion sensors)

·  Exploring STEM careers through the scientists who developed the Wii, have studied the Wii using adolescents.

Skills

·  Experimental design with consideration of controls, minimising variables

·  Research including internet, scientific reading, surveys

·  Mathematical calculations, presentation of data

·  Reporting findings e.g. presentation, scientific poster, report writing, writing for a specific audience

·  Presenting an argument for/against the Wii’s use or to be purchased

·  Communication, creativity, collaboration, self-esteem , parallel processing, persistence, peer to per learning, risk taking, multi-tasking, logical thinking, problem solving, trial and error learning, hand eye co-ordination, technical confidence

Other points

·  Relevance to the pupils life experiences and so motivating

·  Creation of a Mii accompanies ownership

·  Can keep photos of Miis

·  Raises self esteem in some students

·  Could keep a video diary of more prolonged activities and then edit

·  Can be used for Applied Science coursework

·  Useful in science, engineering/technology, careers education, health and social care, PE, PLTS

References

Full version of the scientific paper

Lee Graves, Gareth Stratton, N D Ridgers, N T Cable Energy expenditure in adolescents playing new generation computer games, BMJ 2007;335:1282-1284

Specification Links

The Wii could be used as a stimulus to discuss any of the following as outlined in the possible activities section.