Can Exercise Really make our Brains Work Better?

By Brian and Maggie

Background InformationResearch suggests that sedentary lifestyles

negatively impact our brain and bodyRegular exercise appears critical for keeping our

brain cells fit and functioning

HypothesisIf humans exercise then their brains will work better

Materials8 volunteers50 small household

itemsTableTowelBoard games

Table and chairsPaper or notepadsPencils or pensWatch or timersObstacle course or large

area

Experiment Procedure1. Design obstacle course or design activities for

volunteers to do2. Get board games, set up tables and chairs, and place

household items on table and cover them with a towel3. Explain procedure to volunteers4. Have them take initial memory tests, a. Directions: b. Remove towel c. Cover items and let volunteers write down as many

items as they can d. Collect answer sheets e. Randomly assign each volunteer

Experiment Procedure continued

5. Each group should perform their assigned activity for ten min, be sure to record start and stop times6. Have the groups quickly gather and repeat the memory test with the second set of household items7. Collect the answer sheets and total the number of correct items on each sheet to record scores for each person in the first and second memory tests