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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znNpDkPqHjo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPdFFGImngQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znNpDkPqHjo
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The purpose of my genius hour project is to get information out to young children on how technology negatively affects the body.
The beginning process of my Genius Hour project, just like everyone else's, is to research research research. I needed to look for information about how exactly technology affects the body. Almost everyone knows it is bad for the human body but I don't think anyone truly knows what exactly it does. For this exactly I wanted to get the information out to people and maybe make them decrease the time they are on their computers, cell phones, iPads, etc. My first thought was to go straight for kindergarteners because they seem to be the ones at the end of the chain. They are the ones just starting out and learning more and more about technology. I wanted to be able to teach them in a interactive way so they would possibly go home and tell their parents what they learned. As years go on more and more technology is being invented and created. The youngest of my generation are the ones that it will affect the most because a lot of the time when parents decided they want to keep their children quite they give them a phone or an iPad. I wanted to focus on kindergarteners because they will be the ones experiencing the most exposure to electronic devices as they grow up. As I was researching I wanted to figure out things that would stick the most in a persons head so I researched how technology affects your posture, how it affects your health, and how it negatively affects physical activity. After I finished researching I would put it all into a PowerPoint that I was able to show kindergarten kids. I started out at the beginning of this genius hour project with one goal in mind. I wanted to get the knowledge that I learn out to other people who will pass it on. It took me a while to start the informational part of this project but once I started everything just exploded. I found so much information on how technology is bad for the body I wanted to be able to get it out. After I read a lot of the information it made me think twice about how much I am on my cell phone. Then I began to think, if I started thinking like this just because of the information I read maybe other people will too. Right now I am in a peer to peer class which is a kindergarten class. Over the year I have noticed that these kids absorb almost everything they hear so I decided I wanted to give a lesson to the class. Doing this hopefully will make them go home and tell their parents. I started out with just three blog posts on my weebly page and now I have multiple posts that other people can look at. I have made a powerpoint that I will be using to help me teach the kindergarten class. The main thing I am going to ask of the students is for them to go home and tell their parents a couple things that they learned from my lesson. With the kids doing this I’m hoping that parents will stop placing their kids in front of a screen when they are being loud or obnoxious. Children will be children and I believe that with parents giving them something to call them down like a phone or an iPad will increase their technology use as they get older. I shared my learnings with my kindergarten class. I have been in their class every day for the past year now and they have become accustomed to me. They absolutely enjoy me being there and when I come in so I have decided to use this to my advantage and give them the lesson on the negative effects of technology. I have made a powerpoint with the information that I have learned which I will be showing the class when I give the lesson. I also have pictures on the powerpoint that I am hoping will show them what I am trying to explain. I know young children are not very good with just words so I put pictures on the powerpoint to help me show them. I want to have one or two of the kids hold an iPad and demonstrate the different positions while I explain how bad they are for the body. In doing this I hope the result will be that the kids will go home and tell their parents. I know they won't remember everything from my lesson but even if they tell them one or two things from it hopefully the parents will look into it. I’m hoping the parents will listen to their kids and do some research of their own. I know parents have a tendency to give their children their phones or have them carry iPads along with them everywhere they go. In this process parents are hoping that it will eliminate their children from having tantrums and screaming in stores. What parents don't get is that in doing this it may keep them quiet for the moment but as they grow up this can cause bad backs, bad legs, and some people can even have withdrawals from technology. I know it sounds weird but it is true. The more someone is on a device the more attached they become to it and if that device is taken away it is likely to cause a fit. That is my main goal in giving this lesson. One of the main things I would do differently is probably getting it out to more people. Giving a presentation to more than one class so the information on the negative affects could actually have a chance of getting around. I feel that if more and more people know about this it would hopefully lower the use of electronic devices. It negatively affects the physical appearance and can cause blemishes and ruin your posture. I feel as if more teenagers knew about the blemishes it would cause them to lower the use of cell phones. I'm aiming to start with kindergarteners because if an impact was made on them then they will more than likely go home and talk to their parents about it which would inform the parents as well. I think the second thing I would do differently is my use of time. I would try to spend more time working on it and make the best presentation. I would aim towards getting the information out to all age groups so they would hopefully change the extensively use of electronics. This is vital information that everyone needs to know because the use just keeps increasing as years go on. Adults are giving up on playing with their kids and just having them watch netflix or play games on iPads and on their cell phones. This takes away parent child time and it provides them with an early start of bad backs, sore fingers and tired, dry eyes. There are so many factors that should make parents and children stop using cell phones and electronic devices but no one knows what it is. If I could do anything differently it would be to get the information I found out to more people. I think the biggest thing that went well this Genius Hour is the amount of time we were allowed to work on it. We ended up getting almost the last three weeks of the senior time to work on it and actually accomplish our goals. With this time that is how I was able to accomplish my goal. During the year it was harder to work on because of the other classes homework and trying to finish everything before the seniors was done made everything more difficult. The last couple weeks we got was extremely helpful. It helped me get my information on my weebly, it helped me get my powerpoint done and set up a day to give my lesson. It also helped a lot that other teachers were finishing up with other school work so it gave me more time to work on my Genius Hour. My success and accomplishment include finishing this Genius Hour project. I was sadly not able to complete the last Genius Hour project but I am going to complete this project. Another accomplishment is that Mrs. Van and the kids absolutely loved my presentation and looking at it. They enjoyed listening to it and they enjoyed interacting with me. The kids love me so it was a good surprise to have me teach a lesson for them before I was done with school. I asked and they said that they would go home and tell their parents everything they remembered from my lesson so that was also another accomplishment. It made me extremely happy to see the smiles on their faces because Miss Jen was finally giving them a lesson instead of sitting in the class watching them. My step by step plan to complete my genius hour project is making a PowerPoint that I am able to show the kids. An easy enough one where they will understand everything that I'm saying. I'm going to be teaching a kindergarten class because they are the ones that are going to be the most affected with technology. Next Tuesday I plan to teach the class and interact with them. I plan to pick five or six students and ask them to play on the iPads. I'm going to take pictures of them and then explain to them how it affects their body negatively. I will also explain how technology affects the eyes the brain and posture.
MCT Researchers project a decline in physical activity levels, helping worsen the obesity epidemic. Athletes who do a lot of training on treadmills find that when they move outside to run on the street they can't make the same distance.
How often and where in your daily life do you get the most exercise? There's a worldwide trend of reduced physical activity driven by use of technology, including driving, television, computer and mobile use, according to a recent study. Researchers project that trends in physical activity levels will decrease and sedentary time will increase by 2020 and 2030 if we continue at the rate we're going. The study documented trends in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China and India and looked at energy expenditure in four areas: work; domestic work; travel; and active leisure activities, including sedentary time for adults. It compared a person's workload through the metabolic equivalents of task, or MET, hours, defined as a ratio of a person's working metabolic rate to resting metabolic rate. The lower the value, the less physical exertion involved. In the U.S., total physical activity trends went from 235 MET hours per week in 1965 to nearly 160 MET hours per week in 2009. Our sedentary lifestyle increased from 26.4 MET hours in 1965 to 37.7 MET hours in 2009. The study, by University of North Carolina Chapel Hill researchers and published in Obesity Reviews, forecasts physical activity to be around 142 MET hours per week by 2020, using linear trends based on 2003-2009. In 2030, it's even lower - 126 MET hours per week due to declining work-related, domestic and travel physical activity. Americans will be more active when it comes to leisure activities, but time spent in sedentary activities will increase to nearly 42 hours per week by 2030 - more than today's average work day. Obesity epidemic"A lack of physical activity certainly contributes to the obesity epidemic," said Joseph Regan, a bariatric surgeon at Columbia St. Mary's in Milwaukee, adding that other factors influencing obesity rates include technology, urban lifestyle and availability of inexpensive high-calorie food. About 73 million people, or one-third of U.S. adults, are obese, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. In Wisconsin, about 25% to 29% of people are obese, based on 2009 data from the CDC. The standard way to gauge obesity is through the body mass index, which takes height and weight and categorizes a person as underweight, normal, overweight and obese. You can compare your weight to those across 177 countries with a calculator on the BBC's website. It's based on a study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in which researchers combined population data from United Nations and estimates of global weight from the World Health Organization and national health examination surveys. According to the study, North America had the highest average body mass of any continent - 177.9 pounds - and an average BMI of 28.7 in 2005, which is considered overweight by WHO and the National Institutes of Health. Around the world China and Brazil have had the highest decline in total physical activity over a course of five and eight years respectively, driven by reductions in work-related activities and physical activity at home. The University of North Carolina study attributes declines in physical activity to the shifts from agricultural-based sectors to manufacturing and service sectors, and access to technology at work and in homes. India seems to be the one country that has less severe declines in physical activity, which the study attributes to stark socioeconomic differences. Yet even its sedentary time is expected to rise to 20 MET hours per week from 18.7 in 2005. To get information on time use and average energy expenditure for daily living activities, the study used previous research data sets and surveys from the Multinational Time Use Study, the American Time Use Survey, the China Health and Nutrition Survey and information from the United Nations International Labour Organization. It had limited data for time use in Brazil and India. It used the Compendium of Physical Activities for information on MET intensities. The study was funded by Nike Inc. A new study from office furniture-maker Steelcase found that new technologies like smartphones, tablets, and laptops have completely changed the way we sit at work. Specifically, the study of 2,000 people in 11 countries uncovered nine novel new postures that people take when interacting with technology and working that have the potential to cause pain and discomfort. They range from the combination slouch/ hunch common to people working on laptops, to strained attempts to use a phone and laptop at the same time. The result of the study was their new Gesture chair, designed to account for the way we interact with devices and technology. 'THE TRANCE': This will be familiar to anyone who's had a long day at work. Over time, you lean towards the screen, putting strain on the neck and back. 'THE COCOON': Used for smartphones and tablets, the bend in the knee reduces circulation, the neck is angled down, and the lower back is not supported. 'THE DRAW': A posture born of the tablet. Without persistent lumbar support, this will result in back pain. 'THE MULTI-DEVICE': People frequently use more than one device at a time, which can lead to a hunched position, especially when a laptop's being used. 'THE SMART LEAN': When looking at a smart phone, there's a tendency to lean away from others. The technology is out of the natural sight line, leading to a strained posture. 'THE STRUNCH': Stands for 'stretched out hunch,' and is very common with laptops. Long periods in the position put people at risk for discomfort and eventual injury to the back, arm, wrist, neck, and shoulder. 'THE SWIPE': Most people don't have an elevated display for tablets, so they lean back or hunch over. This position can lead to back and neck pain. 'THE TAKE-IT-IN': People with larger displays will lean back to take in information. This is healthy, as long as the chair has lumbar support. 'THE TEXT': Smartphones are actually hard to use when set down on a surface, so people hold them up, potentially causing shoulder strain.
Technology is being incorporated into every part of modern day living. Here's how to stay switched on and safe.
iPods and MP3 players They are as ubiquitous as mobile phones among the younger generation, but iPods and MP3 players are putting people's hearing at risk. Nearly 70 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 72 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds suffer from tinnitus, or ringing in their ears, an Australian Hearing report has found. Worryingly, the report, Is Australia Listening?, found that 60 per cent of people who regularly listen to music through headphones pump the volume beyond safe levels. "Our research has found that even though most people know that loud music causes hearing loss, more than two-thirds of Australians regularly listen to music through headphones," says Janette Thorburn, principal audiologist at Australian Hearing. Australian Hearing recommends switching the volume to a level that still allows you to hear someone who is at arm's length without them having to shout. The organisation also advises limiting the amount of time you are exposed to very loud noise, and taking time out from noisy concerts or clubs. If you are concerned that loud noise has damaged your hearing, check your hearing over the phone using Telscreen toll-free on 1800 826 500. Sitting at a computer The computer age has given birth to a raft of health problems, affecting everything from our backs and eyes to our balance Office workers are the most at risk, and experts say it is important we monitor our workplace health. Back Spending six to eight hours a day in front of a computer can cause us to become "hunched and immobile", says Chiropractors Association of Australia (CAA) spokesman Dr Patrick Sim. This can cause shoulder, arm, hand and neck problems, and issues with balance and coordination. The association says good posture at the desk and a comfortable and supportive chair are paramount. "We evolved to be upright and mobile," Dr Sim says. "The more hunched you are after the age of 60, the more your risk of death increases because the heart and lungs are compressed, reducing oxygen and blood flow." Dr Sim says the answer is simple: move more. At the very least, he recommends spending three minutes a day doing Straighten Up Australia exercises Other tips including going for a brisk walk at lunch, a stroll around the office every hour, and checking your posture by standing with your heels and back against the wall and seeing how far back you have to move your head until it touches the wall too. See a chiropractor to have your posture and spine assessed. Eyes Eye strain has become a common work-related health complaint, particularly among office workers. But ophthalmologist Dr Vicki Andersons says there are many misconceptions about sitting in front of a computer or TV screen for hours on end. Problems such as headaches usually stem from poor posture or distance from the screen, rather than the eyes being strained, she says. "When you sit in front of a screen all day, your blink rate reduces from 20 times a minute to once or twice a minute," Dr Andersons says. "This has a tendency to dry the eyes. But when you start blinking again it clears it up." Dr Andersons says there is no evidence to show that computers cause long-term vision deterioration. She says people who experience dry eyes should use lubricant-only eye drops and take regular breaks. Blackberry thumb, iPod finger Are your thumbs sore or wrists aching? If you are an excessive mobile phone or iPod user, you could have "BlackBerry thumb" or "iPod finger". Health experts in Australia are noticing a rise in repetitive strain injury (RSI)-style injuries, particularly with the advent of the internet on pocketsized hand-held devices. The American Society of Hand Therapists has issued a consumer alert, warning users of small electronic gadgets that heavy thumb use could lead to painful swelling of the sheath around the tendons in the thumb. The group recommends taking frequent breaks during emailing and resting your arms on a pillow for support. Dr Sim says there is also a change in posture that occurs because of the hunched position people assume while sending a text message, which can result in neck and shoulder pain and headaches. The CAA recommends stretches such as the Prayer stretch: push your palms and fingers together, then the backs of your hands together, and bend each thumb gently backwards towards your shoulder. These stretches target the small muscles, tendons and ligaments in the hand. Cancer and mobile phones Debate continues to rage about whether or not mobile phones cause cancer, with research providing conflicting answers. The Cancer Council of Australia's website says that evidence suggests there is no reason for concern about harmful effects, including cancer, from mobile phone use. However, it says the lack of evidence does not prove absence of risk. For people who are concerned, limiting your exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic energy is recommended by limiting the length of calls and using a hands-free device to keep the phone away from your body. "The World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer body says there is a possible case [for a link to cancer], but it is not saying there is a case," says Professor David Roder, general manager of research innovation at the Cancer Council SA. "If there is an effect, it seems to be incredibly small." Professor Roder says WHO is involved in a study involving 13 countries that aims to get more concrete results, particularly surrounding brain tumours and cancer of the salivary glands. While brain tumours have not generally increased, he says one study found a slight spike in a type of tumour on the side of the head. Professor Roder says the risk with new technologies is that early studies often do not show any harm from repeated use, but the damage may only appear later. Technology can be a beautiful thing. It connects us to others, it's super convenient and, if used mindfully, can even help us find a little bit of calm. But as the old adage goes, too much of anything can be bad.
It's no secret that a little unplugging can go a long way, yet we're spending more time than ever glued to our screens. But here's the sad reality: All that tech is taking a toll on our health. Need proof? Staring at your phone all day might wreck your spine. Recent research by New York spine surgeon Kenneth Hansraj found that our constant Instagram scrolling and incessant text messaging may be hurting our backs. The study found that when you tilt your head 60 degrees to stare at your phone, you're putting 60 pounds of pressure on your neck. Previous research also shows that sitting in front of our computers all day can also negatively affect our stature. Talk about a bad back. Your phone could cause blemishes. Here's a gross fact: Our phones are actually teeming with bacteria (think about it, where don't we bring our devices?). And where are we putting that bacteria? Directly on our face. Germs pile up on our phones thanks to our external environment, which could trigger acne or eczema outbreaks, Everyday Health reported. Luckily, the problem is easily fixed. Experts suggest cleaning and sterilizing your phone, as well as going hands-free whenever possible. All that messaging may be giving you text claw. It may not be an official medical diagnosis, but the symptoms are still very real. Any repetitive motor activity -- like grasping your phone too much -- could cause muscle tension or irritate current conditions like tendinitis. It could also cause forearm or wrist pain. Too much screen use could could strain your eyes. When you were a kid and someone called you out for falling asleep you'd say, "I'm just resting my eyes." It may have been a cover up then, but it's important now if you're stuck staring at a computer all day. Too much eye contact with our screens is exhausting our sight, causing our vision to become blurry and drying out our eyes. But you're not alone: Nearly 70 percent of American adults say they've experienced symptoms of digital eye strain at some point in their lives, USA Today reported. Constant tech-indulgence may be giving you a headache. No, that pounding in your head you feel isn't because you noticed on Facebook that your ex just got engaged (although, that may be part of it). If you stare at a screen for too long, you may experience tension headaches as another result of digital eye strain. Reading dark text on a bright screen can lead to muscle spasms at the temples. To alleviate the pain, adjust the contrast on your screen. All that Googling can cause anxiety. You've heard of hypochondriacs but what about cyberchondriacs? It sounds outlandish, but it does exist. The cause? An effort to self-diagnose a health problem you might be having. Experts suggest that searching for your symptoms online can result in some serious anxiety, Greatest reported. Not only that, but constantly scrolling through your social networks isn't helping your anxiety either. One 2012 study found that excessive social media use may increase our stress levels. Yikes. Staring at screens can mess with your sleep. Before you shut down for the day, make sure to also shut down your phone and computer. Research shows that excessive tech use -- particularly right before bedtime -- can have an adverse impact on our sleep cycles thanks to the glowing light that's emitted from screens. This is especially true for young adults, who arguably need the most help when it comes to getting the proper amount of shuteye. Loneliness and Facebook browsing are inextricably linked. Previous research found that the popular social networking site can cause feelings of loneliness, but a recent study is suggesting a slight variation: Lonely people just turn to Facebook more often. Regardless of the research, experts conclude that this Internet paradox is a very real phenomenon. Our social networks are linked to feelings of loneliness, as well as a decrease in happiness and satisfaction -- and that's not exactly warm and fuzzy news. You could suffer from withdrawals. It may sound frivolous, but there is such a thing as technology addiction -- and it's a prominent problem. According to a 2012 study, 66 percent of people would feel panicked without their phones. Research from Swansea and Milan Universities also found that heavy Internet users suffered from withdrawal similar to those experienced by drug users when they went offline, TIME reported. Too much tech is literally changing your brain. Emails, text messages, news feeds, oh my. Research shows the technology we process each day is actually rewiring our brains, between the multitasking and the addiction we feel when we're without it. "We are exposing our brains to an environment and asking them to do things we weren't necessarily evolved to do," Adam Gazzaley, a neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco, told the New York Times in 2010. "We know already there are consequences." The progress I have made in the last month on my genius hour project is research. I have been researching and researching information on how technology impacts the body. How it affects certain parts of the body and the disadvantages and advantages of technology.
The steps I plan on taking in the next 3 weeks to further my progress on my project is keep researching. I need to be able to manage my time better to so I am able to finish it. So far it has been extremely hard for me to get information on this topic because I have not had any time. I am able to do bits of researching here and there but other than that I have not been able to sit down and just research and get all of the necessary information I need. I am going to try and use my free time to work more on this as much as I possibly can. The progress I've made this semester so far on my genius hour project is just researching about technology. I know I haven't added anything to my page yet but I haven't had the most time to work on my page. Other than researching different aspects of technology I haven not made it to far on the project so far. I am hoping that with the time given in class to work on this I will be able to finish what I want to finish and the research I need to finish this project.
The most challenging thing I have been struggling with already is having the time to work on my page. I have been swamped with homework in other classes and working after school makes it even harder for me to have time to do homework. Finding the time alone to get my homework done is hard and I just have not been finding any time to actually sit down and work on my weebly sight. This project does interest me a lot because if you think about it, everywhere you look you see a cell phone, a computer, some sort of technology and I think it would be an amazing idea to help people understand just what being surrounded by technology is doing to us and our bodies. |
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May 2015
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