Take the Stairs Campaign: Measure and Share the Effort

The class collects its own data climbing the school stairs at different speeds to build messages for a campaign encouraging people to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Effort is linked to heart rate, Borg rating and time to create posters with real numbers.

How to play

1. At the bottom of a school staircase, each pair takes a resting pulse and reviews how to calculate heart rate from a 15-second count (3 min).
2. Climb a full flight (2 or 3 floors) at a normal pace, walk back down and record pulse and Borg; repeat twice (6 min).
3. Climb at a fast pace, landing the whole foot and using the handrail if needed, recording the same data (5 min).
4. Each pair works out how long it would take to build up 10 minutes of stair climbing per day (4 min).
5. Using the data, each group creates a campaign message on the tablet with one real number and presents it in 30 seconds (7 min).

Rules

• Go up on the right and always walk down, never run.
• No skipping steps on the way down.
• Only one pair per flight at a time, starting 20 seconds apart.
• Use the stairs at a time when other classes are not moving through.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility or wheelchair user: records classmates' data and designs the campaign section on accessible active alternatives.
• Asthma: climbs at a normal pace and stops if coughing or wheezing starts.
• Knee injury: climbs but takes the elevator down, or acts as timer.

Learning goals

• Link an everyday habit to better health.
• Collect and interpret heart rate and perceived exertion data.
• Communicate evidence-based active-living messages.

Equipment for a class of 25

• stopwatch: 4
• cards: 15
• tablets or phones: 6

Teacher tip

Ask the school for permission to use the stairs during that period and place a student on each landing to manage start times. The posters can go next to the elevator.

More main activities for High School