Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new
generation and sedentary computer games: cross sectional study
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 investigation.
Look at the article and answer the questions.
Part 1:
1. Write down the bibliographic details of the article (its name, and the year and
place it was published).
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2. Who is the author? Is he an expert in this field? How can you tell?
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3. Does the article include?
Yes
No
An abstract
An introduction
A results section
A summary, conclusion or discussion
A list of references
Why is it important to know the above information ?
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Part 2: Write down a list of questions which you will need to answer in order to plan
your investigation. Use the article (and other resources if needed) to answer
those questions.
Question
Answer
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Part 2 (Alternative Structure): Read the article and then use it to answer the
following questions. Answer using your own words – do not copy!!!!
Use the box below to write down any words or phrases you do not understand
and then find out what they mean.
1. What were the scientists trying to find out?
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2. How many participants were there? _________________________
3. How much exercise should you do each day? ___________________
4. What was the sample size? ________________________________
5. What was done to try to control variables?
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6. To what level of accuracy where the height and weight measured?
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7. Why did the children practise playing on the consoles?
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8. How long in total did each child play on the games consoles? How was
this broken down in terms of times for playing, games and rest?
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9. What is a hypothesis?
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10. On the graph why are there 5 columns of different styles of dots?
Why are they all spread out differently?
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11. How much more energy would you use playing on the Wii for an hour
compare to the XBOX 360?
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12. What are the limitations of the study?
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Use this page to

Make a note of anything else that you read in the article that might help you
plan/carry out/record and display your results/write a conclusion or discussion.
You could underline or highlight the information.

Write out any other questions you might now have. Re-read the article and/or
use other resources to try to answer these questions.
Section
Notes
Plan
Carry out
Results
Conclusion/discussion
New Question
Answer
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Part 3 (optional extension): Other points to consider
1. Do you think the number of participants is enough? Why do you think
that?
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2. What could be to blame for obesity in adolescents?
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3. How much more energy do you use playing an XBOX 360 than just
sitting down?
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4. How much more energy might you use playing the Wii than just sitting
down? Or playing the XBOX 360?
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5. What are the variables in an investigation like this? How might you control
these?
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6. How would you measure heart rate?
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7. How long will you play on the Wii and other games consoles for and what
games will you use? Think about the limitations of doing this in your
classroom e.g. time, games and consoles available?
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8. What is your hypothesis?
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9. How will you collect and present your results?
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10. Why do you think the boys used more energy to play tennis than the girls?
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11. Why do you think you use less energy playing tennis on the Wii than
playing the actual game?
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12. You use about 60Kcal extra playing on the Wii for an hour compared to an
XBOX. What treat could you eat for the extra energy you have used?
(How long would you have to play for to ‘earn’ a bag of crisps?)
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13. Do you think that the Wii should be recommended as part of a weight
management programme? Why do you think this?
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14. Can you think of any additional limitations to the study? Can you suggest
how to overcome the limitations?
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