How Heavy is too Heavy?

IS Book Bag Project

Intermediate School students at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School learn a lot from the textbooks they routinely lug home in heavy book bags. They spent the final school week of October learning valuable math, statistics, science and civics lessons from a project focused entirely on the book bags themselves.

As students arrived at school October 28 (many dressed for Western Day as part of Heathwood's annual Spirit Week), fifth- and sixth-graders at the school weighed each others’ book bags. Day Two of the project found the students comparing book bag weights to the body weights of each bag’s owner. Later in the week, students organized spreadsheets of the data on computers and created pie charts and bar graphs detailing their findings. They also collected medical research on the physical effects of young people lugging heavy book bags. The project culminated with the group arriving at conclusions and developing a computer presentation of recommendations for their principal, Dr. Scott Adams. Adams has agreed to consider suggestions from the students on how to alleviate some of the burden of their bulky backpacks. Can you say, “No homework?”

“I don’t think that a ban on homework is in the cards,” laughed Adams. “There may be a way, however, to lighten the load for these students, perhaps with a second set of textbooks for them to keep at home. I applaud their teachers for thinking creatively and getting these young people excited about learning, about taking action on a very real issue.”

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