The Quest for the Perfect ExerGame

Since it is almost holiday time, here is an interesting seasonal story. It follows on nicely from my Definition of ExerGaming Part 1. In order to both enhance their green credentials and save money, children at a school in the south of Scotland are using pedal power to light up their school’s Christmas tree. The aim of the “game” therefore is to try and keep the lights shining by taking it in turns to sit on the exercise bike and pedal. The teacher behind it all built a project around it and the pupils learnt about the physics of electricity generation, the efficiency and cost of production (mathematics) and also the reduced environmental impact (ecology). You can read the story and watch a video clip here.
It is just a pity that the pupils didn’t also learn about the expending of calories in humans and the health benefits of regular exercise. So what about a self (human) powered ExerGame?