Blue Zones - Quest for the true fountain of youth

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Blue Zones are “longevity hotspots” in the world. Quest Networks is exploring 4 of the zones in order to understand why people live so long in these areas. Each October, beginning in 2005 and ending in 2008, a Blue Zone will be explored. The expedition team will “identify common threads in the lifestyles, diet, outlook and stress-coping mechanisms of the world’s oldest and healthiest people.” They will also explore places in the world which have the shortest life spans. In October of 2005, Okinawa, Japan was explored. In January 2006, the team will go to Ghana, West Africa to find out why the life span there is so short. Register and and take your students via satellite on this educational adventure!

Educators can register for free to make the most out of the expedition experience. The curriculum materials in the Teachers’ Lounge area of the website integrate the Blue Zones expedition into the classroom. These include a curriculum guide which has lesson plans aligned to national standards. There are integration strategies and assessment rubrics.

A Blue Zone Challenge gets students actively involved in discovering what they can do to improve their own health and longevity. The activity includes monitoring health behaviors through a contract and log that are sent home to parents. At the end of three weeks, students return their logs and the data compiled is assessed.

Students can use the Evidence Tracker to gather clues provided by the expedition team from their daily dispatches and videos. In the tracker, they can record the clues and sources of the information and include their own opinions and ideas.

There is a student blog section which explains how students can create their own class blog to post their thoughts on the expedition. Included are suggested blog topics and blogging activities.

The National Institute on Aging has created a Generation Bridge Study which encourages students to interview adult seniors in their own communities. They can submit the information that they compile from the interviews and the results will be shared with scientists studying geriatrics and healthy aging.

The website also includes a Vitality Compass to calculate your “healthy years” and articles pertaining tolongevity in the news.