Active Health / Fitness Lesson Content
Our Body
Heart - The heart is a large muscle that pumps blood around our body. The heart beats on average 72 times each minute when we are resting and pumps 4-6 litres of blood into arteries each minute.
Blood - Our blood circulates oxygen, carbon dioxide, water and other essential substances around our body.
With each heart beat blood is sent away from the heart along arteries to muscles which use the oxygen. When the oxygen from the blood has been used the blood is transported back to the heart along veins.
Q: What happens with exercise?
A: The heart becomes stronger which means:
Heart Rate
Task 1: Help children find their pulse and take their heart rate. The easiest way may be to time for 6secs and multiply answer by ten. Get children to record their result.
Task 2: Get the children to work aerobically for 3 minutes and take heart rate again. Record result.
Task 3: Get children to work at muscular endurance and take heart rate again. Record result.
Task 3 is a useful exercise to show contrast between working aerobically and at muscular endurance.
Q: Why does heart rate not go as high as when working aerobically?
A: Body is using stored energy.
Aspects Of Fitness
Q: What is fitness?
Discuss with class what's their interpretation of fitness.
Four main components of fitness:
Aerobic Endurance Lesson
Explain that endurance is how well we can exercise for a long time, and that it is not about going quickly but about going slower for a longer period of time.
Endurance Run
Suggested running times for children of primary age:
P4 run for 6mins
P5/P6 run for 8mins
P7 run for 12mins
Ask children the following questions:
Q: How many times do you need to stop and walk to catch your breath in the time? Q: Can anyone last the whole time without stopping?
Q: If you know you can run for 6/8/12 mins count - how many laps of the area you can do in the time?
Top front - Quadricep
Top back - Hamstring
Bottom at back - Calf
Muscular Endurance Lesson
Appropriate warm up
Recap the meaning of endurance.
Three stations to test muscular endurance
1. Squat Test - Pupils go into a squat position leaning against the wall. The pupils' back should be against the wall and pupils should have their legs at 90 degree angles. Hands should be resting by their sides and not pushing against their legs. Time how long pupils can hold this position.
2. Sit Ups. Have the pupils go into the sit up position with feet flat on the floor and legs bent. A basketball is held high above the child's torso and they must sit up and touch the ball. The child should be reaching to touch the ball. Count how many times the child can touch the ball.
3. Arms Out. The children simply have to hold their arms out to the side level with their shoulders for as long as possible. Some children will start to struggle at around 30secs and some will last 5mins!
Flexibility Lesson
This is a good time to talk about muscles and the importance of warming up muscles at the beginning of exercise and stretching out the muscles at the end of exercise. Although this is not as important for children as it is for adults - it is good to reinforce the habit at an early age.
Flexibility Tests
Sit and Reach: Place a ruler on top of a bench and have the children sit with their legs straight and feet flat against the bench. Ask the child to reach forward as far as they can - keeping legs straight. Ruler placement on the bench must be consistant for every child so tape ruler to bench or have a mark where the ruler should lie. Ruler should hang 15cms over end of bench.
Trunk Extention - Get the children to lie face down on the ground with hands behind head. Their legs and hips must stay on ground while child lifts head and shoulders as far as possible. Measure distance between floor and chin.
Shoulder Lift - Get the child to lie face down with arms stretched out above head holding a pole. Ask them to lift the pole from the floor - without lifting trunk. Measure distance between floor and pole.
Power Lesson
This lesson uses jumping stations as a measure of power.
Four stations need - the first two of which will measure power.
Standing Long Jump
Get the children to measure how far they can jump forward starting on two feet and landing on two feet. No run up allowed. Measurement is taken from further back point i.e. heels if child lands standing.
Vertical Jump
To measure vertical jumps the child must reach as high as they can and mark the wall (chalk). They then jump as high as they can marking the wall again at the top of their jump. Measure the distance between the two marks.
Rebounding Station
Have the children jump from side to side over a suitable item (some schools may have low foam pyramids which are ideal).
Endurance Station
Use a large safety mat and get the children to see how many times they can jump up and down on it in 30secs.
Muscles Lesson
Circuit. Get children to perform the circut and discuss the main muscles used in each exercise as you progress through the lesson.