TP-14.4

Do physical differences affect ability? In this lesson, childrenwill use scientific enquiry skills while being active and working in teams to answer questions such as whether childrenwith larger hands throw further. Prior learning should include some knowledge of the skeleton such as naming bones, joints and their functions. Due to the physical element of this lesson, youmay decide it is appropriate for children to wear PE kits and carry out their learning in the school hall or outside. Use your results to create scatter graphs that prove or disprove pupils’ hypotheses. 1 | INVESTIGATION SET-UP Share a video showing the movements of different athletes. Explain that this lesson will focus on the movements of sportspeople, investigating how physical attributes such as height, leg length and hand size can affect athletic ability. Ask children what physical attributes they think would make a good runner, thrower or jumper. Using their answers, show pupils how to come up with a hypothesis – an idea they want to test. In groups, they should decide upon a hypothesis in the form of a question, eg: l Do people with longer legs run faster? l Do people with larger hands throw further? l Do shorter people jump higher? For support, you may want to provide some children with potential investigations to choose from. Once groups have decided on their hypotheses, give children various questions to discuss, eg: l What equipment will you need? l What will you measure? l How will you make sure the test is fair? Some children may require additional adult support or sentence stems to complete this activity. Investigatewhether certain attributes of sportspeople correlatewith ability, says Julianne Britton 76 | www.teachwire.net START HERE MAIN LESSON l Ask relevant scientific questions l Set up an investigation, making appropriate choices l Record findings in tables and graphs l Identify patterns and explain findings l Use scientific vocabulary KS 2 LES SON PLAN Play ‘Simon Says’, asking children to complete a range of simple actions and exercises. Within your instructions, use names of bones to recap prior learning, eg “Simon says, ‘Put your hands on your pelvis’”. Also, make sure you ask children to complete actions that use different types of joints eg ball and socket, hinge, pivot. At the end of the game, discuss the bones and joints used. Do pupils remember the names of any more bones? What are the main functions of the skeleton? (Protection, movement and support). What other body parts are needed to help us move? Demonstrate how muscles, bones and tendons work together when we move.  Science WHAT THEY’LL LEARN @juliannebritton missbritton.co.uk