Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Introduction

10 minutes

Part A: Cyggy Says

30 minutes

Part B: Know Your Joints

25 minutes

Part C: Treating Sporting Injuries

5 minutes

Reflection

Introduction

Step 1

Explain to students that this lesson is focused on Body Knowledge. If your students are collecting Volkswagen Footy Fit Challenge Tokens, inform them that they can collect Body Knowledge tokens by completing the activities in this lesson. Refer to the Volkswagen Footy Fit Challenge Scoring Framework for details. There will also be some extension activities they can complete for extra tokens. They can refer to the Volkswagen Footy Fit Challenge Game Plan for more information.

Step 2

Play the video most suited to your student’s year level:

Years 3 & 4

Muscles for Kids | A fun intro to the muscular system for kids (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSsntU6sTWI)

Note: There is content in this video that will act as revision for other Volkswagen Footy Fit Challenge lessons as well as introducing new content about the muscles that they will need for this lesson.

Years 5 & 6

How your muscular system works - Emma Bryce (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVL-8zr2hk4)

Part A: Cyggy Says

Step 1

Show students this image of Cyggy, the beloved Sydney Swans mascot. Cyggy is short is cygnet - a baby swan.

Step 2

This game is based on Simon Says but with a Sydney Swans twist! When Cyggy (or the teacher), gives an instruction starting with the words “Cyggy says…”, all students should complete the action. The student who is slowest to perform the correct action is eliminated. If there is no “Cyggy says…” before the instruction, students should NOT move!

Make sure that students understand the rules of the game. This game has two rounds.

Sponsorship token alert! This game provides a good opportunity for students to win a Sponsorship token. Whoever wins Cyggy Says can earn one Sponsorship token to add to their Stadium Scoreboard.

Round 1 instructions: Demonstrate and practise each of the actions prior to starting the game.

Play the Cyggy Says Round 1 video or randomly call out items from the list below:

“Cyggy says place your hands on your…”

Biceps
Tricep
Hamstring
Quadriceps
Achilles
Pectoral

Cyggy Says... Round 1 (https://vimeo.com/652561042)

Step 3

Write the words 'Extend' and 'Contract' on the board. Make sure students understand that ‘extend’ means to make longer and ‘contract’ means to make shorter. Since muscles work in pairs, two different directions will result in the same action for the student.

Learning support: If your students need further help understanding paired muscle movement (which was briefly covered in the introductory video), play this video: PAIRED MUSCLE ACTIONS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H4csvgZJ4s)

Round 2 instructions: Demonstrate and practise each of the following actions prior to starting the game.

Play the Cyggy Says Round 2 video or randomly call out items from the list below:

“Cyggy says…”

Extend your bicep OR contract your tricep = students holding their arm straight out
Extend your tricep OR contract your bicep = students bring their hand to their shoulder
Contract your hamstring OR extend your quadricep = students touch their ankle to their back
Contract your quadricep OR extend your hamstring = students poke their leg out straight

Cyggy Says... Round 2 (https://vimeo.com/468414523)

Award one Sponsorship token to the winners of each round.

Part B: Know Your Joints

Step 1

Give students a copy of the Joints Worksheet. Invite students to carefully test the movement of each of the joints indicated on the Joints Worksheet.

Safety first: Remind students to only move their joints themselves. They should not allow anyone to push on their body in any way, as this may cause injury.

Invite students to label each of the joints with which of the three joint types they think they are.

Here are the answers:

Neck - pivot joint + hinge joints (biaxial)
Elbow - hinge joint (bicep actually controls the rotation of the wrist through the forearm)
Wrist - pivot joint + hinge joint (biaxial)
Fingers - hinge joint
Hip - ball and socket joint
Knee - hinge joint
Ankle - hinge joint (universal)

Step 2

Play this video:

Science for Kids | Body Parts - Horse Tendon | Experiments for Kids | Operation Ouch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zp7LIDFfak)

Ask students to jump in with a vocal buzzer sound when you ask the following questions. The quickest to sound their vocal buzzer gets to try to answer first:

Which joint was featured in the demonstration?
Suggested answer: elbow.
Does anyone know the names of the bones in the human arm?
Suggested answer: humerus, ulna and radius.
What is the role of tendons?
Suggested answers: to connect the muscles to the bones, to withstand tension to allow movement.
Why do you think tendons need to be so strong?
Suggested answer: to allow the muscles and bones to bear weight during movement and to keep stable during stillness.

If you prefer a non-competitive activity, you could use a random name generator.

Step 3

Help students form pairs or groups. Ensure the class has access to a variety of recycled and other craft materials, such as:

Balloons
Blu-Tack
Cardboard tubes
Cardboard boxes
Elastic bands
Paper straws
Paper bags
String
Tape

Invite students to work in their pairs or groups to assess the available materials and draw a design for a moveable arm or leg puppet (like the one in the Operation Ouch video). They will then need to build it.

The finished puppet should demonstrate their knowledge of how muscles move and attach to bones via tendons; and their knowledge of joints. All parts of the puppet should be labelled - bones, muscles and any tendons, ligaments or fascia.

Award one Body Knowledge token to each group member upon completion

Extension opportunity: Students may wish to do some further research into tendons, ligaments and fascia. If so, you can direct them to the following videos:

Ligament Basics - Science Explained (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3ZGonL8QqM)
The Basic Science of Tendons & Tendinitis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdes6W76OOw)

Part C: Treating Sporting Injuries

Step 1

Play this video:

Preventing Injury (https://vimeo.com/674275310)

Extension opportunity: For more advanced students, or those who are very interested, you might like to show them this video: Swans TV – Recovery with the Sydney Swans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVbOKrBqypM)

Distribute the Student Worksheet to each student and invite them to complete the SEE THINK WONDER activity. You might like to play the video twice to give them an opportunity to fill this out.

Provide an opportunity for students to share their thoughts and observations. You might like to lead a discussion using the following questions as prompts:

Why do athletes strap their muscles and joints?
Why do athletes require regular massages?
How else do athletes prevent injury to their muscles and joints?

Step 2

Play this video:

Does Stretching/Warming Up Actually Help? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeEIoGMldyc)

Invite students to complete a Turn & Talk on this question:

What is the best thing athletes can do to protect themselves from injury? Why?

Play this video of Swans players talking about stretching before a match:

Stretching (https://vimeo.com/652559363)

Step 3.

Gather the students around you so that you can demonstrate the following activities:

Demonstration 1

Take a cold piece of Blu-Tack and pull it apart quickly.
Invite students to share what they notice.
Warm up another piece of Blu-Tack with your fingers (you could have a student working on this during the previous steps).
Try to pull apart the warm Blu-Tack.
Invite students to share what they notice.

This demonstration shows what happens to the muscles and tendons when they are cold or warm. When the body is ‘warmed up’ it is more elastic and less prone to injuries (or tears).

Demonstration 2

Take a plastic straw and hold it lightly at both ends.
Invite a student to flick it hard in the middle. It should buckle, but not break.
Roll the straw around your two pointer fingers until you only have a few centimetres left free. It should be bulging slightly.
Invite a different student to flick it hard in the middle. It should pop or snap.
Invite students to share what they noticed.

This demonstration shows what can happen when a muscle is overstretched. The hamstring is commonly injured in this way when jumping over hurdles.

Step 4

Play this video of Callum Mills and Will Hayward talking about their injuries:

Injury, Recovery and Resilience (https://vimeo.com/652567753)

Invite students to share their thoughts on the stories.

Step 5

Play this video on the RICE method used to recover from injuries:

What Is the RICE Method for Injuries? | UPMC HealthBeat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxCac1HzoJ8)

Step 6

Invite students to find a partner and one digital device with a camera between them.

Give them time to complete the Rapid Movement Capture activity using either the editable Student Worksheet or the printable worksheet linked above:

Using the rapid function on your device’s camera, stand side on to your partner as they perform a sporting action, such as kicking a ball, shooting a hoop or doing a push-up.
Choose still photographs from the beginning, middle and end of the action, then put these into a slide side by side, as shown below:
.

Beginning image	Middle image	End image

Use the draw tool to show the muscle pair, bones and joints being used, including the direction they are going, as shown below:

Record a narration over these images to explain how when one muscle is contracting, the other is extending and they are working in combination to move the attached bone to complete the action.
Then explain any risks of injury. For example, when kicking, the leg could over-extend, causing a hamstring injury.
Continue to record instructions for how to prevent or treat this injury. They should include a new slide on the RICE method for treating injuries.

Award one Body Knowledge token to each group member upon completion.

Extension opportunity: Students might like to create a RICE poster that they can hang in the classroom, first aid room or sports change rooms.

Reflection

Invite students to answer the following question on their Student Worksheets:

What are three actions you can take to keep your muscles and joints free from injury and working in a healthy way, either right before playing sport or just during a regular day?

Differentiated Learning

Extension

Some students may wish to complete one or more of the following activities:

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Footy Fit - The Mechanical Body

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