Active or Not, Here It Comes!

Substitute Teacher Lesson Plan (~45 minutes)

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Objective

Students will:

• Describe the health benefits associated with physical activity.
• Relate physical activities to a wide range of events besides organized sports (e.g., walking the dog, dancing, mowing the lawn, swimming with friends, golfing).
• Begin identifying which body parts/systems different activities work.

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Materials

• 2" x 8" strips of construction paper (or cut regular paper into strips)
• Markers or pens
• Board or wall space to post headings
• Copies of a simple scenario/discussion sheet (or write scenario questions on the board if worksheet copies are unavailable — see Wrap-up)

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Warm-up (~5 min)

1. Read these three definitions aloud to the class:
2. Exercise: planned, structured, repetitive bodily movement done to improve or maintain fitness.
3. Physical Activity: any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that uses energy and is linked to fitness.
4. Physical Fitness: a person's ability to perform physical activity, including body composition, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance, and muscular strength.
5. Write 4–5 activities on the board (examples: playing soccer, walking the dog, dancing to music, mowing the lawn, weight training).
6. Ask students to vote by show of hands whether each is "exercise" or "physical activity." Briefly note there is no single wrong answer — discussion continues in the main activity.

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Main Activity (~25 min)

Step 1 — Brainstorm (8 min)

• Put students in groups of 3–4.
• Each group brainstorms and lists as many activities as possible that could count as physical activity — remind them to think beyond organized sports (include everyday activities like walking, dancing, mowing the lawn, and personal fitness activities like swimming or weight training).
• Encourage them to think of activities that work different parts of the body, and to note that one activity can work more than one body part.

Step 2 — Write on Strips (5 min)

• Give each group construction paper strips and markers.
• Have students write one activity per strip.

Step 3 — Classify on the Wall/Board (7 min)

• Write these body sections/systems on the board: heart/lungs, shoulders, arms, abdomen, legs.
• Have each group come up and place their strips under the heading(s) they think the activity works (an activity can go under more than one heading).

Step 4 — Discuss (5 min)

• Go through the postings as a class. Discuss and clarify any activities that seem misclassified.
• Ask: "Does this activity work more than one body part? Which ones?"

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Wrap-up / Exit Ticket (~10 min)

Ask students to individually answer the following on a half-sheet of paper (collect as exit ticket):

1. Are the actions we listed today physical activity? Why or why not?
2. Which body parts do these actions work? How do you know?
3. What other things you do in a normal day might count as physical activity (think about things you do at home, not just in gym class or on a team)?

Collect exit tickets before students leave.

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If Time Remains

• Ask a few volunteers to share one "everyday activity" from their exit ticket (like walking the dog or dancing) that they hadn't thought of as physical activity before today.
• Remind students of the guideline mentioned in the lesson: middle schoolers should aim for a combination of 60 minutes of physical activity, five days per week, using a variety of activities — ask students to name one new activity they might try this week to help reach that goal.