Understanding Performance Factors

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Overview

Unit Title: Active Engagement in PE
Lesson Title: Understanding Movement: Factors Influencing Performance
Year Level: Year 9
Duration: 75 minutes
Class Size: 30 students
Curriculum Reference:
Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (F–10)
Band: Years 9–10
Strand: Movement and Physical Activity
Sub-strands:

• Understanding movement (ACPMP105)
• Learning through movement (ACPMP108)

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Learning Intentions

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify and describe personal and environmental factors that influence physical performance.
• Observe, analyse and provide feedback on movement techniques using correct terminology.
• Demonstrate collaborative behaviours while participating in physical activities.

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Success Criteria

Students will:

• List at least three personal and three environmental factors that affect performance.
• Use observation checklists to provide peer feedback on movement technique.
• Collaborate respectfully and constructively in small group activities.

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Resources & Equipment

• Cones, agility ladders, skipping ropes, balance pads
• Observation peer feedback checklists (printed)
• Mini whiteboards and markers
• Whistle and stopwatch
• Portable speaker (optional) and energising music
• Large poster with vocabulary board: balance, coordination, strength, agility, reaction time, fatigue, biomechanics

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Warm-Up (10 minutes)

Activity: “Body & Brain Switch-On”

Purpose: Activate both cognitive and physical engagement.

Students jog around the perimeter of the gym/field. On the teacher’s signal (whistle or music pause), students perform a dynamic movement and answer a question aloud to any peer nearby.

Examples:

• High knees: “Name one factor that affects how people move.”
• Star jumps: “How does the weather impact performance?”
• Leg swings: “What does reaction time mean?”

Progression Tip: Challenge students to use movement-specific vocabulary from the vocabulary board.

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Introduction & Explicit Teaching (10 minutes)

Mini-Lesson: “What Impacts Our Performance?”

Teacher-Led Discussion Using Real-Life Scenarios

Use quick stories or images of elite athletes and amateur performers (e.g. surfer in big waves, young AFL player in the heat, netballer returning from injury).

Prompt Questions:

• What helped their performance?
• What made it harder?
• Would these same factors affect you?

Key Vocabulary and Definitions Clarified (record these on the whiteboard or vocabulary board):

• Endurance, Agility, Fatigue, Weather conditions, Mindset, Nutrition, Sleep Quality, Surface/Environment

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Group Activity – Movement Circuit (20 minutes)

Title: “Can You Still Perform?”

Students rotate in groups of 5 through 6 stations. Each station replicates a factor influencing physical performance. Half the group performs; half observes and records movement quality.

Stations:

Station	Focus Factor	Activity	Observation Criteria
1	Fatigue	Shuttle runs & squat jumps	Consistency, form breaking due to tiredness?
2	Distraction	Skipping while answering trivia questions	Loss of timing or rhythm?
3	Surface Challenge	Balance pads & cones circuit	Stability and control?
4	Reaction Time	Drop-and-catch ball challenge	Quickness, timing
5	Space/Environment	Small vs large space throwing accuracy	Adjusting body movement?
6	Confidence/Mood	Silly costume challenge (performing while observed)	Hesitation, posture?

Student Roles:

• 1-2 Performers
• 1-2 Observers (use checklist)
• 1 Timer/Manager

Rotate every 3 minutes

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Collaborative Reflective Task (15 minutes)

Movement Analysis & Feedback

Back in pairs, students reflect on their recorded observations of a peer at the circuit.

Student task:

• Share what they observed.
• Use the sentence starter: “When you were doing Station __, I noticed...”
• Offer one piece of positive feedback and one improvement idea, using terminology from vocabulary board.

Teacher moves around prompting questions:

• “How did fatigue make movement harder?”
• “What surprised you in the distracted skipping activity?”

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Whole-Class Discussion (10 minutes)

Build the “Performance Pyramid”

On the whiteboard, the teacher draws a large pyramid. Students contribute by writing down (or saying aloud) the personal or environmental factors they found most impactful, placing them at different levels (base = high impact, top = low impact).

Encourage debate: Why is fatigue more influential than space for some? Could this change per sport?

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Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

Hand each student a half-slip with two prompts:

1. One factor that significantly affects my performance:
2. One thing I can do to improve my performance next time:

Students submit on the way out. Teacher collects as formative data.

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Differentiation & Inclusion

• EAL/D Students: Vocabulary board with illustrated examples and sentence stems.
• Students with disabilities or injuries: Modify stations (e.g., seated reaction activities, visual distraction tasks).
• High-achieving students: Introduce biomechanics terminology or ask them to model complex movements for analysis.

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Assessment Strategies

Formative:

• Observation during stations via checklist.
• Quality and detail of peer feedback during analysis phase.
• Exit ticket responses as insight into student understanding and self-awareness.

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Reflection & Teacher Notes

• Which stations prompted the most insightful discussions?
• Did any students show unexpected leadership or spatial awareness?
• Were certain environmental factors undervalued by students – why?

To be used when planning follow-up Session 2: "Applying Feedback to Improve Performance"

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Next Lesson Preview

Lesson 2: Applying Feedback to Improve Performance

• Students will learn to implement peer and teacher feedback to refine skills.
• Focus on goal-setting and skill enhancement.

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Final Notes

This lesson encourages deep reflection on personal limits and capabilities. It prompts students not only to move, but to think like collaborators and problem-solvers. By engaging with real-world scenarios and physical simulations, students begin building a toolkit for lifelong movement literacy – a key goal of the Australian Curriculum.

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