Lasting Body Impacts

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Overview

Subject: PE (Physical Education)
Key Stage: KS4
Year Group: Year 10
Level: NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Health and Fitness
Unit Title: Understanding the Body and its Response to Health and Fitness Activities
Specific Focus: Effects of health and fitness activities on the body
Assessment Objective: AO1 – Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the effects of health and fitness activities on the body
Duration: 60 minutes
Setting: Classroom-based theory lesson
Class Size: 20 students

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Learning Intentions

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

• Identify short-term and long-term effects of health and fitness activities on body systems.
• Link specific activities to physiological responses in the skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems.
• Apply knowledge through scenario-based tasks to consolidate understanding and prepare for NCFE assessments.

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Key Vocabulary

Term	Definition
Cardiovascular	Relating to the heart and blood vessels
Respiratory	Related to breathing and the lungs
Muscular System	Muscles and tissues that produce movement
Skeletal System	Bones and joints providing structure and support
Hypertrophy	Increase in muscle size
Stroke Volume	Volume of blood pumped per heartbeat
Oxygen Debt	Lack of oxygen during intense activity

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Resources Required

• Whiteboard and markers
• Printed body system flashcards
• Scenario task sheets
• Impact pyramid (interactive poster)
• Coloured post-it notes
• Timer or stopwatch
• Exit tickets

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Lesson Structure

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Starter (10 mins)

Activity: “System Snap!”

• Distribute flashcards (10 with body systems, 10 with health/fitness effects).
• Students must walk around the room and pair up body systems with the correct effect.
• Once found, student pairs write their match on the board.
• Teacher reviews each pair briefly to correct misconceptions.

Purpose: Active recall, peer interaction, and setting the tone for an engaging theoretical lesson.

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Introduction to New Content (15 mins)

Teacher Talk & Guided Notes: "How the Body Responds"
Discuss the immediate (short-term) and long-term impact of fitness activities on:

1. Cardiovascular System – Increased heart rate, stroke volume, reduced resting heart rate over time
2. Respiratory System – Increased breathing rate, improved tidal volume
3. Muscular System – Muscle fatigue (short-term), hypertrophy and strength gain (long-term)
4. Skeletal System – Increased bone density, joint stability

Use diagrams and a large Impact Pyramid on the wall, showing how effects stack over time.

Student Task: Fill in a guided note sheet with summary boxes for each body system. Include one short-term and one long-term effect for each.

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Main Task (20 mins)

Task: "Fitness First Responders" (Group Scenario Challenge)
Students will be placed into groups of 4. Each group receives a scenario card such as:

• "Sophie, 15, just began a 6-week running programme"
• "Jake, 16, takes part in resistance training every week"
• "Amir, 14, completed a HIIT workout for the first time yesterday"

Each group must complete a response worksheet indicating:

• Which body systems are affected
• 2 short-term and 2 long-term changes as a result of the activity
• How these changes affect performance in future fitness activities

Groups present a summary using 3 post-it notes on the wall-sized Impact Pyramid.

Differentiation: Provide high-ability students with curve-ball scenarios (e.g. "What happens if training stops for 2 months?"), while providing sentence starters for less confident students.

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Mini-Plenary (5 mins)

Activity: “Pick a Post-it”
Each student selects a random post-it from the pyramid and explains the change and its impact on performance to a partner.
Pair feedback from some students shared aloud to clarify understanding.

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Assessment for Learning (7 mins)

Quick Quiz: “Short vs Long-term”

• 10-question multiple choice quiz (projected)
• Students write A, B, C, or D on mini whiteboards
• Questions such as:
  • “Which of the following is a short-term effect on the muscular system?”
  • “What is stroke volume?”

Teacher checks answers, addresses misconceptions.

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Plenary (3 mins)

Exit Ticket:
Students complete one of the following prompts:

• “One new thing I learned today is…”
• “Something I’m still unsure about is…”

Collected at the door for informal feedback and to inform next lesson planning.

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Extension / Homework

Research Task:
Create a visual mind-map showing the short- and long-term effects of one specific activity (e.g. swimming, cycling, weightlifting) on the four key body systems.
Encourage creative design — can be digital or hand-drawn — and to include definitions and diagrams.

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Cross-Curricular Links

• Biology: Body systems and physiological processes
• PSHE: Importance of health and lifestyle
• Literacy: Use of accurate terminology, oral presentation skills

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Teacher Reflection Opportunities

• Did students show better understanding through practical scenario application?
• Were all students engaged in differentiated tasks?
• Were misconceptions addressed effectively through discussion and feedback?

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Wider Specification Links (NCFE)

Relates to:

• Unit 01: Introduction to body systems and the principles of training in health and fitness
• Builds toward understanding required in Unit 02: Preparing and planning for health and fitness, especially connecting physiological impact to training design

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Notes

This lesson is purposefully designed to break from traditional passive learning in classroom-based PE theory settings. Through interaction, active thinking, and scenario-based tasks, students synthesise knowledge and apply it in relevant contexts. Use of visual tools like the Impact Pyramid helps visual learners, while group-based responses support collaborative development and peer learning.