Title:

Muscles and Motion

Grade Level:

7

Subject:

Science

Author:

nbclearn

Time:

60 minutes

Lesson Plan Type:

Interactive Instruction

Keywords:

muscles, muscle memory, motion, olympics

Brief Description:

Students will learn several important characteristics about muscles and how muscles and bones work together to produce motion. Students will learn about the role of practice in strengthening muscles and muscle memory.

  

California State Standards Addressed:

Science/7/Focus on Life Science)

Related Links:

Link 1:
Link 2:
Link 3:

Goal(s):

Students will learn several important characteristics about muscles and how muscles and bones work together to produce motion. Students will learn about the role of practice in strengthening muscles and muscle memory.

Specific Objectives:

1. Ask scientific questions
2. Explore the relationship between muscles and motion
3. Investigate the role of practice in developing muscle memory
4. Create a model of one of the major muscle groups in the human body

Required Materials:

• The NBC Learn Video: Olympic Motion
• a large elastic/rubber band
• paper and pencils for each student in the class
• white board and dry erase markers
• play dough of different colors (a set for each group of students)
• one cookie sheet for each group, construction paper
• computers with internet connection (or books with diagrams of muscles)

Anticipatory Set (Lead-in):

Tell students that you want them to guess a word that they are going to be studying. Tell them that you can only answer yes or no to their questions and they are only allowed to ask 20 questions. The word is “muscle�. If students are struggling to come close to guessing the word, start jogging in place, or doing knee bends as you answer their questions. When they do guess the word, tell them that they are going to be learning about muscles, and as part of that learning, they are first going to watch the NBC Learn Video: Olympic Motion.

Lesson Plan Procedure:

1. Tell students that they are going to review a few of the main concepts, which were presented on the NBC Learn Video: Olympic Motion.
2. Explain that there were four things that the Olympic athletes did very well. Students can remember these four things by the Acronym C.A.S.S. Ask students if they can remember or guess what each letter stands for. (They stand for Control, Agility, Speed, and Strength.)
3. Ask for a couple of students to explain why they think they might be good at one or all of these things.
4. Tell students that all four qualities represented by CASS have one thing in common and that is that they involve human motion, which ultimately involves the coordination of muscle nerves.
5. Explain that in their lesson today, they are going to have a chance to practice CASS skills as well as muscle memory, which was another concept presented in the video.
6. Point out to students that their muscles are made out of elastic tissue like a rubber band. Show the class a large rubber band. This elastic tissue is able to contract and relax (pull the rubber band out and in).
7. Inform students that there are actually three types of muscles: Skeletal muscles, smooth muscles, and cardiac muscles. The type of muscles they will be using in the next activity is the skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscles come in pairs and they are voluntary muscles. This means that you can control their action. The skeletal muscles work with your bones to give you both power and strength.
8. Inform students that muscles work in “partnered teams�, especially those that can bend arms, fingers, and knees. Inform students that when muscles work in teams, one muscle contracts while the other muscle relaxes. So for their next activity they must find a partner-just like each muscle in their body. Tell students that they are going to “thumb wrestle� one another so that they can visually see their skeletal muscles at work.
9. Inform students that even though they might know how to thumb wrestle you are going to give them a few guidelines. Remind students that each team of two players should face each other with a desk or surface in between. Team partners should them grip each other’s hand/bottom four fingers with the goal of pinning the other’s thumb for a count of three. The “winner� of each match will end up with his/her thumb over the other student’s thumb.
10. Inform students that they should thumb wrestle their partner three times. The student who wins two out of the three times will win the overall match.
11. Allow students time to thumb wrestle. Watch closely for any student who is not following the guidelines you gave.
12. To practice control, agility, speed, and muscle memory, draw a large hand (with all five fingers) on the board. Number the thumb 1, the index finger 2, the middle finger 3, the ring finger 4, and the pinkie finger 5. Test the class to make sure they know what each finger is (wiggle number two finger, wiggle number 5, etc.) Tell them that they are going to learn a pattern with the muscles in their fingers. It will take control and muscle memory to be able to do the exercise well. The pattern is: 1 3 2 4 3 5 3 4 2 3 Students should tap their desk (like they were playing the piano or a computer keyboard) and play the numbers in the order that they see them. They should repeat the pattern over and over again until they don't have to look at the numbers anymore. They should start this exercise very slow and build up speed. They can have a partner count the number of times they are able to perform this pattern in 15 seconds. As their control, speed, agility, and strength build up they should see an increase in the number of times they can do this within 15 seconds.

Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set):

Ask students to volunteer to share the results of their muscle memory finger activity with the class. Discuss results. Tell students to continue to practice this activity to see how fast they can eventually do the exercise. Ask students how this activity relates to the video they saw at the beginning of the lesson. Discuss what the athletes shared about spending years practicing their specific sport to prepare for the Olympics. Using the video and the class activities as a background, ask students to think about what muscles do best for us. As part of this summary discussion, if students do not mention these aspects you might include them: muscles are great at turning fuel into motion, they are long-lasting, they are self-healing, and they grow stronger with practice.

Plan for Independent Practice:

Tell students that they are going to be working in groups to create a model, out of play dough, of the muscles located in one part of the body. Each group must choose a different part of the body. For example, one group might choose an arm, one group might choose a leg, another group might choose the back, etc. Write the Internet links included with this lesson on the board as resources for the students to use. If the Internet is not available, make books available that have drawings, pictures, and diagrams in them of the various muscle groups in the body. Students should prepare small labels out of construction paper to identify the muscles and any specific parts of the muscle they wish to highlight. After all groups have completed their models, they can choose one member of the group to point out and describe the muscle they chose to construct and share this information with the rest of the class.
 

Assessment Based on Objectives:

Begin the next day’s lesson with the quiz titled, “Muscles and Motion�.

Possible Connections to Other Subjects:

Language Arts: Students can pretend that they are having an election for the “Best Muscle�. Students are to decide which muscle should get this award. They should write an essay and prepare a speech about why the class should vote for his/her “muscle�.

Adaptations and Extensions:

 

Additional Notes: