Life/Death Situations --- Swimming
Concept Being Taught: Safety while in
the pool
Purpose of activity: For students to learn
to deal with different water emergencies:
1. Learn survival floating
2. Practice using a life vest to pull others
to safety
Materials Needed: 1 pair of old jeans
and a life vest or other reaching tool for every student in the class
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY:
Quickly demonstrate how to make the jeans into
a floating device; first while taking off jeans, tread water to maintain
buoyancy. Once the jeans are off, tie the bottom of the pant legs into
a knot. Once they are in a knot, reach the pants up and catch air in the
legs. Hold the pants underwater upside down ( the legs should be out of
the water and the jean opening facing the bottom of the pool). You can
use the jeans as means to maintain buoyancy until help arrives.
Everyone in the class try
this method and then try another method to keep the jeans buoyant in the
water.
Next quickly demonstrate proper means of throwing
a life vest to another person: object thrown close to person in water,
stance with a low center of gravity in order to not be pulled into the
water by the person in trouble. Have the students partner up and use the
life vest to pull their partner to safe ground ( edge of pool).
Titanic
Concept: Students are able to travel together
in general space safely.
Equipment: Cones for boundaries
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY:
Use cones to set up boundaries for the playing
area. This designed playing area will be the Titanic. The front of the
Titanic is called the bow and the back is the stern, the right side of
the Titanic is starboard and the left side is port. The center is called
the crow's nest. Review all the playing areas of the Titanic by name before
playing activity. Students are also told that anything pst the cones is
of course frigid water.
Have the students start in the crow's nest. Select
a locomotion skill for the activity. The teacher then a randomly
calls out different areas of the Titanic and the students have to travel
to these areas using the selected locomotion skills.
After the students become familiar with the area,
the teacher then calls out other actions during the activity. It does not
matter where the students are located on Titanic for these actions to be
performed. Here are a few examples: 1. Swab the deck -- students pretend
to mop the deck; 2. Abandon Ship --- students get off the ship and quickly
find a partner(s). Partners sit down feet to feet and pretend to row a
boat on the frigid arctic water; 3. Iceberg ahead --- students get off
the ship and start swimming on their stomachs.
Amazon Crossing
Concept: Cooperation
Purpose of Activity: For students
to practice and use cooperation, communication, and problem solving.
Materials Needed:
1 swimming pool
1 4x8 foam mat for each team
3 jump ropes for each team
2 kick boards for each team
1 medicine ball for each team
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY:
Students are divided into teams of 6-12. The
object is to get the entire team across the Piranha infested Amazon River
using the equipment provided. All students must have at least 75% of their
body on the mat while traveling across the river. Students are told that
they may not use their hands or feet to paddle in the water ( this is where
the kick boards and jump ropes are used). The students must also bring
over a very fragile cargo ( the medicine ball). The ball either needs to
remain dry or they must keep two hands on it at all times. If any equipment
is dropped in the water, it sinks and is lost for the game. If the cargo
is not handled, the entire group starts over. If anyone falls in the group
starts over.
Muscle Tag
Concept: Applying knowledge of muscles
of body into a game
Materials Needed: Yarn balls to
tag with, cones for boundaries
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY:
Have all students get a yarn ball and ask them
to find a good self space in the playing area ( best designated by cones).
On the teachers signal students are to walk and try to tag anyone and everyone
in the area.
When tagged the students are to freeze, touch
a muscle on their body that has been disused in class with their yarn ball,
then they are to wait for a classmate to come over and guess which muscle
they are touching. If they identify the correct muscle then the frozen
student is allowed to continue to play. If they guess incorrectly, then
they have to wait for another student to come by and identify the muscle
correctly. Along with touching the muscle the students also need to be
performing an exercise in which that muscle is used ( for example Biceps
they could touch the biceps and perform arm curls).
All these and many more activities can be found at PE
CENTRAL