Effect of exercise on our breathing
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can identify changes to my breathing when I exercise.
Key learning points
- Move: exercise and rest causes our breathing to get faster and slower.
- Think: breathing faster and deeper enables our body to take in more oxygen, which is our body's energy.
- Feel: showing courage enables us to be brave and think of our own ideas.
- Connect: playing fairly with others shows gratitude so everyone can enjoy the game.
Keywords
Breathing - the process of moving air into and out of the lungs to bring in oxygen
Exercise - being physically active while playing a game or performing an activity
Oxygen - an important gas needed by most life forms on Earth to survive
Common misconception
Pupils may not recognise that during exercise, the depth of breathing changes as well as the speed per minute. Depth of breathing is a more abstract concept than how many breaths are taken per minute.
As well as taking more breaths per minute during exercise, a child will take deeper breaths each time. This is also a way for the body to get more oxygen.
Teacher tip
When playing 'Energy eaters and oxygenators', pupils can be asked to predict what they think will happen to the energy in the body when the energy eaters are moving more quickly than the oxygenators, or when the oxygenators can carry 2 pieces of energy and the energy eaters only one.
Equipment
Floor markers (1 per pupil), 15+ beanbags, 30+ cones, Bibs for half the pupils
Content guidance
Risk assessment required - physical activity
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Which of these activities helps us exercise our bodies?
Q2.Which of these activities is most likely to make your heart beat faster?
Q3.What is needed to help to keep your body and mind healthy?
Q4.Which of these things does your body do on its own, even when you are sleeping?
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.What action does our body do to take in oxygen?
Q2.Why does our body need oxygen?
Q3.When we play games and exercise, what can you do to make it enjoyable for everyone?
Q4.What might happen to your breathing if you start doing fast, energetic star jumps?
To help you plan your 1 physical education lesson on: Effect of exercise on our breathing, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 1 physical education lesson on: Effect of exercise on our breathing, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom.
Explore more key stage 1 physical education lessons from the Health and wellbeing: the effects of exercise unit, dive into the full primary physical education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.