New
New
Lesson 2 of 6
  • Year 6

Improve my cardiovascular fitness

I can explain how the cardiovascular system works and can choose activities to help improve my own cardiovascular endurance.

Lesson 2 of 6
New
New
  • Year 6

Improve my cardiovascular fitness

I can explain how the cardiovascular system works and can choose activities to help improve my own cardiovascular endurance.

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Move: increasing the intensity of my actions will increase my heart rate.
  2. Think: regularly moving in ways that increase my heart rate, helps my heart to stay healthy.
  3. Think: a healthy cardiovascular system helps me to perform well in a range of sporting activities.
  4. Feel: choosing to take part in activities that challenge my cardiovascular fitness requires self-motivation.
  5. Connect: recognising other people's differences demonstrates respect.

Keywords

  • Heart - a strong, muscular organ inside your chest that pumps blood around your body

  • Intensity - how strong, deep or extreme something is

  • Cardiovascular system - the body’s system that delivers blood, oxygen and nutrients through the blood vessels

Common misconception

Some pupils may not recognise the heart as a muscle because we cannot consciously move it in the same way we can other muscles in the body.

The body has voluntary and involuntary muscles. The heart is an involuntary muscle that doesn't require conscious thought to make it contract and send blood around the body. Exercising regularly can improve the strength and endurance of our heart.


To help you plan your year 6 physical education lesson on: Improve my cardiovascular fitness, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils will have varying levels of cardiovascular endurance, so the way individuals rank the intensity of activity will vary. There are no specific correct/incorrect answers to the ranking task. Use your judgement around the sensitivity of pupils sharing this information with the whole group.
Teacher tip

Equipment

60+ cones, 16 red & 16 blue beanbags/quoits, 15 stopwatches, 50 red & 50 blue counters/cubes, 10 basketballs

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - physical activity

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Prior knowledge starter quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which is activity is suitable for a warm up?

sprinting
weight lifting
Correct answer: skipping

Q2.
Which of these is a safe way to increase your heart rate during a warm up?

Correct answer: gradually
suddenly
quickly

Q3.
Which body part sends blood around the body?

bones
stomach
Correct answer: heart

Q4.
Which component of fitness will improve by completing continuous shuttle runs?

Correct answer: cardiovascular endurance
flexibility
reaction time

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which of these words explains the movements of the heart?

Correct answer: involuntary
voluntary
stretching

Q2.
What increases to speed up the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to our muscles when they need it during vigorous exercise?

Correct answer: heart rate
temperature
blinking

Q3.
How can positive self-talk help us when activities feel challenging?

increases heart rate
increases flexibility
Correct answer: supports self-motivation

Q4.
What level of intensity can help to improve cardiovascular endurance?

it can't improve
very light
Correct answer: moderate to vigorous

Additional material

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