Muscle strength: plan (non-statutory)
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can plan a simple test to investigate muscle strength in humans.
Key learning points
- Muscle strength is often different in different people
- Muscle strength can be measured in different ways
- Scientists plan how to carry out the right type of investigation to find answers to their questions
Keywords
Muscles - Muscles are a tissue which pulls part of our skeleton so we can move.
Strength - The strength of something is shown by how well it can withstand a force or pressure.
Measure - To measure is to use equipment to find numbers to describe a feature of something such as its length, weight, size or time.
Questions - A question is a sentence or phrase used to find out information.
Common misconception
Students may think if you have big muscles you are strong, if you have small muscles you are weak.
Show images to illustrate a runner may be very lean and a weightlifter may have huge muscles, but both are strong, just in different ways.
Teacher tip
Take time to value all body shapes and discuss that some people have disabilities that may affect their muscle strength. Some people can do lots of exercise and still not gain muscle strength. Celebrate how we are all different.
Equipment
See additional materials for detailed guidance
Content guidance
Risk assessment required - equipment
Risk assessment required - equipment
Risk assessment required - physical activity
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Do humans have muscles?
Q2.Where bones meet, around our we have pairs of muscles which pull in different directions to help us move.
Q3.Which of these statements describes the muscles in your body?
Q4.Match the muscles with an activity they can be used for.
leg and feet muscles
hand and arm muscles
face and neck muscles
Q5.Match the equipment to its unit of measure.
centimetres
seconds
millilitres
kilograms
Q6.A scientist can carry out an to find out an answer to their question.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.To measure how strong someone is, we could think of ways to measure their strength.
Q2.Put these people in order from the strongest muscle strength to the weakest muscle strength.
Q3.If you were measuring muscle strength by how far a person can throw a heavy ball, which unit of measurement would you use to measure the distance the ball was thrown?
Q4.Which of the following ways would not measure muscle strength?
Q5.Which of these questions could you ask to carry out an investigation about muscle strength?
Q6.When measuring muscle strength we can use the type of enquiry called seeking.
To help you plan your 3 science lesson on: Muscle strength: plan (non-statutory), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 science lesson on: Muscle strength: plan (non-statutory), 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. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 science lessons from the Introduction to the human skeleton and muscles unit, dive into the full primary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.