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Chapter 9: Benefits and concepts of physical activity
9.1 Benefits of physical activity participation
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Introduction: Discuss the physical, psychological, social and economic benefits of physical activity. – Ask the students to identify the benefits they feel most relate to their experience of participation in physical activity. – Ask the students to identify how the importance of physical activity and the benefits we experience change throughout our lives, for example the benefits for a teenager may be different the benefits for a pensioner.
PRACTICE QUESTION ANSWERS
Q1. Suggest ways that physical activity can benefit people at different stages: (a) childhood (1–11): physical benefits e.g. stronger bones and muscles (b) adolescents (12–18): physical (weight control, stronger muscles and cardio-respiratory system), social (meeting friends) and mental benefits (relieving exam stress) (c) adulthood (18+): reduces risks of lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes; stress relief; social. (d) old age (66+): social (meeting new people and avoiding loneliness, maintaining physical health (strong bones and muscles). Q2. Describe the benefits of physical activity including: (a) physical: strengthens bones, muscles, cardio-respiratory system, weight control (b) mental: relieves stress and improves self-esteem (c) social: meeting friends and reducing isolation/loneliness (d) economic: provides employment, reduces stress on healthcare system, increases economic output i.e. lost productivity due to lifestyle related illnesses.
CASE STUDY QUESTION ANSWER
Q1. Identify the benefits that Derval experienced from physical activty: (a) as a young person: meeting new friends, travel, health and fitness (b) as an adult: earned a living as a professional athlete; rewards such as medals and fame; provided a career in TV, books and online.
9.2 Play, leisure and recreation
Introduction: Complete task 9.1 as an introduction and as a test of existing knowledge.
TASK 9.1 (a) (Group work) ANSWERS
Discuss why play is considered the least organised and sport the most organised types of physical activity. – Play is spontaneous but sport is scheduled e.g. fixture – time and date. – Play has little or no rules, usually agreed before or during the activity. – Sport has a lot of rules which are enforced by officials. – Sport is highly structured e.g. team numbers, playing area, time, scoring, governing body, serious end product e.g. trophy/money/publicity. – Play is unstructured and just for fun.
TASK 9.1 (b) ANSWERS
Discuss where you would put outdoor and adventurous activities on this scale. – Between recreation and physical education. – It can be participated in just for recreation or it can be through competitive sport e.g. kayaking is part of the Olympics. – These activities have national governing bodies and structured events. – Many people participate in outdoor and adventurous activities just for fun in an informal, unstructured way.
Explain the concept of play as a spontaneous activity participated in voluntarily and for fun (intrinsic rewards). – Discuss each of the features of play with the class. – Ask the class to complete task 9.2 on the benefits of play.
TASK 9.2 ANSWER
With a partner explain each benefit of play by applying it to an example. – Cognitive skill: play often involves decisions and planning e.g. hide and seek. – Creative and expressive: play often involves imagination and creating new activities e.g. role-playing – doctors. – Developing independence: play is a time when children can make their own decisions and be in charge and not be led by an adult. – Communication and negotiation skills: children learn to communicate effectively through play and a lot of negotiation takes place e.g. who gets to be the leader, who gets to use each toy first. – Fitness: children are very active through play e.g. tag. – Mental health: play helps children to learn to control their emotions and experience a broad range of emotions. – Intrinsic rewards: children experience fun and enjoyment through play.
Take it further: Ask the students to identify ways that play could be incorporated into the PE curriculum, for example at primary school.
PRACTICE QUESTION ANSWERS
Q1. Describe how a teacher might incorporate play into the PE curriculum. – Allow students to take control of decisions e.g. rules/creating new games. – Make PE fun and enjoyable. – Give a range of choices when appropriate e.g. at the end of term. Q2. Identify and explain three benefits of play. – Social e.g. meeting friends. – Developing cognitive skills such as thinking and decision-making skills. – Creative and expressive benefits such as creating a new game, role play, dance. – Developing independence – time away from parents. – Developing communication and negotiation skills through interaction with others. – Fitness benefits (physical) e.g. tag is physically demanding. – Mental health benefits e.g. controlling emotions. – Intrinsic rewards: fun and enjoyment. Q3. Explain the key elements of the definition of play – spontaneous, voluntary and intrinsic rewards. – Spontaneous: takes place on the spur of the moment – not pre-planned – Voluntary: freely chosen – Intrinsic rewards: for fun and enjoyment not medals or trophies. Q4. Identify three other elements that make up play. – Loosely organised e.g. minimal rules and structures – Freedom: children gain a sense of freedom as they are in control – No extrinsic rewards: not participated in for gains such as medals or praise. Q5. Outline two differences and two similarities of play and recreation.
Differences: – Children participate in play and adults in recreation. – Recreation is more organised e.g. recognised physical activities with more rules. – Recreation is often used as an escape from the stresses of work. – Recreation is sometimes used for extrinsic reasons e.g. to improve social life. – Recreation can have extrinsic rewards such as a medal for completing an event e.g. half-marathon.
Similarities: – Participated in for enjoyment (intrinsic motivation). – Loosely structured with rules agreed between participants. – Enhance physical and mental well-being. – Participated in during free time and are freely chosen. – No serious end product or extrinsic reward e.g. money or medals.
TASK 9.3 ANSWERS
Identify the key features of each of the following concepts: • play: spontaneous, intrinsic motives, voluntary, loosely organised • leisure: free time, opportunity, choice, active or passive • recreation: an activity, during free time, intrinsic motives, informal structure.
Physical Education
Introduction: Discuss the concept of Physical Education. – Preparation for task 9.4: How does it differ from recreation? – What are its benefits?
TASK 9.4 ANSWERS
Use the following terms to contrast PE and recreation: compulsory, voluntary, highly structured, informal structure, teacher in charge, self-regulated, highly organised, loosely organised.
Physical Education
Compulsory Highly structured Teacher in charge Highly organised
Recreation
Voluntary Informal structure
Self-regulated Loosely organised
TASK 9.5 ANSWER
Compare and contrast PE and recreation through one selected activity. – Swimming lessons during PE will be timetabled, highly structured and with the focus on learning; there is a set time and a teacher in charge. – Swimming for recreation is primarily for fun and intrinsic reasons such as fitness.
There is no set time and nobody in charge (self-regulated); decisions are made spontaneously and there is an informal structure to the session.
PRACTICE QUESTION ANSWERS
Q1. Explain the aims of Physical Education and link them to examples. – Increases knowledge e.g. tactics and decision-making – Increases skill through progressive practice, feedback and guidance e.g. badminton – Develops creativity e.g. through gymnastics and dance – Develops confidence by increasing skill levels, working with others and leadership – Inclusive physical activity: learning with others and in classes with a broad range of abilities and disability. Q2. Explain three of the concepts of PE in figure 9.5. – Compulsory: timetabled lessons with mandatory participation – Balanced: a broad range of activities including individual and team activities – Structured: teacher in charge, structured lesson, set number of participants, starting and finishing time. Q3. What are the shared characteristics of Physical Education and physical recreation? Use figures 9.4 and 9.5 to help. – Develops skills – Active/healthy – Improves well-being.
Outdoor and adventurous activities
Introduction: Discuss the characteristics of outdoor and adventurous activities. – Link to the Ask the students example: kayaking. – What are the benefits or these activities to the individual?
TASK 9.6 ANSWERS
Explain three of the key characteristics in figure 9.6 in relation to outdoor and adventurous activities. – Natural environment: these activities take place in the natural environment such as parks, countryside, rivers, lakes, sea or mountains. – Decision-making: these activities require a great deal of decision-making e.g. route planning, safety, suitable clothing and equipment. – Competitive or recreational: many of these activities can be participated in for fun (recreation) or can involve serious competition e.g. world championships in orienteering.
PRACTICE QUESTION ANSWERS
Q1. Define ‘Outdoor and adventurous activities’ and outline three of its characteristics. – Activities performed in the natural environment which often carry some risk or challenge – Takes place in the natural environment such as the countryside, rivers or lakes – Participation can be on your own or as part of a team e.g. orienteering with family – There are risks when taking part in activities in the natural environment e.g. hazards in the river, sudden changes in weather. Q2. There are many benefits of outdoor and adventure activities. Outline three of these. – Mental health e.g. stress relief, escape from the city – Social skills e.g. working with others – Acquire new skills e.g. map reading, safety. Q3. Outdoor and adventure activities can be competitive or purely for recreation. Explain how this is possible. – Activities such as kayaking and orienteering can be participated in for fun but are also competitive sports with major championships, a high level of training and a serious end product e.g. Olympic medal.
9.4 Sport and mass-participation sports
Introduction: Explain what is meant by the term sport – highly structured, competitive, energetic. – Discuss the characteristics of sport. – Ask the students to identify the benefits of sport.
PRACTICE QUESTION ANSWERS
Q1. Explain what is meant by the term sport. – Sport is a highly structured, competitive activity that is usually physically energetic and requires complex physical skills and strategies. Q2. What are the characteristics of sport that distinguish it from play or recreation? – Level of organisation is high e.g. NGB – High level of structure e.g. fixtures, officials – Serious end product and extrinsic rewards. Q3. Use examples to explain three benefits of sport. – Enhances health and fitness e.g. training regularly with a team – Provides an opportunity to experience success, improve self-esteem and confidence e.g. winning a competition – Social skills such as communication and teamwork are enhanced as you will meet new people and engage with team mates, coaches and officials – Psychological skills such as problem-solving and decision-making e.g. tactics and strategies.
Mass-participation sports
Introduction: Talk about large-scale competitive and inclusive events. – Ask the students to identify examples of mass-participation sporting events. – Ask the students to identify the characteristics of these events. – Discuss the benefits of these events for the individual.
TASK 9.7 NOTES
Assign this as homework or allow students to access the internet in class (acceptable usage policy).
Research a mass-participation event of your choice and find the following information: • the location, name and date of the event • number of participants • categories of participation (age, gender, disability) • cost of entering • how the event is marketed (what they do to attract participants).
PRACTICE QUESTION ANSWERS
Q1. Explain the key characteristics of mass-participation sports events. – Large number of participants e.g. a marathon or mud run – Inclusive: these events usually cater for participants of all ages and abilities – Competitive: everyone is competing, even if it is with themselves to complete the event or achieve a personal best – Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards e.g. a finisher’s medal and the personal satisfaction/ sense of achievement. Q2. Outline how these events differ from other competitive sports events. – Much larger numbers – Inclusive and not elitist: most people competing have a low level of ability in the activity – Focused on participation and not winning. Q3. Describe three benefits to the individual of participating in one of these events. – Physical health is improved through increased fitness (training) – Increased motivation to be active – Improved self-esteem – Social: meeting new friends.
TASK 9.8 ANSWERS
Compare and contrast sport with one other concept (play, recreation, PE, outdoor and adventurous activities). Think about: • competitive or non-competitive • highly structured or loosely organised • intrinsic or extrinsic rewards • institutionalised or not • voluntary or compulsory.
Sport versus Recreation
Similarities
Health/fitness Intrinsic satisfaction
Voluntary Takes place during free time
Differences
Sport is more organised – NGB Sport is more structured – rules, officials Sport is more serious, not just for fun Sport has extrinsic rewards
