Resource 3: Some ideas for outdoor activities

Heart rates: Investigate heart rates before and after running a race.

Why do our hearts beat faster when we exercise?

What makes them slow down?

Record the students’ heart rates before and after exercising, and put the data into a graph so that you can compare the class.

Finding materials: Hunt for materials around the school, recording the materials that are found.

How can the students tell what the material is?

What properties does it have?

What is it being used for?

Have the materials changed over time?

Make and design a kite: Investigate the best materials to use, and the best shape.

Can the kite fly without a tail?

How does a kite fly?

How can it be kept in the air?

Long jump: What makes a good long jumper?

Is there a connection between the distance a person can jump and the length of their femur – or some other characteristic?

Soil testing: Collect soil samples from different local areas.

Use magnifying glasses, if you have them, to observe their similarities and differences.

Use a classification key to identify the soil type. Sieve the soil and identify the different particles.

Exploring forces: What forces are used in opening and closing a door, or in playing in the playground with or without equipment?

Draw the forces that are being used.

Muscles and joints: Use playground games to explore the way that muscles and joints work.

Ask students to explain what is happening to their joints and muscles as their partner runs, jumps or catches a ball.

Energy transfer: Investigate what would happen to a plant, a cup of water and a piece of coloured paper after a week of being left in the sun. Make observations over time and record data.

What would happen at night, or if the sun was covered by clouds?

Food hunt: Hide pictures of food in an outdoor area.

Each group of students must collect three different pictures or drawings of foods they eat that contain protein, carbohydrate, fats and fibre.

Can students use the foods to design a balanced meal?

Changing states: When it has rained (or you could pour water onto a patch of soil), observe what happens to the water during the day. Where does the water go?

Dissolve salt or sugar in water. What can we do to reverse the change?

Shadows: Students in pairs can draw around each other’s shadows.

How do shadows differ at the beginning and the end of the school day? Observe and explain the differences.

Light waves: Use red and green filters to view different coloured objects outside.

Record the original colour and the colour seen through the filters. What do you notice? Why does this happen?