Human Body System Decathlon Activity

This is a culminating activity for a human body unit. It involved all of the 7th grade students at our school, but can easily be adapted for any grade level. The activities each take approximately 5 minutes, so depending on your schedule, you may need to eliminate some activities or spread it out over two days/multiple class periods. The students thoroughly enjoyed this activity and had a lot of fun (and 7th graders will let you know when they are not having fun).

Heartbeat challenge:

2 1/3 cup measuring cups

4 small bins or buckets

Water

stopwatch/timer

Peristalsis in Action:

1 or 2 33 foot lengths of elastic tubular support bandage (depending on how many groups you have, one per group) like this: https://tinyurl.com/tubebndg

1 tennis ball or small ball that will fit through the tube, but not too easily

Bubble Breath:

Dawn dish soap

water

glycerin

straws

table

plastic sheeting

ruler

Reflex Ruler:

Standard 12" rulers

yardstick to measure heights above 12"

Cardio Counts:

stopwatch

Bionic Grip:

bionic hand (purchased or handmade) Link to the ones we purchased: https://tinyurl.com/bionichnd

Link to an instructable explaining how to construct one: https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Build-a-Cardboard-Robot-Hand/

Cans or bottles

Small items to pick up

Balancing Act:

timer/stopwatch

Immune Tag:

wristbands/bandanas/pinnies to designate teams

Body Builders:

Giant puzzle of human body such as this free one: https://tinyurl.com/bodypuzz

Poster printer or large paper

Nerve Relay:

Just some silly sentences to pass along the "telephone game"

For all systems:

Trash cans/trash bags

Tape

Copy of worksheet if desired (attached below)

Posters with instructions (attached below)

Tables

Gather all materials and set a date, pick a space, and get ready to play some human body games!

Timing: We have 90 minute block periods so all science classes went outside to participate during their block. Students were given approximately 5-7 minutes at each station.

Once you have chosen a date and time, set up 10 different spaces where students can participate in the activities. We had a couple of rainy days, so we did it under the overhang that is outside by our bus port. Make sure you either have enough people to supervise (teachers, parent volunteers, older students) and explain the job for each site. Hang posters with instructions for each location.

Bring your students outside. Go over the ground rules (stay at your station until time is up, hands to yourself, etc).

Make note of the time allotted for each station.

Have students rotate through the stations, and most important: HAVE FUN AND LEARN!

This is definitely the worst part of any job, in my opinion. However, cleanup is relatively easy if you have everything set up and make sure kids are cleaning up their consumable items as they switch stations.