High Jump Unit Plan
Category: Sport Skills · 13-page printable PDF · Ages 7-8, 9-10 · Free for ConnectedPE members
A comprehensive senior-secondary high jump unit that treats one event as a complete biomechanics case study. Across 13 pages, students explore the physics of clearing a bar, trace the evolution of technique — Scissors, Straddle, Western Roll and the Fosbury Flop — analyse performances on video, and complete a laboratory activity applying the principles themselves.
The technique-evolution thread is the hook: each historical technique solved the same physical problem differently, and the Fosbury Flop's takeover is a perfect story of biomechanics beating tradition — centre of mass passing under the bar while the body arcs over it. Students analyse why each innovation raised the ceiling, then apply the same analytical lens to their own jumping.
Designed for Years 7–10 through senior secondary. Run it as an athletics-unit theory companion, a biomechanics topic anchor, or the model for students analysing any technique-driven event.
What students learn
Students analyse changes in high jump performance over time, compare and evaluate techniques, conduct video analysis, and apply biomechanical principles to enhance performance.
Topics: Biomechanics, Track and Field, High Jump, Unit Plan, Senior Secondary
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