Portfolio 2 Physical Development

Standard #2: Knowledge of Human Development & Learning

The teacher understands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportunities
that support their intellectual, social, and personal development.

I chose to observe two high school students performing various playground based activities. One
of my subjects was a female sixteen year old sophomore and the other was a male seventeen year
old junior. This assignment gave me an opportunity to witness how age affects how we view
physical activity. The games and activities we loved as children are viewed in new perspectives
when we reach our higher education years. Physical development is not only affected by how we
have grown physically, but also by cognitive measures. As a teacher, I will have to respect both
the mental and the physical abilities of children and adolescents by researching activities that
will be appropriate for their age levels. Observing my subjects will help me as a teacher
understand how physical activities can be fun, yet challenging for different age groups.

Amanda Thorn
September 2013
EDUC 121, Child and Adolescent Development

I had a series of five activities for my subjects on the playground: hula hoops, jump
ropes, monkey bars, swings, and free play. None of these activities should prove to be difficult
for my subjects, yet I wanted to see the difference between how elementary students would
perform them versus how two high school students would perform them.
The first activity was hula hooping. I gave each of my subjects a hula hoop and asked
them to use them for two minutes. Both subjects began using the correct form, by swinging the
hoop around the waist and swinging their hips to keep up the motion of the hula hoop. They were
able to hula hoop for roughly 5-10 seconds at a time before losing control of the hula hoops. This
task wasnt so much difficult as it was a lapse in their remembrance of how to use the hula hoop
itself. It had been quite a while since either subject had used the toy and it was reflected in their
performance with it. They kept this up for about 5 minutes before I told them to use the hula
hoops another way than by their waists, i.e. using their arms, necks or legs. Both subjects chose
to use their arms. They hula hooped in this way for another five minutes. The seventeen year old
male proved to be much more successful in this endeavor, yet the sixteen year old female seemed
very self-conscious and this could be seen greatly in her performance.
The second activity I asked my subjects to perform was jumping rope. This activity,
unlike the hula hoop, was one not easily forgotten. Once you learn how to jump rope it sticks
with you. The only issue my subjects had was their height. First, I asked them to jump rope
regularly, using both feet to hop up into the air and using the arms to turn the rope around
themselves. They did this for five minutes. The male would trip after about 5 hops and the
female every 3. Next, I told them they could use one foot at a time, skipping rope instead of
jumping, for another five minutes. This was a much easier task than the last and the number of
mistakes went down drastically. The male tripped once and the female only 3 times.
Next, I asked my subjects to go across the monkey bars. This activity also proved to be a
challenge for my subjects. The playground we had chosen was designed for elementary students,
not high school students so their height was a disadvantage for this activity. While on a tall set of
monkey bars you can swing from arm to arm, gripping the bars with one hand at a time and using
your bodys momentum to move forward. I suggested they bend their knees while they went
across which assisted in the task, but also made it more difficult. The male subject went through
the monkey bars relatively easily, he made it through the set of monkey bars within 30 seconds,
while the female subject had some difficulty and it took her well over 90 seconds to complete
them. I asked them to go through the monkey bars twice before I deemed the activity complete.
Then, I had them take about 10 minutes to swing. While elementary students may find the
task of swinging a vigorous activity, for the skilled adolescent it can be a very relaxing activity.
In swinging, you must pump your legs back and forth to gain speed as well as height and that can
be strenuous for a child, but for near adults it becomes easy because their muscles are much
stronger and well developed. My subjects were leisurely utilizing the swing set, pumping their
legs every ten seconds or so and gaining much more distance than a first or second grader would
in the same time frame.
Finally, I told my subjects that they could utilize the rest of our session using whichever
pieces of equipment they wanted to in what I called free play. My subjects utilized the see-saw,
a large blue circle that when you grabbed onto and ran around it you could put your feet in the air
and fly around for a minute or so until the wheel began slowing down, and the jungle gym. This
section of the session was more enjoyed by both subjects than the others. Because there were no
standards and they were not being judged, the female was much more relaxed in her physical

play. The male was more daring and approached the equipment first and the female followed in
his footsteps.

Age of Child A: 16
Gender of Child A: Female
Age of Child B: 17
Gender of Child B: Male
Ratings
E=Excellent
S=Satisfactory
P=Poor
Activity 1: Hula Hoop
A. Ability to follow instructions _E_

Performance of task _S_

B. Ability to follow instructions _E_
Performance of task _S_
Activity 2: Jump Rope
A. Ability to follow instructions _E_

Performance of task _P_

B. Ability to follow instructions _E_
Performance of task _S_
Activity 3: Monkey Bars
A. Ability to follow instructions _S_

Performance of task _P_

B. Ability to follow instructions _E_

Performance of task _E_

Activity 4: Swings
A. Ability to follow instructions _E_

Performance of task _E_

B. Ability to follow instructions _E_

Performance of task _E_