FLEXING YOUR MUSCLES

SOMETHING TO DO

Watch the clip of Dr Alice Roberts describing the muscles

in the human arm. There are two muscles: the biceps and
the triceps.

1. Write the names of the muscle in the labels in the picture below.

2. Raise and lower your arm. Feel the changes to the biceps and triceps when you raise and lower
your arm. When a muscle contracts, it becomes shorter and fatter. When it relaxes it becomes
longer and thinner.
3. Fill in the blank spaces, using the words contracts or relaxes.
Arm

Biceps muscle

Triceps muscle

Arm is raised
Arm is lowered
4. Doctors sometimes call the biceps muscle the flexor and the triceps muscle the extensor.
Suggest a reason for this.
5. Look at your answers in the table and look for a pattern in the way that the biceps and triceps
muscles work together.
6. Doctors say that the biceps and triceps muscles are antagonistic to each other. Use a dictionary
or the internet to find out what this means.
7. Botox is a powerful chemical that stops muscles from contracting. Predict what would happen if
botox was injected into:
i. the triceps only

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ii. the triceps only

iii. both the biceps and the triceps

SOMETHING TO STUDY
Look at the diagram of the bones and muscles of the
arm. Muscles are joined to bones by tendons, which
are tough and elastic.
8. Draw the tendons into the diagram opposite.
9. The biceps has tendons that attach to the top of the
arm near the shoulder and one of the two bones of the
forearm. Explain how the muscle and its tendons work
together cause the arm to be lifted.
10. If a persons elbow joint was broken, then it would
be impossible to raise the arm. Suggest why this is.

SOMETHING TO DO

FOR FAST FINISHERS

Put your hand into the air, with your arm straight
and your fingers pressed against the palm of your
hand in a clenched fist. Squeeze your fingers so
they press into the palm of your hand and then lift
them away. Do this as quickly as you can for as
long as you can.
Time how long you can do this for. When you can
do this no longer, then stop, and lower your hand.
Note the time.
11. Describe the feelings in your finger and your
hand. Why did you stop?
12. Write down the length of time that you did the
squeezing activity for.
Muscles need oxygen and glucose in order to
contract. This travels to the fingers in the blood.
Your blood could not travel up your arm properly.
13. Suggest why your blood could not travel up
your arms properly.

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The drawing above was made by William

Harvey, the doctor who first discovered that
blood travels in vessels called arteries and
veins. Veins carry blood away from the arm
to the heart.
14. Suggest two ways that blood leaving the
arm is different to blood arriving at the arm.
15. Look at the blood vessels in your own
arm. The blood flowing in arteries can be felt
as pulses. Can you feel the pulse of blood in
the arteries flowing in your wrist, just below
your thumb?
16. Harveys diagram shows that veins have
swellings along their length which are valves.
Can you see valves in the veins in your
arms? Find out why valves are important in
veins.

Date

Planning Proforma

Class:
Lesson Title: FLEXING YOUR MUSCLES

No in Class:

Learning Objectives:

Attainment range:

All Must:
Know the names and position of
the bones, muscles and elbow
joint in the forearm.
Know the function of bones and
muscles in the forearm.

Time

Most Should:
Know the function of the tendons
in the forearm.

Some Could:
Understand the meaning of the
terms flexor and extensor.

Understand the importance of

antagonistic muscles in the
raising and lowering of the arm.

Understand the importance of

arteries and veins to the raising
and lowering of the arm

Content and Organisation

Pupils Activity

Launch
10 minutes

Ask pupils to think of as many reasons as

possible why it is important to be able to raise
and lower your arms. Find out if any children
have broken their arms? If so, what did it feel
like, what did the broken arm prevent the
pupils from doing?

Discussion in small groups, inviting

pupils to write their responses on post it
notes for display or the whiteboard or a
class discussion.

Main
Development
30 minutes

Distribute the worksheet. Show the Alice Pupils can work in pairs or small groups
Roberts clip. Pupils read the worksheet and to carry out the activities.
may ask to see the clip again.
i. Label diagram
ii. Feel muscles in their arms and
describe the changes
iii. consider flexor and extensor/
antagonistic muscles, bones and
tendons.
iv. Squeezing fingers to fatigue the
muscles
v. Possibly investigate arteries and
veins in the wrist.

Plenary
10 minutes

Use traffic lights or true or false cards to

answer questions about:
1. the muscle at the top of the arm is the
biceps (T)
2. Muscles are attached directly onto bones
(F, it is the tendons)
3. The elbow joint allows the bones of the
arms to move in all directions (F, only up and
down)
4. The biceps and triceps are antagonistic
muscles (T)
5. When the biceps contracts, the triceps is
stretched (T).
6. Veins carry glucose and oxygen to the
muscles of the arm (F, it is arteries)

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Extension Activity:
Pupils can find out more about the life of William Harvey? When did he live? Why was his discovery
important? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/harvey_william.shtml)
Resources/Equipment:

Risk assessment:

Access to dictionaries or internet

Access to a clock or stop watch

This is a low risk activity. It is necessary for pupils to

examine their own forearms, and some may be
reluctant to do this for health reasons (eg Eczema or
psoriasis). If, so then pupils can work in small
groups with a volunteer subject.
In the hand squeezing exercise, pupils should be
told to stop before it becomes painful.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the session I am looking for pupils to use the technical vocabulary with greater confidence. I
am looking for them to apply the vocabulary to their own bodies. There are possible links to sports (and
other) injuries that pupils might want to investigate further. (eg Achilles tendon injuries, dislocated
shoulders, broken arms, ruptured tendons). I would hope to see pupils discussing these situations with
greater clarity and accurate use of language.
There is a seed of an idea linking respiration to muscle contraction, that can be developed further later.
I would like pupils to have a greater sense of curiosity and respect for the complexities of the human body.

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Answers to questions:
1. Biceps on top, triceps below.
2. When you raise the arm, the biceps becomes shorter and fatter and the triceps becomes longer and
thinner.
3.
Arm
Biceps muscle
Arm is raised contracts
Arm is lowered relaxes

Triceps muscle
relaxes
contracts

4. We flex our muscles when they contract to lift the arm. When we lower our arm we extend it. The triceps
contracts to lower the arm.
5. When the biceps contracts, the triceps relaxes and vice versa.
6. Antagonistic means the muscles work in opposition to each other. When the arm is lifted, the biceps
contracts and stretches the triceps back to its original length. Likewise, when the arm is lowered, the
triceps contracts, stretching the biceps back to its original length.
7. i. the arm could not be lifted, but it could be lowered.
ii. the arm could not be lowered, but it could be lifted.
iii. the arm could neither le lifted or lowered.
8. The tendons connect the ends of the muscle to the bones.
9. The tendons attached to the bone on the upper arm (the humerus) anchor the muscle in place. The
tendon attached to the bone of the fore-arm (radius) pulls on the bone. When the biceps contracts, this lifts
the arm.
10. The elbow joint enables the bones of the arm to move smoothly against each other in an up and down
(180o) movement. Breaking the elbow joint prevents this from happening. #
11. The fingers get warm and slightly tingly. Eventually they feel numb and a pain develops. At this point
pupils usually stop.
12. Different people can do this exercise for different lengths of time. The pain arises as a result of the build
up of lactic acid in the fingers. Some people are more tolerant of lactic acid than others. Rowers and
sprinters train to become tolerant of lactic acid.
13. The blood travelling up the arm is experiencing the downward pull of gravity, which slows down the
passage of blood reaching the hand.
14. The blood leaving the arm is warmer, with less oxygen, less glucose, more water and more carbon
dioxide than the blood entering th arm. It may have more lactic acid in it, too.
15. When feeling the radial pulse, it is usual to press the first and second fingers on the skin of the wrist,
just below the muscle of the thumb. (Never measure someone elses pulse using your own thumb because
it has a pulse of its own.)
16. Valves prevent the blood flowing backwards. The blood pressure in veins is considerably less than in
arteries and could flow backwards in certain conditions.

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