National Year 12 Physical Education
Chapters: 3
1. 3.1.1 Applied anatomy and physiology
Cardiovascular system · Respiratory system · Neuromuscular system · Musculoskeletal system and movement analysis · Energy systems
- Body Fluids and Circulation – Blood and lymph are the body's transport fluids. Blood is plasma (about 55%) plus formed elements: RBCs, WBCs and platelets. Blood groups (ABO, Rh) depend on antigens on RBCs. A clot forms when fibrinogen turns into fibrin threads. The human heart has four chambers and pumps blood through two loops: to the lungs and to the body (double circulation). The SA node starts each beat; one beat is a cardiac cycle of about 0.8 s, recorded as an ECG with P, QRS and T waves. Cardiac output = stroke volume × heart rate ≈ 5 L/min.
- Breathing and Exchange of Gases – Breathing moves air in and out of the lungs. Air travels nose → trachea → bronchi → bronchioles → alveoli. We breathe in when the diaphragm and outer rib muscles contract and make the chest bigger, so pressure inside falls. In the alveoli, oxygen moves into blood and carbon dioxide moves out, always from higher partial pressure to lower. Blood carries O2 mostly on haemoglobin and CO2 mostly as bicarbonate. A centre in the brain sets the rhythm. Lung volumes like tidal volume and vital capacity can be added and measured.
- The Neuromuscular System – The neuromuscular system is your nerves and muscles working as one team. A motor unit is one motor nerve cell and all the muscle fibres it controls. A motor unit follows the all-or-none law: it pulls fully or not at all. To make more force, the brain switches on more motor units (recruitment, also called spatial summation) and sends signals faster (wave summation, up to tetanus). Muscles contain slow Type I fibres for endurance and fast Type IIa and IIx fibres for power. PNF stretching uses the muscle's own sensors to make it relax so it stretches further.
- The Skeletal System – The skeleton is the body's frame of 206 bones (adult). It has five main jobs: support and shape, protection, movement (with muscles), making blood cells in red marrow, and storing minerals like calcium. Bones meet at joints; hinge joints (elbow, knee) bend one way, ball-and-socket joints (shoulder, hip) move in all directions. Ligaments join bone to bone, tendons join muscle to bone, cartilage cushions the ends. Muscles only pull, so they work in antagonistic pairs such as biceps and triceps.
- Energy Systems: How Muscles Get Energy for Exercise – Muscles can only use one fuel directly: ATP. The store of ATP lasts about 2–3 seconds, so the body rebuilds it in three ways. The ATP-PC system uses creatine phosphate: very fast, about 10 seconds. Anaerobic glycolysis breaks glucose without oxygen: fast, about 10 s to 2 minutes, and makes lactate. The aerobic system uses oxygen to break glucose and fat: slow but lasts for hours, making only carbon dioxide and water. All three work together; intensity and time decide which one leads. After exercise, EPOC (extra oxygen) refills stores and clears lactate. Altitude and heat make the aerobic system work harder.
2. 3.1.2 Skill acquisition
Skill continuums and transfer · Structure of practice · Theories of learning · Guidance and feedback · Memory models and information processing
- Skill Acquisition: How We Learn Movement Skills – A skill is a learned action done with the least time and effort for a set goal. Skills are classified on continua (open–closed, gross–fine, discrete–serial–continuous, self-paced–externally paced, simple–complex, low–high organisation). We process information in a loop: input, decision (using memory), output and feedback; more choices slow reaction time (Hick's law). Learners move through cognitive, associative and autonomous stages. Coaches choose the type of practice, guidance and feedback to suit the skill and the learner, and use transfer from skills already learned. Theories of learning explain why this works.
3. 3.1.3 Sport and society
Emergence and globalisation of sport · Sport and society: sociological theory and equal opportunities
- Sport and Society – Sport sociology looks at how sport and society shape each other. Physical activity runs from free play, through physical recreation, to sport, which has fixed rules, organisation and serious competition. Modern sport grew from loose local folk games: the industrial age brought written rules, clubs and governing bodies, and since about 1950 television, money and travel have made sport global and professional. Today sport, media and sponsors are tied together in a "golden triangle". Not every group takes part equally: cost, time, facilities, discrimination and stereotypes create barriers, so governments and clubs work for equal access, especially for women, disabled people, older people and low-income families. Sport also has a dark side, deviance such as doping, violence and match-fixing, which rules, testing and the law try to control. Sport can build health, identity and togetherness, but it can also divide.