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Name of Activity: Wild Water Trivia
Purpose of Activity: To demonstrate proper swimming skills in an authentic environment while allowing students to demonstrate knowledge in a specific area and show they can cooperate with a small group of peers.
Prerequisites: Skills and knowledge of what the students should be able to demonstrate.
Suggested Grade Level: 9-12
Materials Needed: Foam paper (paper that floats) - In different colors, one for each group. [Can use colored "normal" paper and laminate instead]. Hula Hoops: different colors that match the foam paper; one hoop for each team.
Compartment box of some sort to put the questions in, which will keep them organized. (The tool boxes with multiple comparments that pull out, like a drawer is the best).
Put a color coded sticker on each compartment with the question number on it.
Slide a question in each comparment.
Description of Idea This activity takes place in the pool. Make sure all safety precautions are taken care of before starting. 4 to 5 students per team. 4 Groups are set up in the shallow end. 4 Hula Hoops of different colors are on the pool deck, next to the compartment box. Each group starts by standing in the shallow end with their backs against the wall. On the signal or start command, each person swims and can only grab one answer at a time. The student then brings it back to the shallow end, and places it in the hula hoop. Repeat, having the student swim back and grab another one. Repeat this process until the team has all the possible answers. Student should use proper technique for whichever stroke is chosen while retrieving answers. This allows ample practice for each swimmer to demonstrate his/her swimming skills. Teams can only grab the color coded answers assigned to thier group. Once they gather all the possible answers, they start matching the questions with the correct answers. This is where cooperation is a must. Ensure groups include everyone is helping and participating.
Review the answers after everyone is done or the teacher may check the answers after they leave.
Variations: Some teams may finish a lot quicker than others depending on how you split the teams, therefore it is advisable to set up different stations the groups can move to when they have completed the activity. For those students not yet ready to experience the deeper water, allow them to be on the wall inside or outside the pool. Their group members bring the answers to them, and they place them inside the Hula Hoop. To make it more challenging, attach string and a washer to some answers to allow them to sink to the bottom of the pool. Hula Hoops are placed in the pool. Place fewer correct answers in the pool; students must find the correct answer to a specific question; students bring the answer back to Hula Hoop and place it together with the question.
Assessment Ideas: Rubrics for the swimming strokes. Standard 2 assessment piece: everyone in the group receives the same grade for knowledge. Affective rubric for Cooperation.
Teaching Suggestions: While explaining the directions to the game, throw in all the different answers to the questions. Two possible answers for each question works best, i.e. for 20 questions, there would be 40 possible answers for each color. This means that there would have to be 160 answers thrown in the pool [40 for each color]. Spread them all over the pool. Examples of ideas for questions: Deaf History Month
Swimming Techniques: What finger should come out first when performing the back crawl(Thumb); These two strokes are considered resting strokes(elementary backstroke/Side stroke).
Adaptations for Students with Disabilities: Allow students to use various aparatus such as noodles, fins, or kickboards.
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