- UPPER BODY STRENGTH -

BICEP CONCEPTS

Research into health in New Zealand has shown that many New Zealanders lack upper body strength. Because of this Kiwi schools have built new playgrounds that include lots of climbing equipment, so that children develop stronger muscles in their arms and shoulders.

We would like to see just how true this information really is. Your task is to design a scientific study with your pair school to measure upper body strength. You may test this by lifting something, holding something, or squeezing something. Try to keep the experiment simple. Both classes will perform in the experiment and you will compare results.

Your science teacher may need to give you a hand to make sure the test will be fair and to see that the experiment is exactly the same in both schools, but here are some things you will need to think about before doing the experiment:-

• Have equal numbers of boys and girls taking part in the experiment in both countries.
• Use a random sample of students all the same age
• Set up exactly the same experiment at both schools
• Make sure the equipment is the same
• and if possible make as many other things the same as you can because the only thing you want to measure is the difference in strength.

Write the study up into a proper science experiment including:-

• Hypothesis
• Equipment
• Method
• Results
• Conclusions
• Things that went wrong
• Reasons why results might not be accurate.

What did you discover?

National Curriculum areas covered:
New Zealand - Level 4
Science	Maths
Science and technology 1 Skills and attitudes Living world 3	Measurement 1,2 Algebra 3 Statistics 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9
Britain - Stage 3
Science	Maths
Experimental & Investigative Science 1a-h, 2a-e, 3a-f, 4abc Life processes and living things 2gh	Data handling 1abe, 2abcdgh