Class 8 Physical Education (Khel Yatra) Unit 3, Fundamental Skills of Sports — Athletics, introduces Track and Field events across running, jumping and throwing.
What Class 8 Physical Education Unit 3 Covers
Why athletics: running, jumping and throwing build fitness along with willpower, determination, self-discipline and team spirit.
Crouch start: the start used in sprints for maximum acceleration, taught through the commands ‘On your marks’, ‘Set’ and ‘Go’. The stronger leg goes on the front block, about one and a half foot-lengths behind the start line. The Chase and Tag game trains reaction off the start over 15 m.
Long jump: four phases: approach (from 10 strides for beginners to over 20 for elite jumpers, run like a sprint with speed building), take-off, flight and landing. Lead-up activities include the standing broad jump and hopping between lines 15 m apart.
High jump: a J-shaped approach, straight for 3–6 strides and then curved for 4–5, run on the balls of the feet with speed rising throughout, followed by take-off, flight over the bar and landing. Trikona Kainchī Kūda, a triangle course of boxes and cones 10 m a side, builds the footwork.
Shot put: introduced through a ‘putting ball’ game between throwing lines 15 m apart, with a circle-time talk on shot-put injuries. A teacher’s rubric scores each skill from 1 (needs more practice) to 5.
Exercises in Unit 3
- Self-Assessment, Assessment by Teacher and Reflection & Progress checklists at the end of the unit.
Read Class 8 Physical Education Unit 3 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Unit 2: Physical and Motor Fitness
- Next: Unit 4: Fundamental Skills of Sports — Table Tennis
- All Physical Education chapters and the other Class 8 books: Class 8 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
What are the phases of the long jump?
Approach, take-off, flight and landing.
What shape is the high-jump approach?
J-shaped: 3–6 straight strides followed by 4–5 strides on a curve.