LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Ultimate frisbee

Ultimate frisbee is a game that can be played on a regular gym floor. Students will use a combination of passing and catching skills. Ultimate frisbee is a good cardiovascular workout. Students will also be able to work on teamwork skills.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Healthful Living

By Susie Shelton

Learn more

Related pages

  • Passing for success: Student will learn how to pass a basketball, one of the skills necessary to succeed at the game of basketball.
  • Basketball: How to shoot: This lesson will give students the ability to succeed at one of the most important skills of basketball. This will be interesting, easy, and fun to learn.
  • Dribbling a ball with a hand: After this lesson, student should be aware of 4 critical components of dribbling a ball (on the side, no higher than waist, pushing the ball down, and looking up) and be able to dribble a ball applying at least 3 of them.

Related topics

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

The text of this page is copyright ©2008. See terms of use. Images and other media may be licensed separately; see captions for more information and read the fine print.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • learn to throw and catch a frisbee
  • improve their cardiovascular endurance

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

  • one frisbee per game (you may want to have spare frisbees on hand)
  • colored jerseys or pennies

Pre-activities

Students will need to practice throwing and catching a frisbee.

Activities

  1. Ultimate frisbee is played on a regular gym floor. Use the out-of-bounds lines on both ends of the court for the goal lines. The goal is for one team to get the frisbee past the goal line in order to score. The ideal number of players on a team is five to seven. If teams are too large, it will be too crowded.
  2. The frisbee is passed from teammate to teammate to advance the frisbee up the court. Once a player catches the frisbee, he or she cannot take any steps. The holder must throw the frisbee from where he/she catches it.
  3. If team A throws the frisbee and nobody touches the frisbee before it hits the ground, the frisbee goes to team B. If team A throws the frisbee and a member of team A touches it but does not catch it, the frisbee goes to team B. If team A throws the frisbee and a member of team B touches the frisbee but does not catch it, then the frisbee goes to team A. If team A throws it and team B intercepts it, team B gets the frisbee. If the frisbee hits the ground, it goes to the team that did not touch it last.
  4. The frisbee can be played off the wall, backboards, or ceiling. Defense can defend but may not touch the passer. The game is designed to be very fast-paced. Students should be moving at all times and play on both ends of the court.

Assessment

Let students play in an actual game. Look at their passing and catching skills. Students should also be able to keep the game moving without much delay.

Supplemental information

Comments

This is one of my most popular PE activities with my classes. This is an activity that is popular with both boys and girls. This can also be played on the half court or outside on an open field using cones for boundaries.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Healthful Living Education (2006)

Grade 9–12

  • Goal 7: Demonstrates understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning and performance of physical activities (NASPE Standard 2).
    • Objective 7.02: Demonstrate competence in basic offensive and defensive strategies or tactics in traditional and non-traditional team, individual, and dual activities.