Students will improve cardiovascular endurance during this fast paced game.  Students will improve their throwing and targeting skills throughout the activity.  Each student will develop hand/eye coordination during the activity while attempting to block the balls thrown at their bottles.  Students will learn some key concepts about the American Civil War (North, South, Rebel, Yankees, Mason-Dixon Line).  Students will demonstrate teamwork, fair play, and sportsmanship during the activity.

4 mats standing in the center of the gym (or cones), as many (soft) balls as possible, 5 - 8 bottles per side.

 Civil War Bottle Battle

To commence class, the teacher will ask the students to point at the letters N, S, W, and E on the walls.  Ask the students what these letters represent (hopefully, someone will know they represent compass directions).  Once that is determined, the teacher will tell the students a little about the history of the Civil War.  There were two sides, the North and the South.  The members of the North were called the Yankees and the members of the South were called the Rebels.  The two sides were separated by a line called the Mason-Dixon Line, which is located between Virginia and Maryland.  Explain that during the war there were many battles and in most cases, the side that wins the most battles wins the war.  During the Civil War, the North won which helped end slavery in our country.  Using the history of our Civil War, the gym will be split in to North and South and each team will try to win the most battles by knocking down bottles.

1.             The teacher will explain the rules of the game.
2.             The object is to knock down all of the opponents’ bottles, each bottle represents a battle during the war.  One student only may guard a bottle.  If for any reason the bottle falls down after the start of the game, it remains down (no exceptions!!).   Anyone in this game may throw or roll a (canon) ball to try and knock down the other bottles.  If a guard’s bottle is knocked down, they may continue playing (try and knock down the other teams’ bottles).  No player may go on the other teams’ side (cannot go across the Mason-Dixon Line).  When all of the bottles on one side are knocked down, the game is over and the students will set up for a new round.
3.                    After the rules are explained, separate the class into two teams and allow 5 - 8 players to get a bottle and place them on their teams’ black line.
4.                    Younger students may need a reminder of the object the game later.  Also, the teacher may provide tips for success if needed.

Safety:

1.             Each team must stay on their side and keep the balls low.
2.             No students may slide on the floor during the game.
3.             After the whistle blows at the end of the round, no player should be throwing a ball, they should be cleaning up the activity for the next round.