Locomotor skills of Running, Gallopping and Hopping

In lab on Monday, the objective was to observe two students and evaluate their skills and abilities in locomotor movements. The two students that I observed were Diego, who was in 3rd grade and was 8 years old; the other student I observed was Dora, who was in 1st grade and 6 years old. The data collected for Diego showed for running that there was a brief period where both feet were off the ground, his arms in opposition to legs, elbow bent and his nonsupport leg was bent approximately 90 degrees. Yet, he ran flat footed. For Dora, she demonstrated all the same skills except, she did have her foot placement near or on a line but her nonsupport leg was not bent approximately 90 degrees. For the Gallop, Diego had a step forward with the lead foot followed by a step with the trailing foot to a position adjacent to or behind the lead foot, he had a brief period where both feet were off the ground and his arms were bent and lifted to waist level. He did not, however, demonstrate the ability to lead with both feet. Dora also had a step forward with the lead foot followed by a step with the trailing foot behind the lead foot and a brief period where both feet were off the ground. However, she did not have her arms bent and lifted to waist level and did not show the ability to lead with both feet. For the hop, Diego was able to demonstrate all of the criteria with the foot for nonsupport leg is bent and carried behind body, his nonsupport leg swung in pendulum, his arms were bent at elbows and swung forward on take-off and was able to hop on the right and left foot. Dora could only complete one criteria of having the arms bent at elbows and swung forward at the take off. She did not have the foot for nonsupport leg bent; her nonsupport leg did not swing and was not able to hop on both right and left foot. Diego seemed to be generally more advanced in coordination of movement than Dora overall, with light variations for each ability. They were both at levels of elementary abilities but Dora was moving towards intermediate for some abilities. For the gallop and especially, the hop, Diego was much more advanced in his development of those skills, compared to Dora. The age different demonstrates the differences in maturation of motor movements and coordination just through development. The gender differences are shown just due to boys tend to mature more quickly than girls at gross motor movements by being more active in motion rather than fine motor skills.