Gear Ratios
- Free Ride Gear Ratios Applet (Grades 6-8, 9-12)
Interactive applet that promotes understanding of bicycle gear ratios. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. - Gears and Proportions Activity (Grades 5-8)
Lesson that includes a video, handouts, and assessment materials based around bicycle gears and their proportions. PBS Learning. - Ratios and Circumference in Bicycle Gears (Grades 7-9)
Teacherknowledge.net. - Bicycle: A Well-Engineered Machine (Grades 7-9)
Activity, complete with handouts, that highlights the mechanical advantages of a ten-speed bicycle. Glencoe/McGraw Hill. - Drives & Gears (Grades 7-9)
An introduction to bicycle gears. Includes a hands-on activity with spools of thread (click “forward on the top of the page). Exploratorium, Sports Science. - What are gears? What do they do? (Grades 4-8, but adaptable)
This lesson utilizes Lego Mindstorms robotics components to demonstrate gear ratios. Teach Engineering. - Mathematical Impressions: The Bicycle Pulling Puzzle
An seemingly simple, yet complex, problem. George Heart, Simons Foundation.
Geometry of Bicycle Frames
- The Geometry of Bicycle Designs (Grades 3-5, but adaptable)
Measurement-based activity based around various components of a bicycle frame. PBS Learning. - Bicycle Frame Calculator
Web-based applet that allows you to adjust the geometry of a bicycle frame and shows those changes graphically. - Bicycle Frame Comparing Tool
Comprehensive Excel spreadsheet that allows you to graphically compare the geometry of two different bicycles.
Bicycle Wheels & Tires
- The Bicycle Wheel, Explained
The history and science behind this masterpiece of engineering. - Millimeters vs. Inches vs. ISO
Sheldon Brown compares the various standard measurements for bicycle wheels and tires. - A Bicycle Wheel Supports a Car
Wheel builder Bill Mould shows how a bicycle wheel can support a car.
Personal Health & Fitness
- Cycling Calorie Burned Calculator
Enter a few bits of information and Bicycling Magazine provides an estimate of calories burned. - Bicycling Drafting: Fact or Fiction?
Does drafting help cyclists save energy? Mythbusters. - The Sweet Science of Pedaling Cadence
What is it? How does it effect how we ride?
ELA & Social Studies
- Do Bike Lanes Gentrify Neighborhoods?
- Contested Streets: Breaking New York City Gridlock
- The Search for the Zozo
A streetfilm about how cars helped to eliminate large, furry, innocent creatures.
Further Reading
- The Bicycle as a System (Grades 7-9)
Complete lesson directed more towards science that explores how the systems of a bicycle enable it to function. AAAS Science NetLinks. - Geometry of Bicycle Handling
A technical explanation of how the geometry of a bicycle effects handling. - Mathematical Impressions: Bicycle Tracks
Another mathematical puzzle. Which direction was the bicycle going? You can tell by examining its tracks. George Heart, Simons Foundation. - We Still Don’t Really Know How Bicycles Work
Michael Brooks discusses the mystery behind bicycle dynamics. New Statesman.
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