Spring 2015 STEM Institute

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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