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Equipping the Next Generation for Active Engagement in Science

2. 22
How has cycling changed?
Review ConsiderEngage
How has cycling changed?
© Wikimedia
Track cycling
Colombia:
Werner Otto

3. 33
Review ConsiderEngage
Engineers design
the bikes which
help teams win.
© wikimedia.org
Bradley Wiggins
Can bike design
give cyclists an
unfair advantage?
But...

4. 4
Working ScientificallyBig Idea
Contact
forces
Lesson 1
Critique
claims
Lesson 2
Learning objectives
 Evaluate a claim about how
bike design gives cyclists an
unfair advantage
 Describe factors which affect the
size of frictional and drag forces

5. 5
Can bike design
give cyclists an unfair
advantage?
Lesson 2
Critique claims
to answer
How does engineering
make cycling faster?
Lesson 1
Use scientific evidence
to answer
Review ConsiderEngage

6. 66
Engage Review ConsiderEngage ConsiderReview
Imagine you’re an engineer
for the GB track cycling team
You want to increase
the cyclists’ top speed.
What forces do you
need to consider?

7. 7
Thrust
from
cyclist
Air
resistance
(drag)
7
Friction
How can we increase the
resultant force and top speed?
Name the forces
Engage Review ConsiderEngage ConsiderReview

8. 8
Reduce drag by...
8
large area
turbulent
air forms
behind and
slows down
the object
small areastreamlined shape
How can we increase the
resultant force and top speed?
...enabling the air to
flow easily over the
object (streamlining)
2...reducing the
area in contact
with the air
1
Direction
of motion
no turbulent air
Engage Review ConsiderEngage ConsiderReview

9. 9
Reduce friction by...
9
You can use
oil to smooth
surfaces
How can we increase the
resultant force and top speed?
...reducing
the area of
objects in
contact with
each other
1
...making
their
surfaces
smooth
2
Engage Review ConsiderEngage ConsiderReview

10. 10
1. Choose clothing, a
bicycle frame and
wheels to help them
cycle faster.
2. Explain how they will
help the team to win.
3. Use ideas about
drag and friction in
your explanation.
10
Engage ReviewReviewEngage Consider
How does engineering
make cycling faster?
SS1–3

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Man or machine?
Student sheets
Sheet no. Title Notes
SS1 Clothes Consumable, one per group
SS2 Bicycle frame
Consumable, enlarge to A3,
one per group
SS3 Wheels
Consumable, enlarge to A3,
one per group

12. Student sheets
SS1
Clothes
Helmet
Clothing
Choose the helmet and clothes.
Cut them out and stick them on
the cyclist.
A Loose fitting
shorts and top
Tight fitting
shorts and top
Tight fitting lycra bodysuit

B
C
A B C
Cut out the cyclist.1
2

13. Student sheets
With
aerobars
With drop
handles
SS2
Bicycle frame
A front
C
B
side
Cycling
position
when this
frame is
used
Choose your frame and cut it out.
Use the cycling positions to help you
choose which would reduce drag the most.
Tucked
position

14. Student sheets
SS3
Rims Tyres
Lots of
spokes
Three
spokes
No spokes
(disc
wheels)
Thin tyres
with treads
Thin, smooth
tyres – no
treads
Thick, heavy
tyres with
deep treads
Spokes cause turbulence as
the air travels through them Treads increase grip on the ground
A
B
C
Wheels Choose your tyres and rims. Cut them out.
Stick the rims onto the tyres and then onto the bike.
A
B
C

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Man or machine (2 of 2)

17. 1717
Play DecideEngage
Will you accept
their claim?
From: The Cycling Ruling Body
To: GB Cycle Team
We have rejected your bicycle design.
Our rules state that the forearms must be
parallel to the ground for the entire race.

This design will give your cyclists an
unfair advantage over others. x
Can bike design
give cyclists an
unfair advantage?

18. 18
Working ScientificallyBig Idea
Contact
forces
Lesson1
Critique
claims
Lesson objectives:
 Evaluate a claim about how
bike design gives cyclists an
unfair advantage
 Describe factors which affect the
size of frictional and drag forces
Lesson 2

19. 19
Can bike design
give cyclists an unfair
advantage?
Lesson 2
Critique claims
to answer
How does engineering
make cycling faster?
Lesson 1
Use scientific evidence
to answer
Review ConsiderEngage

20. 2020
Engage Review ConsiderEngage DecidePlay
Let’s play...
Some claims are believable...
...but others aren’t
LIE TO

21. 21
Let’s go through
the rules before
you go on set.
21
Engage Review ConsiderEngage DecidePlay

22. 2222
Engage Review ConsiderEngage DecidePlay
Painting your skin can kill
...along with their
evidence and reasoning.
There are two teams.
A contestant on Team A
reads out a strange
claim like...

23. 23
The answer is
read out. Team B
gets a point for
guessing correctly
or loses one if they
get it wrong.
23
Engage Review ConsiderEngage DecidePlay
Team B contestants
decide if it is
believable or not.

24. 24
Are you ready to play?
24
SS1
Then a contestant on
Team B reads out a claim.
We continue like this until
everyone has read out
two claims.
Engage Review ConsiderEngage DecidePlay

25. 25
A claim needs to be
supported by evidence
which is scientifically accurate
and relevant.
Claim:
People like
chocolate
Evidence:
In 2009 7.2 million tons
of it was bought
worldwide
Reasoning:
People buy chocolate
because they like it
Engage Review ConsiderEngage DecidePlay
The evidence needs
to be linked to the
claim by reasoning.

26. 26
 Look at each piece of evidence
and write the reasoning.
 When you have looked at all the
evidence, decide how
believable you think the claim is.
26
Evaluate the claim about cycling
Engage Review ConsiderEngage Play Decide
SS2-4
This design will give your cyclists an
unfair advantage over other competitors.
Write an email to
the cycling ruling
body to explain why
they are wrong.
UNBELIEVABLEBELIEVABLE
Write a speech to
the team explaining
why you have to
change the design.

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Man or machine?
Student sheets
Sheet no. Title Notes
SS1a-c Would you lie to me?
Reusable, one per group
of two teams. Cut out the
claim cards and fold them
along the dotted line.
SS2
Evidence 1:
Drag reduction
Consumable,
one per pair
SS3
Evidence 2:
Competition
Consumable,
one per pair
SS4
Evidence 3:
The hour record
Consumable,
one per pair

28. Student sheets
SS1a
My claim is: You can die
if you cover your skin in
paint.
My evidence is: There are
reports on the internet
that an actress in a James
Bond film died after being
covered in gold paint.
My reasoning is: The paint
stops oxygen passing
through the skin causing
suffocation and death.
My claim is: Swallowing mentos
and cola together will make
your stomach explode.
My evidence is:
There are several videos
showing mentos being dropped
into bottles of cola. Lots of foam
shoots out of the bottle.
My reasoning is: The same thing
will happen in your stomach and
the foam produced will make it
explode.
This claim is:
UNBELIEVABLE
In the bottle the
mento causes the
dissolved carbon dioxide to be
released all at once – this is what
causes the explosion. When you
drink cola the carbon dioxide has
plenty of time to be released
before the mento enters your
stomach. You might burp but you
would not explode!
Game instructions
 Play as two teams of 3-4.
Each person selects two
claim cards.
 A player in the team A reads
out the claim, evidence and
reasoning from one card. Try
and make it convincing!
 Members of team B confer
to decide whether it is
believable or not.
 The explanation is read out.
 If team B are right the team
wins a point, if they are
wrong they lose one.
 Continue, taking it in turns
with players from each team
until all the cards have been
used.
This claim is:
UNBELIEVABLE
This is just a rumour
that has been
around for 50 years.
The actress didn’t
die because you
don’t breathe
through your skin!
Would you lie to me?

29. Student sheets
SS1b
My claim is: Using a mobile
phone in a petrol station
can cause an explosion.
My evidence is: CCTV footage
from August 2015 shows a man
in India become engulfed in
flames after using his mobile
phone at a petrol pump.
My reasoning is: The tiny sparks
in a mobile phone can ignite
the flammable fumes from petrol.
This claim is:
UNBELIEVABLE
Despite warnings at petrol
stations, there is no scientific
evidence that using a mobile
phone will cause a fire.
The use of the
mobile phone in
this example was
just a coincidence.
My claim is: People
swallow eight spiders
a year whilst they sleep.
My evidence is: People say
that they have found spiders
legs in their mouth in the
morning.
My reasoning is: Every home
has around 30 spiders living in it
so it is likely that some will crawl
into an open mouth at night.
This claim is:
UNBELIEVABLE
It is unlikely that a spider
would go anywhere near a
sleeping person – they would
be too afraid.
My claim is: Eating your dinner off
a toilet seat will not make you ill.
My evidence is: Scientists grew
bacteria taken from objects and
counted the colonies:
Toilet seat – 2
Light switch – 332
Kitchen sponge
– too many to count
My reasoning is: There are not
enough bacteria on a toilet seat
to make you ill.
This claim is:
BELIEVABLE
There are relatively few
bacteria living on a toilet
seat, but despite this,
eating your dinner
off one is not
recommended!
Would you lie to me?

30. Student sheets
SS1c
My claim is:
Area 51 in the USA
contains top-secret
alien technology.
My evidence is: It is very
heavily guarded.
My reasoning is: There must
be something in there the USA
government don't want us to
know about.
This claim is:
UNBELIEVABLE
There are plenty of things
governments need to keep
secret – alien technology isn’t
one of them.
If aliens have visited Earth
there would probably
be other evidence.
My claim is: Knuckle cracking
does not give you arthritis.
My evidence is: Dr Donald
Unger cracked the knuckles on
his left hand only once a day for
more than 60 years. He did not
develop arthritis in either hand.
My reasoning is: If it did cause
arthritis he would have
developed arthritis
in his left hand only.
This claim is:
BELIEVABLE
This experiment was only
carried out by one person but
other studies involving
hundreds of people
have come to
the same
conclusion.
My claim is: The
moon landings
were fake.
My evidence is:
The flags can be
seen fluttering in
photographs.
My reasoning is: There is no
air on the Moon to move
them. It must have been
filmed on Earth.
This claim is:
UNBELIEVABLE
The flags may look like
they were fluttering but
they weren’t.
We have a lot of evidence
that the Moon landings really
took place such as rock
brought back from the Moon.
Would you lie to me?

31. Student sheets
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
0 10 20 30 40 50
Speed(km/h)
Percentage drag reduction
Evidence 1: Drag reduction
Upright position
0% drag reduction
Dropped handlebars
7.8% reduction
Aerobars
12.4% reduction
Tucked arms
27.8% reduction
Our evidence is: Data taken from a published scientific study. The cycling position of
the cyclist was changed and the top speed measured.
Compare the speed from different cycling positions. Explain the difference.
SS2
Our claim is: This design will give cyclists an unfair advantage over other competitors.
Our reasoning is:

32. Student sheets
Evidence 2: Competition
SS3
Our evidence is: The results from the Men’s cycling sprint from the 2012
Olympic Games.
Our claim is: This design will give cyclists an unfair advantage over other competitors.
Our reasoning is: Calculate the difference in speed between the cyclists.
Would using the banned riding position have changed the results? (use SS2)
Rank
1
2
3
4
Jason Kenny (GBR)
Grégory Baugé (FRA)
Shane Perkins (AUS)
Robert Förstemann (GER)
Rider Time Avg speed (km/h)
9.713
9.952
9.987
10.072
74.127
72.987
72.093
71.485

33. Student sheets
Evidence 3: The hour record
Our evidence is: How the distance covered in the hour record has changed.
Our reasoning is: Describe how the distance changed between the 1970s and 1990s. Suggest
why the tucked position was banned.
Our claim is: This design will give cyclists an unfair advantage over other competitors.
Tuckedposition
wasbanned
year
Distancecoveredinonehour(km)
E. Merckx
SS4
using the tucked
position
Not recognised as
a record anymore
New record
G. Obree
B. Wiggins

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