A Video Analogy Discussing Types of Transportation

The concept of transportation other than our feet is exciting to teens. Using introductory videos to start a critical thinking exercise, or asking students to find examples of a particular scientific principle at work in the world for discussion or a prompt to an essay are some ideas.

.. this common interest of "the need for speed" can be tied into biology ...



or physics...





or chemistry....



or physical science...



and I am sure there are many other venues with more research and careful planning!

The bottom line is that although this may seem passive at the beginning, requiring a reaction to the information asks them to show their understanding. After discussing a few concepts (whatever that might be for your grade/subject) show them this video:




Drifting is a sport that involves careful use of environmental science, chemistry, biology, and of course physics. The driver must know the surface and change his setup based on the driving conditions. The chemical makeup of the tires, as well as the materials used for sway bars, control arms, brake pads and oil are all specially designed based on the type of racing. (Yes you can create a lab just on car tires!) Biology may be more of a stretch depending on what you are required to cover, but I tie this into human reaction time, controlling impulses, and muscle control. Drifting requires the driver to look ahead of where the car is currently. The wheels are already pointing towards the next obstacle regardless of what the current challenge needs. This aligns with the physics and math of creating angles, understanding slip ratios, and the list goes on.

Of course, most recently I was teaching fifth graders so I could not dive into any kind of depth, but I asked them to analyze the video, as well as others they could find and design their own course. Using basic measurements, courses were designed and then critiqued by peers. We first had to figure out how long the car was to get approximations of what the course length is in the video. Then they would pause the videos to gauge the width of certain challenges. (Remember we did very crude measurements) We also learned to listen to the video carefully to figure out what gear the driver was in. This could tell us the approximate speed he was going. (I gave them an approximate number for each gear.) There were some parts of this inquiry that turned out to be too challenging for some students. This assignment required some spatial perception as well as using calculations that they have not had much experience with. Overall the students LOVED that they were doing something totally new and different. Mostly they worked very hard and even put in time at home to make their designs better. I find that these incomplete inquiries may not be strong in science content but they are very strong at this level to improve confidence in critical thinking, problem solving, and interest in science. Most of my fifth graders had no idea car racing required knowledge in the sciences. I believe the difference with this type of interaction is that my students leave having been challenged in their math and science expertise, and they are excited that in the future of their schooling they can learn more specifics about how to fine tune a race car using science.