Help me give my students the ability to literally create power in the classroom by using power meters on road bikes to show the amount of power they are creating by pedaling a bike.
In an Indianapolis high school of 3,295 students, that is 65.9% free and reduced lunch sits some of the most environmentally conscious students. These students are passionate and inquisitive about their own community and global environmentalism. I believe that their learning outcomes and excitement for environmental science are improved upon by the quality of teachers that they learn from each day and experiences in the classrooms such as labs. When I sit back and reflect on what makes a great science classroom, I always come back to experiences in the lab. Experiences in the science lab makes the topics relatable to my students while the students might be having a difficulty understanding.
My Project
A great way to have students have fun in the energy unit is to have an active lab in which they learn the difference between power and work kinesthetically through pedaling a road bike. When you ride a bike, you do work to overcome the forces of air resistance, gravity, and rolling resistance. Power is the rate at which you work, so the more power you can put out, the faster you’ll go. Students will create power by pedaling, which will be analyzed by a crank power meter and expressed on a cycling computer. I will bring in two road bikes on trainers from home. One bike is already is set up with a power meter and cycling computer to read the power output.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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