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Recycle
a Bicycle
HOW IT WORKS In this interdisciplinary expeditionary
learning project, students study machines as used today and in ancient
civilizations. As they
investigate machines, they tinker with, take apart, and build their own
machines, investigating and discussing questions that come up along their
“expedition.” Students build
a bike and create their own accompanying bike manual using the
computer. After research and
discussion of their community, students then give the bike and manual to
someone in need.
To help students make
sense of their discoveries as they tinker with bicycles and other
machines, we have outlined many classroom activities. In Math/Science, students work at
learning stations on challenges to help them figure out how to use levers,
fulcrums, inclined planes, wheels, and wedges; discover and discuss the
advantages of using simple machines; disassemble a bike and reassemble one
using spare parts; and work on related problems with percentage,
fractions, ratios, shapes, and designs in their Connected Mathematics
Program texts. In Humanities,
students survey and graph the use of bicycles in their community; discuss
and chart the use of machines today and in ancient Egypt, China, and
Greece, and early Islamic societies; study videos and drawings of Rube
Goldberg devices; practice writing descriptions of how such machines work;
make a timeline of bike use in the world; design fantasy machines and
present them to classmates; participate in drama games with fantasy
machines; research bike laws and bike statistics; study the genre of
how-to manuals and write different sections of their own bike manual; and
combine the sections into one whole for publication. In the computer lab,
students edit, illustrate, word-process, and publish the bike manual. This work includes taking digital
pictures of their own recycled bikes and scanning and downloading relevant
images to clarify their text.
They also use the Internet to research laws, statistics, and
resources for bikers in the New York City area. THE
STUDENTS
Two classes of sixth
grade students participate in the program. Our sixth graders perform on or
above grade level in math and at an average of fourth or fifth grade level
in reading. 90% of the
students speak Cantonese or Spanish as a first language. 10% of the students have been
identified as needing special educational services. Students demonstrate a wide
variety of learning styles.
The students’ computer skills vary widely: Some students have used computers
only to do grammar drills, while others know how to program in
HTML. The focus on reading
challenging texts, doing research, and developing written and oral
communication skills helps English language learners reach higher
performance criteria in English.
The project helps to make critical and creative thinkers and
problem-solvers out of students used to more traditional methods of
instruction, wherein they are passive receptors of teacher knowledge. Students have time to do
inquiry-based investigations with bike parts, defining and solving their
own problems about what to do with the bike parts. This hands-on approach offers
opportunities for kinesthetic learners to approach content through their
dominant form of intelligence.
Visual learners are surrounded by drawings and the objects they are
studying. In addition, the
project builds on interpersonal intelligence by providing many
opportunities for collaboration and cooperation. Different components
of the program are completed during the Humanities block and the
Math/Science block. The
word-processing and desktop publishing are completed in the computer
lab. The program could easily
work with smaller groups and could be adapted for fifth through twelfth
grades. WHAT
YOU NEED: Setup: Students do the reading and writing
components in their Humanities class. The bike workshop is conducted in
the Math/Science classroom.
Each classroom has two computers, used for Internet research, and
most of the word processing and lay-out will be done in the computer lab,
which has one computer for every child. Materials: For the bike work, students and teachers bring
in discarded bikes and bike parts that they find around the city. Various tools (wrenches, vice
grips, screwdrivers, hammers, air pumps, etc.) are needed. Students need classroom and
library books on ancient civilizations, machines, and bicycles as well as
access to the Internet for researching laws that affect bicyclists, local
bike organizations, etc. We
have prepared a list of useful local organizations, web sites, books, and
videos. For the publication
of the bike manual, students use the school’s computer lab with 33
computers. Students will use
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, a scanner, a digital camera, and inkjet
printers. We also have lesson
plans and demonstration lessons on how to use this software and these
technological tools and suggestions for working with large classes and
fewer computers. RESOURCES The students take
field trips to Charas El Bohio Community Center on 9th Street
in Manhattan near Avenue B, where there is a recycle a bicycle studio, and
to Central Park, where they will survey bikers. OVERALL
VALUE Students’ enthusiasm
for tinkering with the bicycles makes them engaged in reading and writing
about biking. Students are
filled with joy when they see the working bicycle that they have created
roll down the street. They
learn how to use word-processing software and hardware authentically, as
they eagerly edit and compile the bike manuals. As students work collaboratively
and cooperatively, studying their community and the way that people use
bikes, they open their eyes to the world around them. |
 Lara Goldstone has taught middle school since 1993. She has done the Recycle-a-Bicycle program with James McNulty for one year and has taught desktop publishing and computer skills for four years. She is currently the Humanities department chairperson at Manhattan Academy of Technology, participates in District Two’s ELA New Standards professional development conferences, and serves as a NYC Fellow in the National Teacher Policy Institute. She has led staff development workshops on Reading in the Content Areas and has developed curriculum for the Oakland Unified School District on Multicultural Literature.
Curriculum Areas: The program is
interdisciplinary, covering sixth grade Humanities (Social Studies and
Language Arts) and Math/Science Computer Technology Used:
Word-processing,
desktop publishing (including use of scanner and digital camera) and the
Internet for research Lara Goldstone Manhattan Academy of Technology 122 Henry Street New York, NY 10002 (212) 962-2964 tel. (212) 962-2985 fax Melinda Leong, Director e-mail: lgoldstone@earthlink.net
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