MW1 Explore motion-related technologies

Suggested time: 4-6 hours

Learning Objectives

1. Acquire, with interest and confidence, additional science knowledge and skills using a variety of resources and methods, and adopt behaviours and attitudes that project a positive self image. (PSD, CD 1.3)
   
2. Distinguish between scientific questions and technological problems when exploring motion-related topics. (CCT, TL)
   
3. Recognize the contribution of science and technology to the progress of civilizations.
   
4. Relate personal activities and interests related to motion, and various scientific and technological endeavours to specific science disciplines and interdisciplinary studies such as kinematics, aerodynamics, mathematics, ergonomics, and environmental science.
   
   Each student should achieve at least one of the following objectives:
   
5. Evaluate the design and function of a motion-related technology using identified criteria such as safety, cost, availability, and impact on everyday life and the environment. (CCT, PSD)
   
6. Evaluate the role of continued testing in the development and improvement of technologies related to motion.(TL)
   
7. Trace the historical development of a motion-related technology. (TL)
   
8. Describe examples of Canadian contributions to science and technology in motion-related fields such as transportation, sport science, or space science. (TL)
   

Key Questions

1. How and why do scientists and engineers conduct cost-benefit analyses of new technologies or inventions?
   
2. How do scientists use testing to improve a technology?
   
3. What are the major contributions of Canadians related to the science and technology of motion?
   

Key Concepts

• There is a distinction between science and technology, although they often overlap and depend on each other.
  
• Science deals with the generating and ordering of conceptual knowledge.
  
• Technology deals with the design, development, and application of scientific or technical knowledge, often in response to social and human needs.
  
• Some types of questions can lead to further understanding through scientific inquiry.
  
• Scientific knowledge is based on evidence, developed privately by individuals or groups, that is shared publicly with others.
  
• Scientific knowledge is tentative, and subject to change. It is not an absolute truth for all time.
  
• Scientific knowledge is a product of human creativity, critical thinking, and imagination.
  

Pre-Instructional Questions

1. Do students understand the role of science and technology in learning about motion?
   
2. Are students aware of Canadian contributions to the science and technology of motion?
   
3. Do students understand the differences between technologies related to motion (e.g., automobiles) and the science of motion (e.g., kinematics)?
   

Suggested Teaching Strategies and Activities

1. Students could explore a specific motion-related technology such as a personal transportation device (e.g., bicycle, snowmobile, automobile, motorcycle, skateboard, kayak, snowshoe, or wheelchair), and trace its evolution. They could describe the historical development of the technology and the roles of science and technology in the development of that technology. Students could also develop a cost-benefit analysis of the effects of the technology on society. A cost-benefit analysis can include ethical, legal, ecological, social, technological, scientific, economic, and political perspectives.
   
   
2. Students could generate questions regarding the motion of everyday objects. The class could discuss which questions could be investigated using a scientific approach and which questions are not answerable using scientific methods. Students should be encouraged to consider how they might design an experiment to test those questions that are testable using scientific methods. Example questions might include:
   
   • What is the effect of waxing skis on the performance of skis?
   • Why do speed skaters wear different types of skates than figure skaters?
   • What is the effect of different wheel sizes on the performance of a vehicle (bicycle, car, wheelchair, etc.)?
   • How long can a human keep accelerating?
   • What is the effect of wearing flippers on swimming?
   • Why have speed limits been established on public roads?
   • How does an understanding of the physics of motion help in the design of safer and more powerful vehicles?
   
   
3. Students could research the role of Canadians and Canadian companies and their contributions to science and technology in motion-related fields. Examples include: Bombardier (snowmobiles, trains, airplanes), kayak (Inuit), Jolly Jumper (Olivia Poole), CANADARM (Spar Aerospace/NRC), roller skates (Wallace Freeborn), self-propelled combine (Thomas Carroll), A.V. Roe (AVRO Arrow), wind tunnel and variable pitch propeller (Wallace Turnbull), electric wheelchair (George Klein), and toboggan (Algonquin). (IL, TL)
   
   
4. Students could research the ways in which athletes and high performance trainers use motion analysis software to improve athletic performance, exploring the impact of technology on work and learning opportunities. (CD 6.3)
   
   
5. Students could research the development of automobiles and how their performance (i.e., top speed, acceleration, braking) has improved over the years. This might include an investigation of land speed records. Students could graph this data in order to support or refute predictions about upper limits on automobile speed. (NUM)
   
   
6. Students could conduct a comparative study or a cost-benefit analysis of different modes of student transportation. Students could determine what factors (e.g., safety, performance, aesthetics, or fuel economy) could be used to evaluate the different modes of transportation. (CCT)
   
   
7. Students could prepare posters or brochures that visually demonstrate how various post-secondary disciplines study motion (e.g., sports science, biomechanics, mechanical engineering, aerodynamics, ballistics, and atomic physics). Students might also explore the educational and training requirements of various work roles. (IL, CD 5.3)
   
   
8. The motto of the Canadian Light Source (CLS) Synchrotron is "Innovation at the speed of light". Students could view the CLS web site< /a>, contact Educational Outreach, or visit the Synchrotron to find out how the Synchrotron is able to accelerate electrons to the speed of light, approximately 300 million metres per second. Students could calculate how that speed might compare to the speed of everyday objects. (TL)
   
   
9. Students might develop a science challenge project such as parachute drop, egg drop, model rocketry, rubber-band or mousetrap powered cars as a concrete example to study the various aspects of motion that are identified in this unit.