Teacher's Guide for ODYSSEY^TM Life in Motion

Exploring the Issue: September 1999

Format:
      Article/Page
      Summary
      Skills

"It's a Biomechanical World!" pg. 6

• Biomechanics uses the principles of engineering and physics to investigate living systems. Treating disease, improving athletic performance, and training astronauts are some of the goals of this field of study.
• Vocabulary, Applications

"Springing Down the Street" pg. 10

• Researchers in a biomechanics lab build a two-legged machine in an attempt to study the way humans move. Their observations provide useful information for the design of, among other things, artificial legs and improved running shoes. Sidebar on building your own walking machine.
• Inductive Reasoning, Applications

"Brain Strain" (Puzzle) pg. 15

• Consider the puzzle of the rotating lawn sprinkler placed underwater. Physicists at Princeton took a crack at this one, so you'll be in good company.
• Deductive Reasoning

"At a Gallop -- The Pioneering Work of Muybridge and Marey" pg. 16

• A photographer and a physicist separately pioneered the modern science of biomechanics. Their designs and research influenced medicine, aviation, athletics and education.
• Vocabulary, Historical Applications

"The Galloping Camel" (Activity) pg. 20

• Acting together, your eyes and brain fool you when you encounter the spinning device known as a phenakistoscope. Did we mention that you're going to construct one?
• Following Directions

"Bodies in Motion" pg. 22

• Air resistance, friction, axis, and tangent are some of the biomechanical terms that help explain the physics of in-line skating. An understanding of Newton's laws of motion leads to improved athletic equipment. A sidebar describes basic body motions.
• Vocabulary, Applications

"Have a Heart" pg. 27

• Space technology and medicine join forces to develop a lightweight, miniature heart pump. Under the guidance of artificial heart inventor Dr. Michael DeBakey, the new device eases the wait for heart transplant patients.
• Vocabulary, Applications

"Smooth Riding: Equine Biomechanics" pg. 30

• The study of how horse and rider operate as a team aids not only in training for dressage, but also in the development of new products for healthier horses as well.
• Vocabulary, Applications

"What's Up" (Planet Watch and Backyard Observations) pg. 34

• Red is the color of September, as the red planet Mars shares the nighttime sky with the red star Antares. This is also the time of the autumnal equinox. Check out the sky chart for other September celestial sights.
• Observation, Following Directions

"Flying: Was It a Drag for Dinosaurs?" pg. 40

• If birds are modern dinosaurs (as most scientists now believe), then why didn't T. rex fly? The biomechanics of flight are helping to solve this mystery.
• Vocabulary, Inductive Reasoning

1. While humans are rumored to be the most intelligent of animals, they aren't the fastest -- or the strongest. Which animals might be considered the best at certain physical things such as flight, speed, grace, strength? After identifying some examples, discuss why, for example, cheetahs are fast. What physical traits lead to these exceptional abilities? Record these ideas for discussion after reading the magazine.
2. How could the physical traits of humans be enhanced by mechanical means? What would help us run faster? Is there a mechanical device that would allow us to fly like birds? Discuss possibilities as a lead-in to the first article, "It's a Biomechanical World!"

pg. 6 -- "It's a Biomechanical World!"

• Talk It Over:
  1. What are the actual physical changes that occur in weightlessness? How do these changes affect people over a period of time?
  2. How has the science of biomechanics changed the way people do things on Earth? What changes can be seen in sports? What about in the workplace? In school? In our recreation or the ways we relax?
• Connections:
  1. Visual Arts: Create a poster that shows the effect of lack of exercise on bone density. Include text that explains how exercise can keep bones healthy.
  2. History: Some of the early astronauts and cosmonauts from the U.S. and Soviet space programs suffered physical problems after their return to Earth. Research these cases and discuss how their time in space may have affected their health.
  3. Language Arts: Write a letter from the International Space Station, describing your daily exercise routine. Try to imagine and describe not only how your exercises operate, but also how it feels to perform them.
• Student Assessment:
  1. In a brief essay, describe the effect of biomechanics research on athletic achievement. Use more than one specific example.
  2. Write (and deliver?) a speech before a governmental panel considering added funding for the space program. Support added funding by showing the panel how research with astronauts can lead to benefits for the general public.

pg. 30 -- "Smooth Riding: Equine Biomechanics"

• Talk It Over:
  1. What is dressage? Has anyone in the class seen (or participated in) dressage? Describe reactions to this activity. What special talents are required of the horse and the rider in a successful dressage team?
  2. This article describes many future situations, in Olympic competition as well as in the care of horses. Discuss these and the likelihood that they may become reality.
• Connections:
  1. Graphic Arts: Using information from this article and from "At a Gallop" on pg. 16, create a series of line drawings showing a horse's movements at a gallop. The purpose is not to draw a realistic horse, but to use lines and dots to show points of movement.
  2. Mathematics: A movie of a horse is made up of a series of still photographic frames, which are passed before our eyes at 64 frames per second. The visual part of our brains connects these frames so that they appear as continuous movement. (Imagine how many individual frames an animation cartoonist draws to make a one-hour movie!) What types of movement might be too fast to capture on film? How could digital video solve this problem?
  3. Visual Arts Analyze the way two student volunteers walk. Look for differences and try to describe and chart them. See if someone, after the analysis, can learn to walk like one of the volunteers.
• Student Assessment:
  1. Review the sidebar "What is Dressage?" and explore the Web sites listed on pg. 33. From this information, write a multiparagraph essay summarizing the history of dressage.
  2. Prepare a chart selecting any two weaknesses of horses (or their riders) as mentioned in the article. Then describe on the chart how biomechanical analysis might be used to help correct the weaknesses.

"Every movement is geometry."
Whole-Class Interdisciplinary Project: Design an exercise plan for a person in a weightless environment. Use ordinary calisthenics or other simple exercises. Create a bulletin board showing how you could modify some basic exercises to make them effective in reduced gravity. (General hint: Weight can change, but springs and elastic cords operate the same as ever.)

"Measure each time your body jerks."
Small-Group Collaborative Project: Break the class into groups of approximately four students. Each group is assigned the task of observing, researching, and analyzing some aspect of animal movement not directly covered in the magazine (e.g., how birds fly, how snakes move, how fish swim). One student is responsible for print research, while another looks for video or Web-based clips of the animal in motion. A third student prepares visual aids, while a fourth organizes the presentation to the class.

"Print out your analyses."
Individual/Whole-Class Project: The goal of the class is to compile a booklet describing the first Weightless Olympic Games. Use a knowledge of biomechanics to describe weightless events, new sports, changes in existing sports, and the rules to accompany them. Print copies of the booklet for the school library as well as the students involved.

"That's how life in motion works."
Community Connection: Contact someone who works in either orthopedics or physical therapy to discuss the current use of biomechanics in health and medicine. For speakers, check with local medical and health associations, which often keep lists of available speakers. (Students may also be a source of community contacts through their parents.)

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Updated: 9/2/10 10:45 am
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