Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Bicycles

I may have stretched the science limits on boxes just a little, but I still think they are an awesome learning tool for babies and young children.  Now, I'll convince you that the bike that comes in the box is also science!

Major science points:
*Transfer of energy (metabolic to kinetic)
*Kinetics and kinematics (fancy terms for motion)
*Newton's first law (an object in motion stays in motion - until an outside force, ie. brakes, parked cars, bushes, etc., acts upon it)
*Balance and coordination
*Anatomy - we ALWAYS need to wear helmets to protect our brains.  We might want to use padding on other non-cushioned areas of the body, like the elbows, knees, or shins.

Major engineering points:
*Bike design - point out the parts of the bikes and what each part does
*Bike maintenance - how to take care of your bike so you can ride it for a long time
*How many wheels does your bike have?  Does it act differently if you have a different number of wheels (for example, training wheels vs. no training wheels)

Other important things to discuss (not really science):
*We always wear our helmets, or we don't ride bikes.
*We do not bike without Mommy or Daddy/responsible adult around.
*We always stop and pull to the side if there's a car in motion until the responsible adult says it's ok to go back riding.

Mainly, I wanted to show you that a two year old can ride a two-wheeler (queue proud Mommy moment):


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