FROM SPROCKETS TO ROCKETS THE PEDALING HISTORY BICYCLE MUSEUM

New York City, USA

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITY 1 Hand out a copy of the picture below to each student. Read the following parts and ask students to circle them in the picture:

• Saddle • Pedal • Wheel • Tire • Brakes • Handlebars

Teacher’sSheetwithKey

ACTIVITY 2 Explain to students that they are going to watch a video of the Pedaling History Bicycle Museum. Ask them what kind of information they expect to learn from the video. List their guesses on the board. Are the following statements true of false? If you don’t know, make a guess. ( T ) The first bicycle was made of wood. ( T ) Bicycles were more important for the emancipation of women than the Industrial Revolution. ( T ) Bicycles were used in wars. ( T ) In the 40’s, children used to ride radio bicycles. ( T ) The Wright brothers used bicycle parts to build their airplane. WHILE-VIEWING ACTIVITY 1 Play the video once so that sts can check their answers to the previous exercise. ACTIVITY 2 Play the video a second time. Students have to write two sentences under each bicycle below:

1) The 1817 Draisienne. 2) The first bicycle that was ridden on two wheels.

1) The “boneshaker” 2) It was the first boom machine with pedals. 3) That patent was first issued in 1866. 4) The bigger the wheel, the faster you would go and the more efficient

the machine was. 5) You had space for your knees to peddle. 6) Doing a header was the worst fear of anyone riding an ordinary high-

wheel bicycle. 7) These machines efficient as they were with their big wheel were very

dangerous, especially when you hit a pothole; sometimes this was even fatal.

1) Schwiin made more Black Phantom bicycles than any other bicycle

they ever made.

2) And every kid that didn’t have one envied those that did.

1) The classic children’s bicycle era from the 30’s to the 50’s was a

colorful time.

2) Huffy came out with the radio bicycle – the boom box on wheels.

1) Military use of bicycles started way back with the boneshaker.

2) Then it went into the time of the Spanish-American War.

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY 1 The teacher hands in the excerpt of the video script and asks students to underline the sentences containing the passive voice structures. Here we have the 1817 Draisienne, the first bicycle that was ridden on two

wheels. Primarily this machine is made of wood. It was almost 50 years later

before the word bicycle was put in the dictionary. But the boneshaker was the

first boom machine with pedals and that patent was first issued in 1866. The

bigger the wheel, the faster you would go and the more efficient the machine

was. Oh, I haven’t gotten on this a long time.

The teacher checks the answers and reviews the use of passive voice.

ACTIVITY 1 The teacher gives the students some slips containing active voice sentences. Students work in pairs to come up with the correspondent passive voice.

1) Schwiin made Black Phantom bicycles. Black Phantom bicycles were made by Schwiin.

2) Huffy created the radio bicycle – the boom box on wheels. The radio bicycle – the boom box on wheels – was created by Huffy.

3) Soldiers rode bicycles during the Spanish-American War. Bicycles were ridden during the Spanish-American War by soldiers.

4) The museum displays more than 400 different bicycles. More than 400 different bicycles are displayed in the museum.

5) People haven’t used the “boneshaker” for a long time. The “boneshaker” hasn’t been used for a long time.

VIDEO SCRIPT Hi, I’m Carl Burgwardt from the Pedaling History Bicycle Museum, in Orchard

Park, New York. Pedaling History is the world’s largest all bicycle museum.

There are over 400 bicycles on exhibit.

Here we have the 1817 Draisienne, the first bicycle that was ridden on two

wheels. Primarily this machine is made of wood. It was almost 50 years later

before the word “bicycle” was put in the dictionary. But the “boneshaker” was

the first boom machine with pedals and that patent was first issued in 1866.

The bigger the wheel, the faster you would go and the more efficient the

machine was. Oh, I haven’t gotten on this in a long time. Sitting on an

“ordinary” is just like sitting on a horse – your feet in the stirrups, your seat is

in the saddle and your hands are on the reins. Here’s the handlebar

mustache. You had space for your knees to peddle. Doing a header was the

worst fear of anyone riding an ordinary high-wheel bicycle. These machines

efficient as they were with their big wheel were very dangerous, especially

when you hit a pothole; sometimes this was even fatal.

Susan B. Anthony said that the bicycle was the greatest invention of the 19th

century for the emancipation of women. It gave them independence and

freedom of transportation without anyone hooking up a horse or carriage for

them. They were free to go on their own.

Military use of bicycles started way back with the boneshaker and then it went

into the time of the Spanish-American War when these bicycles were used.

The classic children’s bicycle era from the 30’s to the 50’s was a colorful time.

Huffy came out with the radio bicycle – the boom box on wheels. Schwiin

made more Black Phantom bicycles than any other bicycle they ever made.

And every kid that didn’t have one envied those that did.

All of our personal mechanical transportation today came from the bicycle -

even the airplane. Orville and Wilbur Wright, as well as Glenn Curtis, were

bicycle mechanics and took all their bicycle parts to the air.

Not until you come to this museum do you realize how we got where we are in

transportation today. It was the bicycle that started it all – from sprockets to

rockets.