Tour de France in the classroom?

[nigelnorris]

I'm a maths teacher, recently enthused about cycling beyond my commute, and it's just occured to me that the TdF contains sooooo much footage that I could use in lessons that it's going to be too good an opportunity to miss.

Everything from basic stuff like ratio (gears, climbs), probability (odds etc), measures (miles/km, map scales), plus whatever I can come up with in the next couple of weeks. Exotic locations, race excitement, even for my jaded lot there must be tons of fun to be had.

It's the end of term and I'm pretty much unconstricted by government imposed schemes of work etc, so anything goes.

I have fully interactive IT facilities at my disposal, any kind of multimedia we can think of. I can show live footage when it's availlable from say BBC news feeds plus any recorded stuff I can find. If I can find a feed I could show every single stage start to finish and base whole days around them class by class.

Ideas more than welcome - let your imaginations run wild guys and gals, help me enthuse some 11-16 year olds and get some learning done at the same time.

 

[fossyant]

The girls will most likely be a bit 'not happy', and 80% of the lads....... believe you me....

Fortunately for me, my son and daughter are 'brain washed'......doesn't work on the missus though...left it too late....

My son saw my 'Official Guide' and he said..oh great is it on soon...... he thought the fold out maps etc were ace...... might get him to fill in the positions each day....he'd love that.........

 

[cheadle hulme]

Gradients - percentages and ratios - and get them to simulate what they think it equates to in real life.

I can see it now, Mont Ventoux using a mtere rule and an assortment of text books....

 

[montage]

speed = distance over time?

Then sit them through the TT stages

 

[nigelnorris]

I'm not sure that I agree that this is gender specific. Frankly I think that all of them will be unimpressed at first, but I do think that there is the potential to make an impression with one or two sprint finishes, impress them with flashy colours and some background vids of Monaco, a few big yachts etc.

It's the glamour of the thing that might pull them in is what I'm hoping. Just need a hook of some sort to grab them intially, maybe the rest will follow.

And textbooks = definitely fail, but google maps and real life footage might carry it through

 

[montage]

I'm not sure that I agree that this is gender specific. Frankly I think that all of them will be unimpressed at first, but I do think that there is the potential to make an impression with one or two sprint finishes, impress them with flashy colours and some background vids of Monaco, a few big yachts etc.

It's the glamour of the thing that might pull them in is what I'm hoping. Just need a hook of some sort to grab them intially, maybe the rest will follow.

Cover a few sports?
Running, sailing, rowing.....that way more people will be interested.
Try and give them a subconscious message that cycling is the best though

 

[Noodley]

Cover a few sports?

Shut up you muppet

It's THE Tour. Not some namby pamby no point to it run of the mill I can jump a wee bit or run a wee bit fast nonsense. It's THE Tour.

Jesus H Christ!

It's a legend event, it is stunning, the suffering is immeasurable, the physical demands can ruin a body, the mere mention of it can have grown men crumbling, caps are doffed, mountains are revered, speeds are beyond comprehension, it is the greatest spectator sport in the world....I could go on if you want, or even if you don't!

In reply to the OP - maybe give a brief outline of the event and what it involves and ask the pupils what way it can be related to maths....get them thinking about it in practical terms rather than doing what you tell them to think they should be? Might bring out some interesting discussion...

 

[buggi]

you could do a cycling competition like i do at work. we have a commuting competition betweeen about 12 of us, based on the Tour rules (and a few made up ones!) and we give prizes at the end (yellow, green, polka dot jersey). if you PM me your email i can forward my spreadsheet on to you so that you can see how it works.

 

[surfgurl]

You've reminded me to pass on the dates from the Tour of Britain in September to the teachers in my school. The route passes the school gates. I plan to have all the kids out there waving flags as they speed passed. Of course that's once the kids have finished a scheme of work based on cycling and the Tour in all curriculum areas

 

[Noodley]

...as they speed passed.

as they speed past...

 

[summerdays]

I think its great what you are doing - my daughter who was always good at maths in her junior school, has had a fantastic teacher in her secondary school who seems to go on little diversions using maths in the real world all the time. She has enjoyed this so much she (in Y9) is already talking about doing A-level maths, and is sitting her GCSE early.

I think whilst the girls may not be enthusiastic about the subject of cycling, the fact that its applying it to real life will get them... but maybe have a couple of competitions running too?

 

[gavintc]

Spelling is so last year. It is expression that counts

 

[iLB]

yes you can do a real life application of trigonometry, measuring the height of the major peaks, o how i hated trig- make them suffer

 

[mangaman]

I think it's a great idea - don't let people's negative comments put you off!

You need to pick your stages - try not to show them 2 hours of a flat stage

Obviously go for Ventoux / mountain top finishes

Gearing would be excellant - you could even simplify the numbers a bit. Even I find the gear ratios on bikes a tad complex, but the principle of the thing could be explained using more round numbers.

Then pick 2 riders going up the Ventoux - one churning a massive gear and a little climber dancing on the pedals in a lower gear and both going at the same speed

Also you could ask why they ride in a peloton - ie introduce the principles of wind resistance / friction etc (I haven't got it available, but the power saved by a team leader surrounded by his team on a flat stage is enormous)

Even if people think the kids wont like the TDF as a race, I bet most of them will have a bike, so try to relate some of the info to how they could ride faster themselves (eg by more efficient use of gears)

That's just off the top of my head

Also try and get a stage finish with Cav winning a sprint. They'd love that. Cycling as a contact sport / lots of excitement / British winner with a bit of "attitude". You might get a few converts

 

[yello]

My take; the children work in teams and it's kind of like a board game except you may be able to do something clever with your smart board. Each team has one rider and a fixed amount of 'energy' they can spend on that rider. They have to calculate how much energy to spend to climb mountains whilst making sure they leave enough to finish and, if they want, win the sprint finish. Spend more energy = faster.

You could add complexities like the different compeitions/jerseys; general classification for accumulated time (yellow jersey), points for winning stages/sprints (green jersey) etc etc etc. Depends on the age of the kids (and the amount of time you have!), as to just how complex you make it. I reckon it could be quite fun and involve some quite clever planning and maths.