Are you constantly looking for exercises to practice science skills like graph and data analysis and CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning)? For me, it’s not that I can’t find science skills practice exercises – it’s that I can’t find relevant ones. Ones that my students can connect with. Ones that are fun to do. That’s why I produce my own science exercises – ones that try to connect science with current events and, now, national holidays too. And, for Bike-to-work week, which is coming up (depending on your country or state/province), I produced such a CER practice activity. Handouts (in the form of data sheets with colourful graphs based on recent Census data) is available for download at the end.

Using Bike-to-Work to practice Science Skills

Why produce a Bike-to-work activity to practice CER and other science skills? For one thing, most students know how to ride a bike. And, a lot of students ride bikes to where they need to go (bike, school, the mall, etc.) too. But, most importantly, everyone knows what a bike is and everyone can form an opinion about it too. The point of this activity is for students to come up with their own personal beliefs or claims about cycling to work. After, we have students analyse real data to see if it the results support their initial claims or whether they have to modify them.

Starting Bike-To-Work to start a class

The following is a quick outline of the steps I would probably do to use Bike-to-Work as science skills practice. I predict the activity would last roughly 15 to 20 minutes.

STEP 1:

[< 5 minutes]Tell students that it is Bike-to-Work day (or week). And, ask students how they get to school. Does anyone bike to school? Does anyone have a parent who bikes to work consistently?

STEP 2:

[~ 5 minutes] Next, tell students you have some census data regarding bike-to-work. Then, ask students to come up with some claims (use the word “facts” if it’s easier) they believe will be supported in the census data. If your students are stuck on what to write, ask them to answer the following:

• Which sex (male or female) tends to bike-to-work? If so, which sex tends to bike-to-work more? Why?
• Is biking to work age-dependent? If so, which age range (15-19, 20-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, or 55-64) tends to bike-to-work more frequently? Why?
• Do average commute times differ between age groups? If so, what’s the trend? For example, how is bike-to-work times dependent on age? Why?
• Do average commute distances differ between age groups? If so, what’s the trend? For example, how is bike-to-work distances dependent on age? Why?

STEP 3:

[5 – 8 minutes] After, have students look at the census data on the data sheet. Ask students, does the data support any of the claims you made? If so, which claim and which piece of evidence from the census data supports it? On the other hand, which of your original claims were wrong? What does the census data say instead? And, why do you think the reason behind the findings is?

For example…

Sample Graph based on Bike-to-Work data

STEP 4:

[3-5 minutes] Have students share their claims.

Times are approximations. And, in my classes, I would run this at the beginning of class as a bellringer or warm up activity.

Wrap Up

Finding interesting and relevant science exercises and graphs is always going to be challenging. Part of the challenge is finding something students find relevant. And, the other part of the challenge is finding nice graphs that tell a story. Hence, in this activity, I draw my data from census data. So much of the census data is not covered by the news. Yet, much of the data can be used to tell a story, such as the characteristics of a typical person who bikes to work. If you would like a copy of the data package, please click on the link below.

Until next time, keep it REAL.

Resources

Handout(s): 38 – A Story of Bike to Work

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