WEBQUEST
Body Biology: Running
Starring
You and Your Students!
Script By
Vicki Cobb, Education World Science Editor
Synopsis
Measure the difference between walking and running.
Genre
The Human Body, Biology
Required Props
a dusty track
a measuring tape
a stopwatch
a rake
Stage Direction
You will need to do this on a dusty track where you can clearly see the marks made by
footprints.
Setting the Scene (Background)
Science is everywhere, and I love bringing that message home. This activity has a lot going
for it: It's personal (every kid can discover something about himself or herself), it's active and
can be done outside, and it can be a collaborative effort between you and your PE teacher.
Plot
Act I
Have your students measure their walking strides. To do this, have them walk on a dusty
track so that they leave a clearly defined footprint. (You may have to rake the surface before
they do this.) Then use a measuring tape to measure the distance between one toe and the
other or one heel and the other. Next have them run and measure their strides. Is the walking
stride different from the running stride?
Act II
Now measure the frequency of a stride. Count the number of steps for a measured distance
(for example, between two telephone poles or a quarter of the way around a track). Use a
stopwatch to time the event. Is there a difference in frequency between walking and running?
Act III
Have two kids race. Do earlier measurements of stride length and stride frequency predict the
winner?
Behind the Scenes
When it comes to running, humans are far from being the fastest creatures on Earth. The
cheetah is the fastest running animal on Earth. Its speed has been clocked at more than 70
miles per hour. But the cheetah can only sprint for about a minute before stopping to rest and
recover.
The best runner on Earth is the American pronghorn antelope. It can run about 60 miles per
hour -- faster than the 45 miles per hour of a great racehorse -- and it can keep up that pace
for more than ten minutes. Scientists have studied pronghorns to see how they do it.
Pronghorn antelopes are able to get and use more oxygen when they are running than any
other animal.
To help you understand that finding Have you ever noticed how your muscles "burn" when
you've been running for what seems like a long time? The burn means your muscles are out
of oxygen.
The fastest human comes nowhere close in a race with a cheetah or antelope. The world
sprinting record is 10.352 meters per second or about 23 miles an hour. A marathoner tries to
average about 5 miles an hour. It seems that in order to be fast, you have to strike the ground
hard. This lets runners increase two things needed to be speedy -- the length of the stride and
how often they take a step (stride frequency).
The End
There's a lot more on the biomechanics of walking and running in my new series Where's the
Science Here?: Sneakers published by Lerner Books.
Article By Vicki Cobb
Education World
Copyright 2005 Education World
FLOWCHART
GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
POLITICAL MAP
COMMERCIAL/ECONOMICAL MAP
FISHBONE DIAGRAM
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
CARTOON SKETCHING
STRIP DRAWING
COMPARE AND CONTRAST MAP
STREAM
CHART
PARETO CHART
TREE DIAGRAM
TIME CHART
PHYSICAL MAP
GANTT CHART
RELIEF MAP
BAR GRAPH
PIE GRAPH
