Evaluation

Today, I have completed my final presentation, which is in the form of a comic strip. However, this comic strip is not very informative, so it is a good thing that I will be able to present it, talking about what I did up to this point.

This project didn't seem very interesting at the start, as all we did was research, research, research. I wouldn't have minded that so much, but we also had to do these thinking processes which limited our freedom. Instead of: think - research - record, it was: think - check thinking process - change thinking process - research - record. This was not very convenient.

End of the morning

It is the end of the second period, and I have pretty much finished my comic strip. At the start of period three, I will be preparing my presentation.

Change of Final presentation

My first idea was to make a commercial, but the videos taken were not compatible with movie maker, so instead I am making a comic strip.

Poll Results

I made two polls, asking people why they thought a bicycle was good, and what a bicycle beats a car in. Overall, the bicycle was best in environmentally friendly factors, and for saving money. These are practical factors, but don't directly relate to transportation. The car, however, easily won speed, which is very relevant to transportation.

More statistics, and clearing things up

You may think that comparing the bicycle with other vehicles is totally irrelevant, but many of our judgments that are made are in comparison. For example: if you lived in a totally sterile, white, clean room all your life, the moment you stepped out into the world, you would think it was dirty, even if it wasn't. Therefore, our idea of good transportation all depends on the boundaries of transportation today.

Back to the subject

Apparently, auto-mobiles use less that 5% of the energy that is given to move the actual passenger(s), and the other 95% is used to more the actual vehicle. Compare a car with a bike, and you will see how light a bike seems. In fact, humans weigh only slightly more than a bike.

Unseen advantages

I've already been researching the bicycle for two whole days, and yet it seems that I still haven't found all the advantages of the bicycle.

When researching, I found this website:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/143972/the_bicycle_a_convenient_ride.html?cat=27

It talked all about the advantages of bicycles, using three times less energy than walking, but at the same time going four times as fast, the bicycle promotes an Eco-friendly attitude whilst reducing traffic and road accidents! Betcha never thought of a bike in that sort of light!

New research

According to: http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et1199/et1199s13.html, some scientists researched how much energy was lost as heat when pedaling. The worst result was 19% of energy lost, and the best was 1.4% lost!

Environmental factors

In widening my range, I came across the idea of environmental friendliness. Because of these many aspects, I will only cover them lightly in my final product.

Back to the subject. In comparison to cars, bicycles are of course more environmentally friendly. But what about compared to trains? Trains are less polluting, but bicycles still win.

Bicycle safety

It turns out that when it comes to safety, bicycles and cars have something in common. The bicycles usually crash with cars. You may not think so, if you ride in a park, but remember, I am talking about transportation, not for fun.

When you travel by bike, you take the same roads as cars, but just to the side of the road for safety. Therefore, most of the accidents would be with cars. Of course, you are more likely to be damaged on a bike then in a car. So safety might be an issue when using a bicycle as a good form of transport.

More in depth

I now will look at safety in a more in depth way, once again using comparison.

Which is more serious, a car crash or a bicycle crash? Obviously a car crash! However, when riding a bicycle, I believe that you are more likely to get into an accident than in a car. This is just a quick glance though, I may have to look at what factors are there in safety.

Another new Aspect

Of course, how could I forget this important topic. It plays such a huge role in our life: MONEY.

Once again, comparing a bicycle with a car, a car is a gas-guzzling, money-wasting machine, whilst for a bicycle all you need is food to move you on and determination in your heart. It's easy to see that a bike is cheaper to buy and use, so why do people choose cars? Well, it's faster, and it's more comfortable! People don't want to be pedaling everywhere they go, so why not just sit and relax? In the end, the car is a worthy opponent!

Short interview

I interviewed the same biker that I had interviewed before, but this time asking him what bugs him when he bikes. He replied that it is tiring, and that the seat is uncomfortable. The solution: take a rest, and tie a pillow to your seat.

A new aspect

I just realized a new aspect to look at, danger. However, this may be irrelevant as I am looking at how bicycles are used as transport, and you usually hurt yourself when biking for fun, not for travel. However, it is still not uncommon for you to get blisters and cuts when biking. This is good for a negative point.

The negative points

A while back I mentioned that I would try to look at the negative side of the bicycle, but when I tried to research the negative sides, it turned out that there hardly are any! I could only find one, and that was a urban myth....

I think that I will try to get people's opinions on it before I decide that bicycles are 'perfect'.

Comparison 1

First comparison, is with a car. The results are surprising, showing that although a bicycle can't travel nearly half as fast as a car, it is in a whole league of it's own when looking at efficiency. The bicycle's direct form of transferring energy means that almost all of the energy is used to propel you forward, 90% to be exact. The car however, only uses 25% of the energy given, because of it's size and weight. The same energy used to ride a bike for 1 km would only take a car 20 meters, meaning that you would need 50 times more energy to propel a car the same distance as a bike. In fact, the bike takes less energy to travel 1km than a train, a horse, or a person walking!

Info from http://www.learniacs.com/how-does-a-bicycle-work

Widening my range

Since my new question focuses only on the bicycle, my range is lessened. In order to increase this I have decided to compare the bicycle with other vehicles, both muscle and engine powered.

The technical side of a bicycle

A bicycle may not be the fastest form of transport, but since it relies on you to pedal (or turn) the pedals, the circular force is directly transferred into the wheels, allowing you to move forward without any extra complicated processes, unlike a car, which requires the engine to burn fuel.

Six Thinking Hats

Red Hat: The inquiry does not include enough practical work, meaning that it is quite dull.
White Hat: I could present as a leaflet.
Yellow Hat: The blogging is new to me, and I have taken an interest in it.
Black Hat: The inquiry has too many evaluations and thinking processes. I think that we should be able to learn on our own accord, and not follow the sheet all the time.
Green Hat: I could compare the bicycle with other vehicles to widen my range.
Blue Hat: I want to have learned more about how a bicycle works by the end of today, I believe it will help me come to a proper conclusion.

Change of question

The question has now been changed to: 'How is the Bicycle practical for transportation'.

Looking the other way

I have realized that I was focusing too much on the good points of the bicycle, so instead I will try to look at the negative points for a while.

History of the Skateboard

The skateboard was first invented in 1950, much after the bicycle, meaning that good forms of transport were already available, so new ones were no longer needed. That meant that it was highly unlikely that skateboards were meant as a form of transport, which is backed up by the fact that (I have already mentioned this) skateboards were invented because surfers wanted to 'surf' on land.

Origins of the bicycle

The first designs for the bicycle was made in 1490, by one of Leonardo Da Vinci's students. Apparently, the bicycle was not made then because human powered vehicles were not a practical form of TRANSPORT, meaning that the bicycle was made not for fun, but for transport. The next bicycles focused on the factors of speed and practicality, and one was even fashioned as a carriage, which obviously indicated that the bicycle was made to be a better form of transport.

Researching the History

Although I have already made a conclusion, I still think that I can look deeper into this subject. To do this I will have to research the History of the bicycle and the skateboard, to find out why they were invented. I already mentioned the origins of the skateboard, but that is just one person's opinion.

Foc using more on the Opinion

This question is more of a judgment question, so I interviewed two people, one biker, and one skateboarder. The skateboarder gave the answers I expected, skating for fun and style doing tricks, instead of just cruising along the streets.

The biker gave a little unexpected response, saying that he likes to go out and ride his bike not for the adrenaline rush, but to look at the scenery and enjoy the breeze on his face. That is strange, because on my previous survey it showed that 30% of the people preferred bicycles to skateboards because of the speed, and not how it makes you feel cool.

By the end of today...

By the end of today, I want to have created some more questions that will help me analyze in more depth.

Conclusion...for now

With all the information that I have gathered, I have come to the following conclusions:

1. The bicycle is more popular throughout my class
2. Most people do not know how to skateboard
3. People who can't skateboard find bicycles faster and safer
4. 15% of my class prefers skateboards
5. People in my class think that bicycles are not cooler or have a better style than skateboards
6. My first survey was biased, because not many people in my class skateboard
7. If you want to travel conveniently, you should choose a bicycle
8. If you want to travel in style, at the risk of your like, you should choose a skateboard
   

More detailed survey

Since my question way 'WHY are bicycles better than Skateboards...', and i had already confirmed that Bikes are better, i needed to find out WHY. I made a more detailed survey, with 20 people once again, and it turns out that people find it safer, faster, and funner, meaning that skateboards are cooler and have a better style. Three people thought that bikes are not better.

Results of Survey

My own assumptions would not be enough evidence, so I interviewed 20 people in the class. The option Bicycle won by a landslide (15 to 5). I then changed the question so it was a matter of speed, but the results changed to (16 to 4). Of course, this might only be because that most people in my class do not know how to skateboard, so they simply choose the bicycle option.

What is a skateboard good for?

Skateboards are much more complicated than I thought. Some skateboards have carbon fibre panels molded into them for 'impact support' so they wont snap when put under pressure. This is obviously good for doing tricks and jumps, but is this also suitable for a rocky outdoor road? I think that it would be if you could figure how to stay on.

Structure of a Bicycle

According to http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5743543.html?query=bicycle&stemming=on, a bicycle is basically: A bicycle includes a first bicycle body, a connecting frame and a second bicycle body. The first bicycle body includes a vertical seat post for mounting a seat, and a first joint member provided on the seat post. The connecting frame extends longitudinally and rearwardly from the first bicycle body, and has a front end with a second joint member to be releasably connected to the first joint member, and a rear forked end with a pair of separate first connecting portions. The second bicycle body includes a top tube and a bottom tube, both of which respectively have ends forming second connecting portions. The second connecting portions are respectively connected to the first connecting portions. The first connecting portions are fastened to the second connecting portions.

We all know that a bicycle has two wheels, whilst a skateboard has four. Shouldn't that mean that a skateboard is easier to handle? However, a bicycle has a seat, and a skateboard is just a plank of wood to stand on. Hmmm, I guess that means that you should choose a bicycle over a skateboard for long distances. So then what are skateboards good for?

Skateboard research results

According to http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_was_skateboarding_invented, the skateboard is actually an adapted version of the surfboard, when the water got to cold and inconvenient. Since surfing is a form of entertainment, that means that so is skateboarding. However, surfers and surf pretty fast, but rely on the power of waves. On land, there are no waves, so human power is used, and in a very primitive way, unlike the complicated gear system of bicycles. So far, bicycle is still in the lead.

Bicycle Research Results

It turns out that the bicycle was made originally for jobs such as mail delivery, paramedics, scouting and patrol, and racing. This means that the bicycle was designed especially for speed and distance. So far the bicycle seems to be more convenient, but why?

Starting Research

My first step is to research the basic structure of the bicycle and the skateboard. From then I can determine what they are adapted to do.

Why am I interested in this?

I am interested in skateboards and bicycles because I used to ride bicycles a lot as a child, and many of my classmates and currently into skateboards.

Prompt Questions

Prompt questions for students

1. Does your question start with a how or a why (not a what?) Yes, How are bicycles more convenient for travel than skateboards, if they even are?

2. Look at Bloom’s taxonomy: which level do you think you will need to reach to complete your inquiry? Level 4

a. Why? The question is a matter of opinion, so analysis will play a huge role, instead of physical evidence.

b. Which level do you think you will work at for most of the time? I think I will look at Understanding and Analysis.

c. If your inquiry only requires you to increase your Knowledge of your area, how could you change the question to allow you to move beyond just finding information? I could interview people about their opinions

3. What sources will you need to use to complete your inquiry properly? I will interview people who skateboard and ride bicycles.

a. What primary sources will you use? I will ask people, and research on the internet.

b. If your inquiry does not give you the chance to use any primary sources, how could you change it so that it does? I will change it so that it is: How are bicycles more convenient for travel than skateboards, in people’s opinions.

4. What action could you take as a result of the inquiry.

a. Will it lead to possible changes in your life or the lives of others? If I ever buy a bicycle or skateboard, this will help me decide

b. What changes might it lead to? There wouldn’t be many…