TowardsIntegrated

K12STEM
Education:A
WheelchairSport
Context
TheParalympicMovementbuildsabridge
whichlinkssportwithsocialawareness
thuscontributingtothedevelopmentofa
moreequitablesocietywithrespectand
equalopportunitiesforallindividuals.
InternationalParalympicCommitteeStrategicPlan,20112014
TheFollowingStatementDoesNot
MentionSTEMEducation
TechnologyHasThePotentialto
ImproveLives
DominicNolan,Manager,STEM
Curricula,at
theRoyalAcademyof
Engineering(UK)hasprovided
accesstoanumberof
resourcesthatareusedin
someofthefollowingslides
WinningMedals:DoesEngineering
DesignMakeaDifference?
TheBigQuestion:Does
EngineeringDesignMakea
Difference?
The success of an athlete is the result
of many hours of training, dedication
and sacrifice.
In the case of wheelchair athletes,
there is an added dimension the work
of the team who designed the
wheelchair.
So, when a wheelchair athlete wins
a medal, to what extent has
engineering design made a
difference to his/her performance?
Shelly Woods
Silver medal in the womens marathon
(T12-L1), London 2012.
Photograph courtesy of BAE Systems plc.
AQuickIntroductiontoWheelchair
Sport
BostonMarathon
AQuickIntroductiontoWheelchair
Sport
London 2012 wheelchair rugby (1:19 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1_aUAGvWK4
Shelly Woods
Racing to the finish line (2:19 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wwHCJZCUrA&feature=relmfu
Setting goals along the way (1:58 min)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLRS4JRWmU&feature=relmfu
There are different wheelchair designs
http://www.draftwheelchairs.com
1960s-style
wheelchair
modern basketball
wheelchair
modern track
wheelchair
AQuickIntroductiontoWheelchair
Sport
APracticalIntegratedSTEM
Challenge
(Design and) make a 1:10 scale model track wheelchair
20 mm
100 mm
APracticalIntegratedSTEM
Challenge
APracticalIntegratedSTEM
Challenge
How far can you launch a model (track) wheelchair?
How straight can you make a model (track) wheelchair travel?
Test track Launcher
Track barriers
Octopus strap
C/G clamps/cramps
Medals (targets)
GoingBacktotheBigQuestion:
DoesEngineeringDesignMakea
Difference?
Some possible sub-questions
Why do you think the wheels of performance wheelchairs are
cambered (angled)?
What aspects of STEM do you think this design feature is based on?
How much of a difference do you think cambering the wheels makes?
SomeCarEnthusiastsarealsoInto
CamberedWheels!
WinningMedals:Does
EngineeringDesignMakea
Difference?
Thisresourcemaybeusedto
addressanumberofscienceand
mathematicsconceptsforarange
ofgradelevelsusingasocially
relevantrealworldcontext
Inertia
(Lateral)stability
Mass(weight)
Moment
Momentum
Newtonslaws
Pointofeffort
Speed
(Tangential)velocity
Torque
Turningmoment
(advantage)
SomeKeyScienceConcepts
Acceleration(linear
androtational)
Axis
Centreofrotation(of
amass)
Energy(kineticand
potential)
Equationsofmotion
Force
Friction
Fulcrum(pivotpoint)
Gravity
Impulse
Angles(inatriangle)
Arc
Average
Calculus
Circle
Circumference
Cosine
Cycle
Distance
Graph
SomeKeyMathematicsConcepts
Frequency(Hertz)
Hypotenuse
Inclination
Integration
Measurement
Outliers
Rightangletriangles
Parallelandperpendicular
(force)components
Protractor
Pythagorastheorem
Quadrant
Repetitionrate
Scale
Sector
Sine
Slope
Speed
Stopwatch
Tangent
Trigonometry
SomeKeyMathematicsConcepts
Vectors
Weight
Homcntum = m:
Impulsc( [) = F
ug
t
Potcntiol cncrgy = mgb
Kinctic cncrgy =
1
2
m:
2
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
Acceleration (linear or rotational)
This athlete needs to change
direction quickly in response to the
motion of a ball or other athletes
Athletes are competing
with others for straight-line
speed (from a start at rest)
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
Torque (Nm) = force (N) x distance (m)
In order to accelerate, the athlete needs the help of a torque, which is a moment (a particular application of [upper-body
muscle] force in a rotational or twisting fashion) used to rotate an object about an axis or pivot point (fulcrum)
Track: The distance between the points at which a wheelchairs two tyres
touch the ground.
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
Wheelchairforplayingbasketball Wheelchairforeverydayuse
(Negatively) cambering (angling) a wheelchair's wheels increases its track.
How much bigger is the basketball wheelchairs track?
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
sin 2u
o
=
x |cm]
S4.S |cm]
x = 12 |cm]
Tiack = 6u + 2x = 6u + 69 sin 2u
o

= 84[cm]
How much bigger is the basketball wheelchairs track?
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
Cambering and turning moment advantage
Negatively cambering a wheelchair's wheels increases its track and creates a
turning moment advantage, which makes it more manoeuvrable (agile).
This time the distance in the above equation is the measurement between
the centre of rotation of the wheelchair and the point at which the wheel
touches the ground.
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
Turning moment (Nm) = force (N) x distance (m)
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
Turning moment (Nm) = force (N) x distance (m)
Note that a 40% of additional turning moment is caused when the 69 cm
diameter wheels of a wheelchair are cambered by 20 degrees. This means
that the athlete can change direction at a rate 40% higher when she/he
applies a sudden muscle force to the hand-rims of the wheelchair. This is a
huge gain in rotational acceleration and hence manoeuvrability and agility.
30 cm ruler
TheScienceandMathematicsof
SportWheelchairDesign
As stated earlier, the Winning Medals: Does Engineering Design Make a
Difference? resource briefly described in this presentation provides many
more explicit connections to science and mathematics concepts.
http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/other/winningmedalsteacherversion
http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/other/winningmedalsstudentversion
http://www.raeng.org.uk/education/schools/teaching-and-learning-resources/curriculum-resources
Ourcontactdetails
http://www.utas.edu.au/stem
Bernardo.LeondelaBarra@utas.edu.au
Noleine.Fitzallen@utas.edu.au