Is cross country skiing good exercise for children?

kids bicycle lessons image

Frankie

I just took my kids (age 7 and 10) out on the university of Alaska cross country ski trails. We had fun and went about a mile and half. How often should we do that? They have ski lessons for an hour each Thursday evening until Christmas. What are some other things we can do to help improve their skiing? We are trying to build up our endurance so we can go on a family cross country bicycle trip in August.

Answer
yes x-country is good for young children because it builds their endurance and strengthens their bones. this also helps with their courage. it can be frightening for some children so take it easy on the hills and what not

Will change in sitting position affect the speed of riding the bicycle, What practical canbe done to prove it?

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I have done a survey and over 80% responded yes to the above question. In order to prove it, I need to use physics to prove it.

I just want to know if you have any safe and suitable ideas which can allow students of the class to experiment this. I need to know the design of the experiment, variables, procedure and how and what will the graphs be?

Thanking You

Answer
You would have to look at the angle of the legs in relation to the pedals to get an idea of the actual force exerted. If the leg is exactly at right angles to the crank of the pedal for most of the time, there will be the greatest force and so be more efficient.
Constructing a model of a person seated on the bike would be the easiest way to demonstrate this and measure the angles etc. with different seat heights and sizes of frame , handlebars etc.
Flat models could easily be made from thick card with the moving parts fastened with paper clips . Kids could be given a photocopied template to trace onto card and then make the model themselves. Different positions, sizes could easily be found and then the project could then continue using protractors to measure angles .
You could make one for yourself out of clear perspex and put in on an overhead projector so that the whole class can see what variables you are going to measure
Graphs of two variables could be drawn - e.g. height of seat v angle of leg. with the optimium being at the 90 angle.
Should make an interesting project and keep them busy for a few lessons.
Good luck and have fun .

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