1. Teacher’s Sheet with Key
FROM SPROCKETS TO ROCKETS
THE PEDALING HISTORY BICYCLE MUSEUM
New York City, USA
PRE-VIEWING
ACTIVITY 1
Hand out a copy of the picture below to each student. Read the following
parts and ask students to circle them in the picture:
• Saddle
• Pedal
• Wheel
• Tire
• Brakes
• Handlebars

2. ACTIVITY 2
Explain to students that they are going to watch a video of the Pedaling
History Bicycle Museum. Ask them what kind of information they expect to
learn from the video. List their guesses on the board.
Are the following statements true of false? If you don’t know, make a guess.
( T ) The first bicycle was made of wood.
( T ) Bicycles were more important for the emancipation of women than the
Industrial Revolution.
( T ) Bicycles were used in wars.
( T ) In the 40’s, children used to ride radio bicycles.
( T ) The Wright brothers used bicycle parts to build their airplane.
WHILE-VIEWING
ACTIVITY 1
Play the video once so that sts can check their answers to the previous
exercise.
ACTIVITY 2
Play the video a second time. Students have to write two sentences under
each bicycle below:
1) The 1817 Draisienne.
2) The first bicycle that was ridden on two wheels.

3. 1) The “boneshaker”
2) It was the first boom machine with pedals.
3) That patent was first issued in 1866.
4) The bigger the wheel, the faster you would go and the more efficient
the machine was.
5) You had space for your knees to peddle.
6) Doing a header was the worst fear of anyone riding an ordinary high-
wheel bicycle.
7) These machines efficient as they were with their big wheel were very
dangerous, especially when you hit a pothole; sometimes this was
even fatal.
1) Schwiin made more Black Phantom bicycles than any other bicycle
they ever made.
2) And every kid that didn’t have one envied those that did.

4. 1) The classic children’s bicycle era from the 30’s to the 50’s was a
colorful time.
2) Huffy came out with the radio bicycle – the boom box on wheels.
1) Military use of bicycles started way back with the boneshaker.
2) Then it went into the time of the Spanish-American War.
POST-VIEWING
ACTIVITY 1
The teacher hands in the excerpt of the video script and asks students to
underline the sentences containing the passive voice structures.
Here we have the 1817 Draisienne, the first bicycle that was ridden on two
wheels. Primarily this machine is made of wood. It was almost 50 years later
before the word bicycle was put in the dictionary. But the boneshaker was the
first boom machine with pedals and that patent was first issued in 1866. The
bigger the wheel, the faster you would go and the more efficient the machine
was. Oh, I haven’t gotten on this a long time.

5. The teacher checks the answers and reviews the use of passive voice.
ACTIVITY 1
The teacher gives the students some slips containing active voice
sentences. Students work in pairs to come up with the correspondent
passive voice.
1) Schwiin made Black Phantom bicycles.
Black Phantom bicycles were made by Schwiin.
2) Huffy created the radio bicycle – the boom box on wheels.
The radio bicycle – the boom box on wheels – was created by
Huffy.
3) Soldiers rode bicycles during the Spanish-American War.
Bicycles were ridden during the Spanish-American War by
soldiers.
4) The museum displays more than 400 different bicycles.
More than 400 different bicycles are displayed in the museum.
5) People haven’t used the “boneshaker” for a long time.
The “boneshaker” hasn’t been used for a long time.
VIDEO SCRIPT
Hi, I’m Carl Burgwardt from the Pedaling History Bicycle Museum, in Orchard
Park, New York. Pedaling History is the world’s largest all bicycle museum.
There are over 400 bicycles on exhibit.
Here we have the 1817 Draisienne, the first bicycle that was ridden on two
wheels. Primarily this machine is made of wood. It was almost 50 years later
before the word “bicycle” was put in the dictionary. But the “boneshaker” was
the first boom machine with pedals and that patent was first issued in 1866.
The bigger the wheel, the faster you would go and the more efficient the
machine was. Oh, I haven’t gotten on this in a long time. Sitting on an

6. “ordinary” is just like sitting on a horse – your feet in the stirrups, your seat is
in the saddle and your hands are on the reins. Here’s the handlebar
mustache. You had space for your knees to peddle. Doing a header was the
worst fear of anyone riding an ordinary high-wheel bicycle. These machines
efficient as they were with their big wheel were very dangerous, especially
when you hit a pothole; sometimes this was even fatal.
Susan B. Anthony said that the bicycle was the greatest invention of the 19th
century for the emancipation of women. It gave them independence and
freedom of transportation without anyone hooking up a horse or carriage for
them. They were free to go on their own.
Military use of bicycles started way back with the boneshaker and then it went
into the time of the Spanish-American War when these bicycles were used.
The classic children’s bicycle era from the 30’s to the 50’s was a colorful time.
Huffy came out with the radio bicycle – the boom box on wheels. Schwiin
made more Black Phantom bicycles than any other bicycle they ever made.
And every kid that didn’t have one envied those that did.
All of our personal mechanical transportation today came from the bicycle -
even the airplane. Orville and Wilbur Wright, as well as Glenn Curtis, were
bicycle mechanics and took all their bicycle parts to the air.
Not until you come to this museum do you realize how we got where we are in
transportation today. It was the bicycle that started it all – from sprockets to
rockets.