As you answer the following questions, remember that there is no single correct response. Make sure you will be able to explain your reasoning when you share your thoughts with your group!

1. Identify at least six parts of the bicycle. If you don't know the name of a part, that's OK! Make up a name. Tell what function each part has.
2. The seat is one part of the bicycle. Tell me three words or phrases that describe the seat. Do any of these words or phrases also describe the whole bicycle?
3. Could any part of this bicycle be made of a different material and still help the bicycle carry out its function?
4. Can any one part of the bicycle carry out the job of the whole bicycle? Explain your answer.
5. What parts of the bicycle must work together if you want to ride around a corner?
6. Can you take a part from another bicycle and use it to replace a part in this bicycle, and still have the bicycle carry out its function?
7. Could some parts of the bicycle be arranged differently and the system still carry out its function? Explain your answer.
8. Can you identify any subsystems within the whole bicycle system? If so, describe one subsystem.
9. What will happen to the bicycle if one part, such as a spoke, breaks? What if all the spokes on a wheel break?
10. Does a bicycle fit our working definition of a system? Do we need to modify our working definition to make a bicycle fit our definition? If so, how?

This lesson was based on "Seeing the Cell as a System" from Project 2061. AAAS. 1997. Resources for Science Literacy: Professional Development. New York. Oxford University Press. Internet address: http://project2061.aaas.org/tools/rsl/index.html