Courses:

Chemistry of Sports >> Content Detail



Syllabus



Syllabus

Topics covered in this course are available in the calendar below.



Course Overview


We are starting a new seminar this spring that will help students relate the Chemistry GIR (General Institute Requirement) to sports! In this pilot experiment we will be focusing on three sports, swimming, cycling and running. There will be two components to the seminar, a classroom and a laboratory.



Classroom


The classroom component will introduce the students to the chemistry of their own biological system. We will be looking at nutrition (to understand how to fuel and rebuild your body), anatomy and physiology (to better build your system) and also how the body can be improved (or hurt) through physical activities. To better understand the three sports, we will examine the chemistry of equipment and the event, including: swimming (wetsuit making, swimsuit manufacturing, how chlorine affects you), bicycling (including a field trip to a bicycle shop), and running (hopefully including a guest speaker to come and talk to us about how running shoes are manufactured). We will also look at ways your body deals with exercise through building up and repair of muscles, improvement in lung and cardiovascular capacity and the chemistry of supplements and their effectiveness.



Laboratroy


Since we are looking at swimming, running and cycling as our sample sports, we will apply the classroom knowledge to complete a triathlon. Students will earn PE (physical education) credits if post-seminar they complete the Mooseman Triathlon (either the Olympic for 2 PE credits or half-Ironman for 4 PE credits) in New Hampshire in early June. We will be having a pre-and post cardiovascular, body mass index (BMI), and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2) testing as well as a general fitness evaluation done at the Z center. With some help from some guest triathlete speakers, we will provide sample 16-week training schedules to help the students complete their PE credit.

This plans on being an exciting way for students to study and apply chemistry knowledge to the improvement of their biological systems.



Course Goals


  • Apply the principles of chemistry to studying sports. These principles include: atomic and molecular interactions, thermodynamics, acid/base chemistry, bonding, electrochemistry

  • There will be weekly reading of scientific literature related to the topic of the week

  • Understand the chemistry of their own biological system through observations written in a training journal

  • Study the science of a triathlon (swim, bike, run) from molecular/chemical/biological point of view

  • Improve your own personal fitness level by training for the Mooseman triathlon (either Olympic distance or half-Ironman) and earn PE credit or by maintaining you own exercise program.


Grades


This 6 unit seminar is pass/fail. Extra 2 units or 4 units of PE credit are available if you complete either the Olympic or Half-Ironman Mooseman Triathlon.



Training Journals


Part of research is to document your experiments. Since you are using your own body as the experimental device, you need to document how the experiment is going. You will keep a training journal throughout the term. Please see assignments for more detailed instructions.



Recommended Citation


For any use or distribution of these materials, please cite as follows:

Patti Christie, course materials for SP.235 Chemistry of Sports, Spring 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].



Calendar



WEEK #TOPICSSUBTOPICS
1Introduction

Talk about triathlon

Sign up for fitness evaluations

2Basic systems of your bodyOrgans including cardiovascular, breathing, nervous system, skeletal
3Training your body

Lungs, muscle, and repair and maintenance of body

Glucosamine and other joint lubricants

4Nutrition and fueling your body

Picking the best training food

How to determine how much you need to eat each day

5Energy

How to rebuild your body after a workout

Glucosamnie and other joint lubricants

6Science of swimming

Wetsuit making

How chlorine affects you (why do you wear goggles, how does your hair turn green), chlorine removal products

Swimming in cold versus warm water

Guest speaker: Mechanics of swimming (Bill Paine, coach of MIT masters swimming)

7Science of running and shoes

Correct form, how it is important to minimize damage

Guest speaker: How running shoes are designed and manufactured

8Sports drinks, caffeine, alcohol, and their effect on exerciseField trip to a bicycle shop
9Inside your head

Competition and what it does to your brain and body

Guest speaker: Dr. Holly Sweet

10Chemistry of clothing

Looking at the manufacture of swim suits through the years

Running gear and cycling gear

11Sports scandals

Illegal substances and how they test for them

Affects on your body: Anabolic steroids, erythropoietin (EPO)

12Tapering
13Triathlon logisticsGuest speaker: Doing a triathlon
14Chemistry in other sports

Do another set of testing to see how improved your system is

Course evaluation

15-16Continue training
17Race day!

 








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