After this activity, students should be able to:

1. Present the sports available for today's activities and have students discuss the most common foot motions used in the sports.
2. Have 2-3 students do a sport one at a time. They can shoot baskets, swing a baseball bat, jog, dribble a soccer ball, or do track or field events such as the long jump. As each student participates, have the rest of the groups observe the actual motions. Answer questions such as:

• How do their feet move?
• If your sneaker could have special qualities for that sport what would they be?
• What suggestions do you have for how their shoes could be changed to match the movements for that sport?

3. After all students have tried a sport, have them compare the motions they predicted would be most common to the ones they observed happening.
4. Lead a discussion focused on what type of properties the sneaker should have to be best for this sport. Should it be flexible or stiff, slippery or sticky, bouncy or firm? Refer to the attached What Makes Up Your Sneaker? diagram that introduces some terminology and features commonly associated with the design of athletic shoes.
5. Have students do the sport again, with the rest of the group calling out what would be good for the sneaker to be doing as the sport example plays out in front of them. Have one team member record observations and ideas for each sport.
6. Move to the next sport and repeat.
7. After all the sports have been done, have students discuss the differences between them. How do the motions differ? What qualities are needed in the sneaker to help these motions?
8. Select one sport. With the ideal sneaker in mind, choose the person in your group who is wearing sneakers most like the ideal one. Have this student try the activity, discussing how easy or difficult different parts of it are such as starting, stopping, turning and jumping.
9. Have students compare shoes. (optional) Pass around the inexpensive canvas sneaker (and other athletic shoes such as soccer cleats). Compare shoes among classmates. How are the bottoms different? Smoother? Rougher? How does the amount of cushioning and support compare? What does the group think is the advantage(s) of each particular shoe feature?
10. Conclude with a discussion about how the students acted as engineers.

1. Have students each remove a shoe and sock from one foot and step onto a blank piece of red or green construction paper.
2. Trace around the outside of the bare foot with a pen.
3. Have each student bring his or her foot tracing to a location where a baking pan is placed on the floor with about a half-inch of water in it. Have students step into the water with their bare foot, shake off the drips (to create a clearer image), and then place the wet foot inside their traced outline.
4. Lead a discussion about in what ways the wet footprint looks different and similar to the traced outline. Why might both images be important in sneaker design?

• What part of a sneaker responds to and is made to create friction? (The sole or bottom of the sneaker.)
• Is the cushioning important for all sports? (No. Some sports require high flexibility or high tactile sense, such as dance and tightrope walking.)
• Why do some sneakers have smoother bottoms than others? (Smoother bottoms provide more contact area with the floor, which is an advantage on smooth courts, such as basketball courts.)