This project relates to an interest that I have and relates it to helping students understand community events.

1. The Great Pumpkin Metric A Bicycle Ride to Remember By Tracie Ambrose Education 357 Fall 2009

2. Last year, I participated in the Great Pumpkin Metric Bicycle Tour. I rode 25 km which is approximately 15 miles. We rode north of Evansville. The day was spectacular. The sun was shining. The sky was crisp and blue and the temperature was just right for riding a bicycle.

3. Questions What is the Great Pumpkin Metric? How long has it been happening in Evansville? What are the different mileages? When is it? Who can participate? Why choose to ride in the Great Pumpkin Metric?

4. What is it? The Great Pumpkin Metric is a bicycle tour of the northern part of Vanderburgh County. It is not a race where people try to finish first and win prizes. Everyone who participates is a winner. The Great Pumpkin Metric is a fund raiser. It helps the Evansville Bicycle Club to raise money for different charities.

5. How long has this tour been going on in Evansville? The Great Pumpkin Metric has been around for twenty-eight years. It was originally called the Deaconess Bicycle ride in honor of it’s first major sponsor. Deaconess sponsored the ride for about six years then the Evansville Bicycle Club began to sponsor it. At that time, the name was changed to the Great Pumpkin Metric. Information per Darlene Weitzle, Evansville Bicycle Club president.

6. How long is the ride? The tour has three different lengths. The shortest is 25K which is about 15 miles. The second tour is 50K which is around 30 miles. Finally, there is the longest tour which is 100K or about 60 miles. The ride begins at 8:00 A.M. but riders can start at any time. After the ride there is a free lunch provided for all riders. At different intervals along the route there are rest stops with food and drinks. The people working at the rest stops dress in costumes. It is a fun ride, and there is no need to hurry.

7. Who participates? Families People on strange bicycles Senior citizens couples Single riders

8. Why ride in the Great Pumpkin Metric Tour? You get exercise. It is a great ride in the county. You can see farms, rolling hills, fields, and wildlife. The entry fee helps a local charity. You can make new friends.

9. Standards Indicators 2.3.3 Places and Regions: Compare neighborhoods in your community and explain how physical features of the community affect people living there. 2.3.4 Physical Systems: On a map, identify physical features of the local community. 2.3.7 Environment and Society: Identify ways that recreational opportunities influence human activity in the community.

10. Activities that go along with this event. Students look at pictures of the various types of environments found in northern Vanderburgh County and discuss the types of wild life found there. They also discuss the types of food sources found in these areas. Students locate this area of the county on a map and draw symbols to represent the different features such as roads, fields, hills, lakes, etc. Students give examples of other types of recreational activities and the types of environments that are needed for those activities. For example, ice skating needs to be done on an ice rink, swimming needs water, and using an ATV should be done off road.

11. Books Schultz, Charles M., It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 2001 Shannon, David, Duck on a Bike, Blue Sky Press, NY, 2001 Ryder, Joanne, Each Living Thing, Gulliver Green Publishers, Orlando, FL, 2000 Sabin, Ellen, The Giving Book: Opening the Door to A Lifetime of Giving, Watering Can Press, Hong Kong, 2004 Bourgeois, Paulette, Franklin’s Bicycle Helmet, Scholastic Books, NY, 2000

12. References The Evansville Bicycle Club, http://www.evansvillebicycleclub.org/, updated September 1, 2009, accessed 09/20/2009