ORCID
- Brown: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4093-5914
MSU Affiliation
College of Education; Department of Kinesiology
Creation Date
2025-09-16
Abstract
Using pop icons in the science classroom represents a creative way to engage often-distracted students in a relevant and, perhaps more importantly, fun way. When the pop icon is as universally known as Captain America, the pedagogical stage is set. However, when the movies can also be employed to link dramatic references to the science concepts at hand, we may have a very powerful tool by which linkages between fiction and science can be forged. In this regard, Captain America’s performances in several movies to date can be used to explain actual science. Granted, script writers and movie directors may or may not be interested in whether the physical performances they depict can be explained, but that is irrelevant. The point is to make a connection using science to explain how the superhero can run faster, jump higher, or lift more than is humanly possible. If a teachable moment has occurred and an important concept has been communicated, the educator has accomplished his or her job well.
Publication Date
3-2017
Publication Title
Advances in Physiology Education
Publisher
American Physiological Society
First Page
16
Last Page
24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00106.2016
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Brown, S., Smith, J., McAllister, M., & Joe, L. (2017). Superhero physiology: The case for Captain America. Advances in Physiology Education 41(1): 16-24.
