And now it's time for who smarted.
Psst! Hey! Smarty pants!
Quick question! Say you want to go someplace that's way over there!
For example, maybe you want to visit a distant friend.
Hello! And your friend, way over here!
How would you get there?
You could always walk. Walking's good and good for you, but let's say you want to get there a little faster.
Because your friend has something for you, that's urgent!
Hey, because I'm such a good friend, I got you an ice cream cone!
But you better hurry! It's melting!
Now what do you do? You could take a car.
Of course, you probably don't drive yet, smarty pants, but maybe you could find somebody to give you a ride.
Of course, you run the risk of getting stuck in traffic.
Hurry! It's melting all over my hand!
I know. What about a bike?
Bikes are a lot of fun! We even did a who smarted episode on them.
But bikes are pretty big and not always the easiest thing to just grab and go.
Plus, you can't really bring them inside the house.
Hey, no bikes in the house!
Not to mention, not everyone knows how to ride a bike.
Ah! Hurry! Your ice cream's dripping all over my shirt!
Oh boy! Now what? What we need is a vehicle that's fun, easy to use and super portable that we can take anywhere.
Smarty pants, any ideas?
Go ahead! Shut out your answers!
Hmm, skateboard! Maybe, but skateboards can be tough to ride.
Unicycle? Definitely not.
Wait, I heard someone say it!
Why, of course, a scooter!
After all, you just unfold it, hop on and go!
And in just a few kicks, you'll be there in no time.
Hey, I thought you'd never get here, trusty.
Uh, what happened to my ice cream?
It's all over my shoes. But hey, you can still eat the clone.
Mmm, sugarcone. Of course, if I would have hopped on my scooter earlier, maybe I could have gotten to eat some ice cream.
Wanna lick my hand? Um, I'm good.
As for you, Smarty pants, I know that for a lot of you, your scooter is the perfect way to get around.
But did you know people of all ages enjoy scooters?
Even a world famous record-setting pilot loves to ride one!
The captain has turned off the seatbelt sign.
You're now free to scoot about the cabin.
So, how do scooters work?
How do they become so popular?
And how did sausages change the way that scooters look?
Sausages! Sausages! It's time for another whiff of science and history, on...
Hello, Smarty! Who's smarted?
Who smart is it you? Is it me?
Is it science? Or history?
Listen up! Everyone! We make smarty!
Lots of fun! I know smart-ed!
Hi, trusty here with a special message for all the parents and guardians listening.
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Visit IXL.com slash smarted to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.
IXL learning, inspire, excel.
Learn more at IXL.com. OK, smarty pants, raise your hands if you've ever ridden a scooter.
Yep, just as I thought. A lot of you have your hands up.
Hopefully, you're not riding one right now because you've got to pay attention to where you're going.
Whoa! It's really no surprise that most of you like to ride scooters.
In fact, I bet lots of parents or adults out there do too.
The scooter industry makes billions of dollars.
And it's expected to see a huge amount of growth in the next 10 years.
And why is that? Well, for one thing, people love the fact that scooters can help you avoid traffic jams.
They're also lightweight, easy to carry, and environmentally friendly.
But as lots of kids will tell you, they're also super fun to ride, which is probably the biggest reason why they've been so popular.
But smarty pants, see if you can guess where scooters come from?
Is it A, Germany? B, Switzerland?
Or C, nobody knows for sure.
If you guessed A, you're close.
A German inventor created the first version of the bicycle, and that may have inspired the scooter.
To make it go, you simply run with your feet.
And then, once it's going good, you jump on the seat and coast along.
A scooter is like an early bike, only without a seat.
And if you said B, Switzerland, you're also close.
A Swiss toy maker was one of the first companies to start selling scooters back in the year 1900.
But according to historians, nobody knows for sure who invented them.
So the correct answer is C.
In fact, the belief is the scooter was created by Kids.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, children in both Europe and the US built their own scooters by attaching roller skate wheels to wooden boards.
And then adding a simple wooden handlebar.
Kids were seeing zipping all over the place with these basic rides.
And they crashed every now and then too.
But that's all part of the fun, and also why you need to wear a helmet when scooting.
Surprisingly, adults also wanted a piece of the action.
First, they started selling scooters like the ones kids were making on their own.
Then, in 1915, a couple of inventors in New York introduced a new type of scooter that was more than a simple toy.
What do you suppose the scooter had?
Is it A? A motor. B? More wheels.
Or C? More handlebars. If you said A, a motor, you're right.
With a motor, the auto-ped scooter could reach speeds of up to 35 miles or 56 kilometers per hour.
That's about the speed of a car driving through a city.
However, unlike a car, the auto-ped became rather unsteady that speed, making it not as much fun to ride.
Oh! Costing about $100 each, which is about $3,000 in today's money, the auto-ped wasn't for the everyday rider, and quickly became a status symbol of the rich and famous.
This included a world-renowned airplane pilot.
Smartypants, can you guess who?
Was it Charles Lindbergh?
Bessie Coleman? Or Amelia Earhart?
The answer is, Amelia Earhart.
Miss Earhart appeared in a number of photos with her favorite auto-ped.
Motorized scooters were also popular with postal workers, who used them to deliver the mail, as well as criminals known as gangsters, who used motorized scooters to flee from crime scenes and avoid the cops.
Freeze! Put your hands up!
You gotta catch me first, copper!
Unfortunately, these celebrities, postal workers, and notorious gangsters couldn't save auto-ped from going out of business.
Historians say the motorized scooter was just too expensive, and not as comfortable as the more popular motorcycle.
After that, both regular kick scooters and motorized scooters were still in use, but they didn't really become popular again until about 30 years ago.
And you can thank a famous meat for that.
Who wants meat cake? Nope, not meat cake.
Sausages! Sausages! Sausages!
Yes! Sausages! Oh, I love sausages!
Oh, what kind of sausage are we talking about?
Breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, cabassa?
Bratwurst, actually. Are you kidding?
I love bratwurst, with some onions, mustard, salad, crowd, more mustard.
Okay, okay, okay, we get the point.
Now, let's say you wanted some bratwurst sausage, and you know just a place to get them.
But it's a bit of a hike, and it's closing soon.
Oh, you could take the car, but what if there's traffic?
And parking around there's a nightmare.
I agree. Plus, it's too close to drive.
Even taking my bike doesn't seem worth the effort.
Well, believe it or not, this was the exact situation.
A Swiss banker in Zurich, named Vim Obeter, found themselves in.
During the late 1990s, he had a bratwurst craving, but didn't want to walk all the way to his favorite sausage shop to get him.
So, he hammered together a scooter much like the kids did back in the late 1800s.
And while his first scooter worked, it wasn't the best looking ride.
In fact, Obeter noted that people laughed at him along the way.
Well, that's not very nice.
Exactly. So, he tinkered with the design of his scooter.
Smarty pants. And he guess what he did?
Did he make it A lighter and foldable?
B, larger and faster. Or C, squirt mustard at people who laughed at him.
The answer is A. Obeter's invention was a light, metal, foldable scooter with roller blade wheels that could fit in a backpack.
This became known as the Microscooter, and it became a huge hit, along with Obeter's other designs.
There's the three-wheeled kickboard and colorful mini-microscooters, which I'm sure a lot of smarty pants have used.
Wow! Hopefully without injury.
The Microscooter and kickboard were then followed by another scooter that triggered a worldwide obsession.
That's still very popular today.
Smarty pants, do you know the name of the scooter?
Is it A, the Segway? B, the Sausage?
Or C, the Razer? If you said the Razer, you're right.
Wow! Can we have some more bratwurst now?
Yes, but I have to scoot there to get it.
Oh, right. Oh, where I could take scootering to the next level and head on over to the Scootering World Champion Chips!
Where are all championships?
Yep, one record is even held by a dog!
A hot dog? Nope, a dog dog.
Why don't you hear all about it?
Yeah, but can we get some bratwurst first?
Sure, we'll take a quick bratwurst break and hear some words from our sponsors.
Hola, bonjour. Hello, Nihao.
Ciao! Hey, Smarty fans.
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This message is sponsored by Greenlight.
Hey, Smarty Adults. As you know, who smarted is all about teaching young Smarty pants about, well, everything.
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Thanks! Now back to who's Smarted.
Okay, Smarty Pants, let's say you've been practicing writing your regular kick scooter.
And after a few initial crackups, you've now gotten much, much better at writing it.
In fact, perhaps you've gotten really, really, really good at it.
And instead of just writing down to the sausage shop, you're able to do bunny hops, tail whips, 180s, and wheelies, or better yet, you can zip up a half pipe and store into the air.
Or maybe scooter tricks aren't for you.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend trying any of those without expert supervision and a good helmet.
And pads. However, watching them is another thing.
The World Skate Organization holds Scootering World Championships every year, where you can see some of the best scooter riders in the world compete.
Think you can't do backflips or spins or crazy stunts on a scooter?
Guess again. In fact, you can find lots of videos with them online.
But keep in mind, these athletes have special types of scooters, years of training, and take all safety precautions.
So, do not try any of this at home.
I think they'll just stick to bratwurst and meat cake, of course.
Good idea. But wait, didn't you say something about hat dogs?
No, but I did say something about an actual dog.
Believe it or not, just over 10 years ago, a pet named Norman the Scooter Dog achieved a world record as the fastest dog on a regular scooter.
He wrote 100 feet, roughly 30 meters, in just over 20 seconds.
The dog's owner says Norman started scootering when he was just a puppy and loved it.
Norman balanced himself using his front paws on the handlebars, and he pushed forward using one of his hind paws.
Basically, he wrote it just like you and me.
Video of Norman's achievement can be found on the Guinness World Records website.
I bet that dog was going so fast because he wanted some sausages.
Maybe? Personally, I could go for some ice cream.
Hey, Chusty, I got you another ice cream cone.
Yes, I'll be right there on my scooter.
Whoa! Huh, I'm okay. Thanks to my helmet.
But I could probably use a few more scooter lessons.
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We get it, but we also need the ads to pay for the show.
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Thanks for smarting with us.
A big shout out to Oliver, a super fan in Duluth, Minnesota.
We love hearing how you and your family love hearing our theme song, followed by learning lots of fun facts in an exciting way.
Keep up the great smarting, smarty pants.
This episode scooters was written by Dave, no breaks Bodry, and voiced by Padam, Scoots Davis, Max, Razor, Kamaski, and Jerry Colburn.
Technical direction and sound designed by Josh, where a helmet on.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian, Sidekick, Suarez, with New York's written and performed by Adam Text Davis.
Who's Smarted was created and produced by Adam Text Davis and Jerry Colburn.
This has been an atomic entertainment production.
I wore a winter boots every day for two years.
I hate climbing trees. I'm Deborah Goldstein, host of the podcast The Big Fib, and half of those statements were indeed Fibs.
On every episode of The Big Fib, we bring on two grownups.
One is an expert, and the other is a liar.
And it's the job of our human child contestant to help us figure out who is who, because no one can spot a liar better than a kid.
We've had episodes on everything from Minecraft to Mythology and from Lego to Libraries.
Join me and my robot co-host Lisa on The Big Fib on Apple Podcasts or on GZMshows.com.
