Chapter 2 – Safety |
| Activity Summaries |
Physics Principles |
Activity 1: Response Time
Using a response timer, students explore the time required for a driver to respond to a hazard. This activity introduces students to the process of beginning with their own ideas and predictions, then implementing an investigation that results in both qualitative and quantitative data.
| - Series Circuits
- Switches
- Response Time
|
Activity 2: Speed and Following Distance
Strobe, or multiple exposure photos of a moving vehicle are used to discuss speed and acceleration. Students then use a sonic ranger to measure how fast they walk and obtain a computer generated graph of their speed. Information about speed is then connected to response time with a discussion of tailgating.
| - Average Speed
- Using Data as Basis for
Predictions
- Speed, Distance, and Time
Relationships
|
Activity 3: Accidents
Following an investigation crashing cars against barriers, students use advertisements and consumer reports to learn about safety devices on automobiles. Each is analyzed to determine the type of collision-related injuries it prevents, and to identify if the device could in fact increase injuries in a unique setting.
| - Physical Properties of Matter
- Effect of Forces on Motion
|
Activity 4: Life (and Death) before Seat Belts
Using a lump of clay on a motion cart to represent a person in a car, students
explore “objects in motion stay in motion.” They then relate this to actual
automobile collisions.
| |
Activity 5: Life (and Fewer Deaths) after Seat Belts
Students focus on the design and materials used in seat belt construction as they study force and pressure. They investigate how increasing surface area decreases the pressure exerted. They relate this to the challenge by finding ways to increase the area of impact in a collision.
| - Inertia
- Newton’s Laws of Motion
- Force and Pressure
- Newton as a Unit of Measure
|
Activity 6: Why Air Bags?
A model of an air bag is used in an investigation of what happens on impact when objects of different mass are dropped from different heights. They observe the amount of damage in each case and relate this to the concept of “impulse” and how spreading out the time of the impulse reduces damage.
| - Inertia
- Force and Pressure
- Impulse
|
Activity 7: Automatic Triggering Devices
In this inquiry investigation, students design a device that will trigger an air bag to inflate. These simulations allow them to apply concepts of inertia and impulse as they test ideas that help them address the chapter challenge.
| - Inertia
- Force and Pressure
- Impulse
|
Activity 8: The Rear End Collision
Students investigate the effect of rear end collisions on passengers by using a model of the neck muscles and bones of the vertebral column. They then read to learn more about Newton’s Second Law of Motion and consider how they can apply this information in designing a safety device that prevents movement of the head in a collision.
| - Collisions
- Newton’s Second Law of Motion
- Momentum
|
Activity 9: Cushioning Collisions (Computer Analysis)
Using a force probe, students investigate the effectiveness of different types of systems designed to minimize the impact of collisions. The systems include sand canisters around bridge supports and padded car interiors. This investigation provides an
opportunity to develop deeper understanding of the concepts of acceleration, velocity, and momentum.
| - Inertia
- Centripetal Acceleration
- Centripetal Force
|