Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Webquest : Safety Measures in Road Vehicles
Webquest
Safety Measures in Road Vehicles
Design for High School Physics Students
Authored by:
Ronor P. Escabarte
Safety Measures in Road Vehicles
Design for High School Physics Students
Authored by:
Ronor P. Escabarte
Introduction
If you look at the streets, you will see vehicles of different designs. You and your classmates have ridden in any one of them. You may even have a ‘favorite’ jeepney or school van on your way to school.
In this webquest, you will look at the road vehicle from another angle: its safety features. A well-designed vehicle should incorporate many safety features.
The Task
Before going out to do your survey, you have to sit down with your group mates to decide on the answers to the following questions. The following questions, however, are especially relevant to the Web Quest and are therefore required as a part of the evaluation process.
Which road vehicles will you include in your survey? Jeeps only, school buses only, or all types of road vehicles? Brainstorm your problem and possible scenarios for each of the cars. Scenarios should include: A crash into a more/less massive vehicle, a crash involving a stationary and moving vehicle, being front-ended and rear-ended by another vehicle, etc. Base your outcomes on your present knowledge and understanding of the areas of study given. Students should be able to decide which cars are safest in an accident, which cars are unsafe, and explain their reasoning.
What are the passive and active safety features mandated by the Land Transport Franchise Regulatory Board (LFTRB) or by transport rules? Why are these features necessary? How are they enforced?
After deciding on the issues mentioned above, you could carry out car safety features either by examining vehicles you ride on to school, or other vehicles in your own time. Decide upon which cars you would chose, and which cars you would definitely not drive in. Students should be able to give reasoning for their choice through the use of concepts from kinematics, dynamics, work, energy, and momentum. Diagrams and demonstrations/models of possible scenarios are encouraged.Expected Output:
Oral Presentation
Give a presentation to the class about what has been discovered over the course of the Web Quest, relating automobile safety to concepts from physics. Explain how one can ensure as much safety as possible while driving. Be sure to show the class the equations you have used during the Quest. Try to have fun in this part of the Web Quest; one suggestion is to include simple demonstrations of collisions using balls of different masses and velocities. The class should be encouraged to ask questions of the presenters.
Website Designing: Multimedia Presentation (Optional)
2. Assign students by group to make website or blog (if the school has an Internet connection) that promote road safety. This can be submitted one week or two weeks later.
Car Design
3. Imagine that you are now a car / road vehicle designer. From your survey and corresponding research, you will have gained ideas as to how cars will look in the future. You can use modeling clay to make a model of how a 2020 typical family car will look like. You can also make a sketch of the car.
The Process
1. Group students according to the roles they shall play in the webquest. Each group is consist of six members.
2. Agree among students the nature of their output. This would depend on the available resources. If your school has computers and access to the Internet then encourage students to prepare multimedia presentations. Posters can also be a good option.
3. Negotiate the time frame for students to work in groups and come up with their presentations. You may set specific tasks per day and check their progress. For example:
Day 1: Internet Research / Readings on assigned topic
Day 2: Hand in outline of presentation / topics covered
Day 3-4: Organize report (Prepare multimedia presentation)
Day 5: Actual Presentations
Students will have to agree who shall play for the following roles:
Roles
Responsibilities
Reporters (2 members)
Gather data about important features of vehicles in relation to road safety
You should give reasons for including the safety features that you mention and give evidence to back them up if you can.
Name the passive and active safety features mandated by the Land Transport Franchise Regulatory Board (LFTRB) or by transport rules.
Blogsite Designers(2 members)
Apply your skill in designing a blogsite which will promote road safety measures.
Engineers(2 members)
Be a creative road vehicle designer. From your survey and corresponding research, you will have gained ideas as to how cars will look in the future. You can use modeling clay to make a model of how a 2020 typical family car will look like. You can also make a sketch of the car.
Resources
Use the following sites to find more details on the physics of car crashes (students are not restricted to these sites. However, they are strongly advised to visit the sites featuring multimedia movies and demonstrations):
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/momentum/U4L2a.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/10170/motion/index.html
Students were encourage to refer on this site since it demonstrates collisions between objects of masses and velocities that are adjustable by the viewer through the use of a Java applet.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/seatb.html
A comprehensive site about the design of seatbelts and how they act to prevent injury. Includes a section explaining the difference in having a stretching and non-stretching seatbelt in the car via the use of the work-energy principle.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/carcr.html
This site features a calculation program that allows students to calculate the incredibly large impact force upon a car when it crashes.
Road safety
http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home/Safety/Road/
http://www.roadsafety.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_safety
http://www.roadsafetyweek.org/index.php?p=110
Evaluation
You will be evaluated based on the knowledge that you have acquired through the research on Safety Measures on Road Vehicles.
Oral Presentation Rubric and Web Design
Your Name: _________________ Group Topic __________________________
Group Members:___________________________________________________
Oral Presentation Rubric
Possible Points
Self-Assessment
Teacher Assessment
Provided depth in coverage of topic.
10
Presentation was well planned and coherent.
10
Presenters were models of thoughtfulness. Personal experience integrated where relevant and appropriate. Explanations and reasons given for conclusions.
10
Communication aids were clear and useful. Handout was useful for others interested in topic.
10
Bibliographic information for others was complete.
10
Total Possible Points
50
Rate each category according to the following scale:
9-10 = EXCELLENT 7-8 = VERY GOOD 5-6 = GOOD
3-4 = SATISFACTORY 1-2 = POOR 0 = UNSATISFACTORY
Conclusion
This topic focuses on road safety. The knowledge base covers institutional responsibility of road safety, the development of a road safety action plan, raising awareness and understanding of road safety problems, road crash data systems, road safety education and training, traffic safety legislation, enforcement of traffic laws, and monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of road safety activities.
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