Collisions and biomechanics lesson

Learning intentions

Students:

• connect understanding of human body systems with forces involved in a collision

• design and conduct an investigation of safety features

• explain safety features with reference to forces and energy transfers involved in a collision

• consider how scientific advances have influenced car safety engineering

• evaluate and communicate car safety features as they relate to their own body geometry.

Learning hook

1. Watch an advertisement from Volvo, introducing the 2019 EVA (Equal Vehicles for All) Initiative. You can also watch a related 'survival story'. Find more about the EVA Initiative.

2. Ask students to investigate their family cars to identify as many driver crash safety features as possible, in particular, noticing what can be adjusted to accommodate different heights and body shapes. Students report back on their findings and the class compiles a list of all the identified crash safety features, noting that not all car models have the same features.

   If students do not have access to a car, consider making a car available for the class to investigate.

Learning input

1. Compare the class list of safety features to the crash protection features listed on the TAC How safe is your car? website. Students can look up a car make, model and year on the Find my car page to identify the safety features of that car.

2. Now explore the TAC Meet Graham website and find out how Australian artist Patricia Piccinini designed a body shape that could survive a crash. This lesson plan from the Road Smart Teacher Resource Toolkit (see Lesson 1, p4) guides students through an exploration of the site.

Learning construction

1. Challenge students to design a collision safety device to protect an egg dropped repeatedly from increasing heights. In this exercise, students can explore the concept of applying a small force over a large time interval, just as seatbelts and airbags do. Provide small groups of students with ten sheets of paper, scissors and masking tape, and ask each group to use them to make an egg-protecting device. Design the experimental method collaboratively as a class and test student designs.

   Students should photograph each model before the tests, predict which model will be most successful, then explain the differences in model performance with reference to design, momentum, impact force and impact time.

2. Students discuss the strengths and weaknesses of an egg as a model for a human body.

Learning input

The earlier video showed a whole ‘family’ of crash test dummies. However, women have a substantially higher risk of getting injured or killed in a car than men. As a class, discuss why this might be the case. (Note that ‘risk’ is not the same as actual numbers of fatalities. A study on car crashes provides an insight into how risk is calculated.)

Watch a 12-minute TEDx Talk about the development of Eva, the female crash test dummy. As a class discuss why companies may not have been using female crash test dummies. What assumptions may companies have made? What factors would influence their decision-making?

Learning construction

1. Students investigate whether the safety features of their chosen car are designed for their own body geometry. The standard car crash dummy (the average male) is 1.77 m tall and weighs 78 kg. Students could ask someone of a similar size to sit in their car and investigate:

   • their distance from the steering wheel

   • the relative location of the headrest

   • the position of the seatbelt.

   How does this compare to measurements for their own bodies? Students should hypothesise the impact of these differences and research their car features to find out more.

2. Students create a simple animation to show the forces that would operate on their body in a crash. They annotate their animation to show the energy transfers and transformations that occur in a collision, noting the properties and characteristics of the materials used and how they impact on energy transfers and transformations. They demonstrate how well their car would protect their body from whiplash, and make an overall assessment of the safety of their car for their body geometry.

Learning reflection

Students reflect on any assumptions they may have had about car safety design and the responsibility of car manufacturers to ensure the safety of all drivers and occupants. They consider how their understanding of the forces involved in a collision might impact their choices as drivers.