Road Safety Across the Curriculum … A Context for Learning Maths Strands: Statistics and Surveys Activity One: Running a Simple Survey What do the students think about the statement ‘bike riding is very popular amongst the pupils in our class’. Do they think this is a true statement? How could they prove that it was true or otherwise? eg - we would have to find out how many pupils own a bike - we would have to define popular (say more than half) Run a quick hands-up survey to find the level of bike ownership in the class. Do the students think that just owning a bike means that bike riding is popular or do they need to ask some more questions? Have groups brainstorm and list questions that they could ask to help prove or disprove the assertion, eg how many people ride a bike everyday/once a week… how many kilometres in total does our class ride in a week? compare with the number or kilometres walked in a week. Discuss appropriate methods of calculating this information and record the information in table form on a group basis. Share group results with the class. What statements about the popularity of cycling can the students now make? Surveys to Promote Safety Tell students that in 1998, over 770 cyclists under the age of 15 were admitted to hospital with cycling injuries. Were any children in the class admitted to hospital with a cycling injury? Can the class come up with any suggestions on how this serious statistic could be improved? Develop the idea that although they are unable to do anything on a New Zealand-wide basis, they can certainly do something to help cyclists at their school improve their safety record. Introduce the idea that before they plan and implement a successful cycle safety campaign, it is necessary to run surveys to find out the following … how many cyclists at the school had injury and non injury accidents last/this year what were the likely causes of the accidents and what could have been done to avoid them? Using Categories Introduce the idea that our survey will be more effective by grouping data under suitable categories. Suggest the following categories. Bicycle Control Safety Equipment A Safe Bicycle Road Rules Give an example of how the cause of an accident could be listed under more than one heading, eg 'the likely cause of the accident was losing control of the bicycle and having an incorrectly adjusted safety helmet made the injury more serious' Have groups prepare survey sheets, complete the survey, decide on an appropriate method of recording results (graphs, tables, reports) and report back to the class. What statements and conclusions can the students make from the data that they have gathered? Now plan the campaign. Sample Safety Campaign From the results of the surveys, students are now to decide which topics from Street Sense need revision and how they will implement their campaign. eg Topic … A Safe Bicycle and Safety Equipment Invite a bike retailer to school to demonstrate and show students the necessary bike safety equipment. Have him show the students the parts of the bike that should be checked regularly and the correct adjustments. Distribute Bike Check Activity Sheet D (for level 2) or Activity Sheet R (for level 3+) from Street Sense. Using a buddy system, have students work through the 5 or 8 point check system. Checker signs the form. Ask the bikeshop retailer to recheck. Publish results of how many bikes passed the test and how many needed adjusting. Form safety teams and run safety spot checks on bikes on a regular basis. Design and present Certificates of Safety and/or defect reminder notices. Do you have a lesson you would like to share with other teachers? Simply email us an attached Word, Works or PDF file and we will add it to our library. Don't forget to include your name and school so we can acknowledge your work.