Investigating car safety features

In this activity, students build model cars to investigate the function of safety features such as seatbelts and crumple zones.

Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Testing car safety features

In the activity Investigating car safety features, students build a car to better understand how seatbelts and crumple zones protect passengers and learn about the forces involved.

In addition to learning road safety fundamentals, students are introduced to Physical World concepts – Newton’s laws of motion, kinetic energy and the Nature of Science Investigating in Science strand’s use of simple models.

By the end of this activity, younger students should be able to:

• demonstrate how seatbelts prevent the wearer from continuing to move forward during a car crash
• explain why it’s important to wear a seatbelt when in a car
• discuss the use of models in science – how their car represents aspects of reality.

In addition, older students should be able to:

• explain that seatbelts exert a force, preventing the wearer from moving forward
• demonstrate how crumple zones absorb energy
• make simple connections between forces and Newton’s laws
• make simple connections between car crashes and kinetic energy transformation
• demonstrate how kinetic energy is reliant on the mass of an object and the velocity at which it moves.

Download the Word file (see link below) for:

• background information for teachers
• equipment list
• student instructions
• extension ideas/prompting questions for teachers.

Rights: Artem Konovalov, licenced through 123RF Ltd.

Small, modern and safe?

Small, modern cars have many safety features. This car is a wreck on the outside, but the passenger compartment remains intact.