reaction time activity

[Danielle Joslin]

I don't know what chapter 3 looks like because I am going to tie this into chapter 2...  I will be bringing in our PSLO officer to be a guest speaker on driving under the influence.  I am going to have my students test their reaction time by dropping a ruler and catching it.  Use d= 1/2gt2 for calculations.  I will have students re-test their reaction time while wearing the "drunk goggles" that the officer provides and then again while dialing a number on their cell phone and then while searching for a CD in thier carrying case.  I think we are going to have a great time and the students should learn  a lot about inattentive driving.

[Janie Martin]

Danielle, if you haven't already finished this activity, this is what I wound up doing for Activity5 in chapter 3.
I brought a bicycle with a speedometer to school. We went to a protected tarmack area and a student rode the bike at a slow, medium and fast speed. They applied the brakes with the same force each time and we measured their skid marks to acutally measure their braking distance. Then they plotted their braking distance versus velcotiy whhen they hit the brakes. They were surprised that going two times as fast did not mean that you would travel twice as far before you actually stopped.
Worked  a lot better than the little car that just never stopped unless it hit a wall!
Janie

[Sandy Shutey]

I am not doing this activity but have done something similar to it in the past.  We used students running a distance as fast as they can, skipping, hopping, a slow run and a walk.  We timed them and had them stop suddenly at the end of a given distance.  They really could see what happened when they compared their stopping distance and time from each activity to the next.  I had all the students do it on a soccer field so they each were able to compare what they did to the rest of the group.   We measured how far over they went before they were able to actually stop.

[Janie Martin]

that is a great idea Sandy!