Design for Safety activity C4. Using models in science is introduced through exploring the design of bicycle helmets.
Activity C4: Helmets [ZIP, 406 KB]
It’s important to understand how a helmet works to protect your brain. However, be watchful for anyone who has close personal knowledge of a head injury and be sensitive to their needs.
The focus of this session is on developing the students’ ability to recognise and use models in science to represent something difficult to see or investigate in real life.
Two models are used – one as a teacher demonstration and one as a student activity. The teacher demonstration uses eggs as a model of the human head, with a hard protective outer and fragile soft inner. Skull = eggshell, brain = white and yolk. Try this out before doing it with the class.
It is important that students think about how the model is presented and ask questions such as:
The teaching of models as representations is covered well here:
Teaching with models (Science Online | TKI)(external link)
How to fit a bicycle helmet:
Cycle helmets | The official New Zealand code for cyclists(external link)
Investigating in Science – exploring, predicting, defining, analysing.
NZ Curriculum | Science achievement objectives(external link)
Interpret representations.
The five science capabilities (TKI - Science online)(external link)
Living World, Achievement Objective: Life Processes; recognise that there are life processes common to all living things.
Physical World, Achievement Objective: explore, describe and represent patterns and trends for everyday examples of physical phenomena, such as movement, forces etc.
Cycle helmets protect the head by reducing the rate at which the skull and brain are accelerated or decelerated by an impact.
The students can…