DANGER!Ous Driving: Physics Public Service Announcements (PSA)

DANGER!ous Driving: Physics Public Service Announcements (PSA)

DUE: Monday 12/4

Last year in Georgia there were over 150 fatalities involving students under the age of twenty-one and most of those occurred in the metro-Atlanta area.While increased driver training and automobile safety features have reduced this number, youths still make up 37% of accidents in Georgia. For this project you will be creating public service announcements to be posted throughout the school to make students aware of dangerous driving situations around our school.

For this project you and up to two other students will choose a section of road that you commonly drive and analyze it for potential dangers. Some examples of dangerous situations include speeding along straightaways, distracted driving and reaction time, sharp turns at high speeds, stoplight reaction time, etc. You will then create a Public Service Announcement poster (or video) that clearly defines the dangers and explains them to students.

Your public service announcement must contain the following:

1. A main header, theme or catchphrase to draw students’ attention
2. Image of the section of road including measurements that are used in your analysis
3. Citation of any researched information or material
4. Relevant calculations or application of concepts from each of the following units:
5. Kinematics (displacement, velocity, acceleration)
6. Newton’s Laws
7. Friction
8. A statement briefly telling students the danger and how to reduce their chance of being in an accident in this specific scenario and WHY
9. A suggestion to officials on how to reduce the risk (i.e. signs, speed bumps)
10. Additional images related to the project

Your project will graded on three main components:

1. Application of physics concepts(9 points) – how well did your group apply the laws, concepts and equations to your specific danger. This means the application of concepts, not just a statement of laws or definitions.

1. Visual appeal of the PSA (8 points) – how appealing is your PSA, is it easy to read, colorful, informative without being overwhelming. If people don’t want to stop to look at it, then it is not doing its job.

1. Connection between the physics concepts and risks (3 points) – how well do your calculations and concepts support your claim about the risk, how do they support your suggestions to students and officials.

Rubric: