Road traffic safety for dummies: the world’s first average female crash test dummy

Suitable for 14-19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, STEM clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5/Grade 9-10 and Grade 11-12 Physics and Design & Technology.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks (UK):
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Professor Astrid Linder from the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and Monash University in Australia. She has worked with a team of researchers to develop the world’s first average female crash test dummy to ensure that new vehicles are designed to protect both male and female users alike.

• This resource also contains an interview with Astrid, and offers an insight into careers in road traffic safety research. If your students have questions for Astrid, they can send them through the Futurum Careers website.

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Astrid’s research and challenges them to design a crash test that tests the effectiveness of a safety feature in a car.

• The article and activity sheet are also available in Swedish.

This resource was first published by Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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