Act as a Responsible Citizen

There are two topics in this section. This information will help you discover the answer to the following questions:

What are the consequences of choosing not to wear a helmet?
Why is wearing a helmet a responsible choice?

Understanding Head Injuries

Serious injury can occur to your brain if it is shaken or bounced around hard enough inside your skull. Imagine the damage an egg sustains if it is shaken really hard inside its own shell. How is this similar to what might happen to your brain if it was severely shaken inside its skull?

Your skull can only do so much to protect your brain from injury. However, severe external forces applied to your skull, such as hitting your head on the pavement after falling off your bike or striking your head on the ice if you slip while skating, can be reduced if you are wearing the proper helmet.

This is why it is so important to ensure you always protect your head from injury by wearing the correct CSA approved helmet designed for the activity you are engaged in: cycling, skiing/snowboarding, roller blading, skating, etc.

Click here to see a simulation of a a brain being shaken around. Ouch!

Try these activities to challenge your knowledge!

How Does Your Brain Work?

Do you know how your brain works? Visit the “About Kids Health” website and learn all about your brain.

** The creators of this site welcome your comments and suggestions. Contact them at about.kidshealth@sickkids.ca

Helmet Stories

There are many stories about how helmets have saved the lives of Calgarians. Unfortunately, there are also stories of when not wearing a helmet has led to serious injury and even death. Watch the videos below to hear some of the stories that this City of Calgary EMS Paramedic has to tell.

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #1

Swelling of the Brain: A Mini Experiment

Click here to view a PowerPoint about brain injuries. Then do the following experiment with a partner.

Introduction:

Swelling of the brain can cause a lot of damage that is not be easily seen. This experiment looks at what can happen when there is pressure within a closed case, like a skull.

Required Materials:

An small empty plastic container with a lid (2 per pair of students)
Duct tape
Water
A freezer

Procedure:

Fill two plastic containers as full as you can with water.
Place the lid on one and put it in the freezer.
Put the lid on the other and wrap it as tightly as you can with duct tape.
Place it in the freezer.
Leave both containers in the freezer for 1 day.
Take out the containers and make observations

Observation Questions

What happened to the canisters?
Was there a difference between the regular canister and the duct taped one?
Why did this happen to the canisters?
How does this relate to your brain and brain injuries?

Report

Type or write out your answers to the questions above. Use a drawing program like Paint or Apple Works to draw pictures of both canisters after they had been in the freezer overnight. You can also do this by hand if you wish.

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #2

The Parts of the Brain and Brain Injuries

Click here to go to an interesting site about how the brain works.

Using this site and the “About Kids Health” site, find out about the different areas of the brain.

What to do

Take a look a the helmets in the “Helmet for Every Sport” section of this course. Think about what you now know about the brain and talk about how the helmets in this section will protect the brain of a person wearing any one of these helmets.

You can prepare a report using:

A video representation
A PowerPoint presentation
An animation
A written report

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #3

Crash Stories

Click here to go to the Bicycle Helmets Safety Institute page about crash stories.

On your own or with a partner, read several of the stories.
Now choose one of the stories that was the most interesting or impacted you the most.
Write a letter as if you were a relative of the person who was involved in the crash. You may be a mother, brother, sister, aunt, uncle or another family member.
In your letter, talk about how you felt when you heard about the crash, and how it changed or didn't change your opinion about the use of helmets.

Responsible Citizenship

Responsible Choices

What do famous athletes and inventors have to say about making responsible choices when it comes to helmet use? Test your knowledge with this matching game.

Making the Right Choices...

Being a responsible citizen isn't always easy. We all have to consider how the choices we make affect ourselves and others.

What's Your Role?

Who is impacted by your choices? Who will suffer if you injure your brain? The fact is, as a responsible citizen, you have a lot of people to consider other than just yourself.

“A responsible citizen participates in the local and world communities to promote personal and public good.” – Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust

Taking Responsible Citizenship Seriously!

Tony Hawk is one of the world's most famous skateboarders. He always wears his helmet and protective gear. Click here to read an article about how he acts as a responsible citizen and hopes to inspire others to do the same.

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #4

It Won't Happen to me... Will it?

Wearing or not wearing a helmet can have an impact on people other than the person wearing one. Mick Harte Was Here is a story that deals with how a bicycle accident affects a young boy's family, friends and community.

Read: Mick Harte Was Here

After reading the novel get into groups or go to the discussion room called Mick Harte. Use the following questions to guide your discussion:

How did you feel when you read the first two pages of this book? Did it prepare you for the rest of the book?
Why do you think the author started her book like this?
How did you feel about Phoebe? Did she act in a believable way?
What about Zoe? Was she a good friend? Why?
Do you think this is a realistic story? Why?
At the end of her book, Barbara Park wrote this note,
“Head injury is the main cause of death in fatal bicycle crashes. Researchers tell us that if all bicyclists wore helmets, as many as one death every day and one head injury every four minutes could be prevented. I urge all of you who do not wear bike helmets to please reconsider your decision. Today. Please. It’s your life.”
Has reading this book changed how you feel about wearing a bike helmet. Why?
Why do people not wear bike helmets? Is there a good way to make everyone wear helmets?
If you could speak to Barbara Park about this book, what would you say?

Find out More About the Author

Go to this interview with Barbara Park where she talks about writing her books, including Mick Harte Was Here.

Create a Card:

Use a publishing software like Microsoft Publisher, Apple Works or make one by hand, and create a card for Barbara Park telling her about your reaction to her book. Give your card to your teacher, so he/she can forward it to Barbara Park.

Or Create a Newsletter:

Using a publishing software like Microsoft Publisher, Apple Works or by hand, create a newsletter that deals with the issue of Helmet safety. Include articles on proper helmet use, reason why people don’t wear helmets, ways to encourage people to wear helmets, impact of head injuries on families, friends, community.