Wired World

14 • Think of three questions to ask family members about electrical safety. Don’t try to stump them. The idea is to see whether they know 1) what happens if they contact electricity; 2) what they can do to avoid electrical accidents; and 3) what to do if they see an accident. Each person on the team should interview at least one person in their family. • After people have given their responses, give them the right answers. • Discuss the results of your survey as a team and as a class. How could people’s lack of knowledge or confusion about electricity cause them trouble? What do you think are the most important things to teach them? Question: Response: Question: Response: Question: Response: Keep Your Family Safe Before someone begins selling a new product, they usually try to learn about the people who might buy it. If you want to sell your family on the idea of electrical safety, first you need to find out what they know. G O I N G F U R T H E R Make a note of the number of correct answers compared to the age of each person responding to your questions. As a class, make a graph to show this data. Act It Out 1. Put on a skit to teach younger kids at your school about electrical safety. Choose from one of the scenes below or write one of your own. 2. Get or make any props, signs, or sound effects you will need for the scene. 3. Practice the scene. Not everyone has to act, but everyone should participate in some way. 4. Write down a script, so that everyone remembers how the scene goes. 5. Present the scene to an adult to make sure the safety message is correct. 6. Perform your scene for a younger class. 7. Answer any questions that students or their teacher may have about your safety message. Scenes 1. Act out the scene from Winnie the Pooh where Pooh floats up to the honeybee tree to get honey, but in this version Tigger jumps and catches Pooh before he gets too close to a power line. Tigger explains to Pooh about the dangers of power lines and trees, balloons, and kites. 2. Relatives are visiting. They have a very curious toddler who goes from one dangerous situation to another (for example, tries to put an extension cord in his mouth, tries to put a fork in an outlet, almost knocks a plugged-in blow-dryer into the sink, and so on). Older kids stop him just in time, unplugging appliances, putting socket covers in outlets, and so forth. 3. Spiderman (or some other superhero) touches a damaged wire and gets shocked by electricity. A kid sees the accident and yells to an adult to turn off the main circuit breaker. Someone calls 911 and gives information to the emergency operator, while the adult gives first aid to the electric shock victim. TEAMWORK G O I N G F U R T H E R Talk with the younger kids after the performance and find out what they learned from the scenes you acted out. 15 Here’s your chance to teach some younger kids about electrical safety. Have fun and remember that what you do may save someone’s life. SAFETY BASICS Flying kites or model airplanes can be dangerous. Be sure to fly them in open fields, away from power lines. And NEVER fly kites or model airplanes in thunderstorms. SAFETY BASICS When people dig they must be careful not to damage underground electrical lines. Digging into these lines can be dangerous! Several days before digging, adults should call 811 to have underground utility lines located and marked.