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Lesson One: Colour and Light:
Colours that are easy to see: Be Safe Be Seen
AIM
To help children understand that some colours are more easily seen than others and the
implication that has on Road Safety. Use of the five senses in being safe on the road. Different
combinations i.e. sight & hearing, sight & smell etc.
Resources: Suggestions as the class can complete their own.
Smell: Orange, mint or other herbs Touch: Fur, wool, rock, wood etc
objects in a jar etc
Sight: Pictures of food/Roads etc
Sound: Traffic noises
Hear: Water
pouring,
Copy of Arrive Alive booklet with the Green Cross Code
RELATIVE KEY QUESTIONS
How can we find out what makes a person more easily seen?
How can we find out
what colour of car is most easily seen?
Are brightly coloured clothes always easily seen and
safe to wear? Which coloured clothes makes us difficult to see?
OBJECTIVES
Through direct observation of their immediate environment the pupils should become aware
that bright objects stand out well and to establish the idea that brighter colours can help us to
be easily seen in certain conditions.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:


Children should predict and test their own ideas as far as possible, to find out what can
be most easily seen during which type of conditions. For instance clothing or coats worn
by the children can be sorted and it can be decided which could be better for which
condition i.e. in a dark room, lighter clothing is easier to distinguish than darker
clothing. Using a light or torch could also be used in demonstrating how objects can
easily be seen or not. A perfect comparative example would be that of traffic during
the darker hours or dull days and what drivers do to make themselves more visible to
pedestrians and other road users.
Using surrounding environment ask children to spot the most prominent colours and if
possible give reason why. Make a chart of the most popular.
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
Talk to the children about a dark morning/evening and ask them about colours they
would see while going to or from school. Some children may like to draw or paint a
scene from their route. Introduce the concept of fluorescent and/or reflective material.
(Florescent colours are very bright and show up best during the day time. Reflective
material works best at night because it ‘shines’, reflecting back car headlights.
RECORDING
Possible ways of recording: pictorial; bar charts; 3D bar chart use of database and word
processing.
These methods allow for differentiation
This activity should lead to discussion with the children about ‘safer’ colours and how
easy/difficult they are to see.
Cut out figures from catalogue/magazine etc. and ask children to provide backgrounds to
make them stand out or be camouflaged (to be seen or not, to make safe or not) Discuss or
write about their work.
MATERIALS
A collection of different coloured pieces of material or paper or objects (i.e. model cars) for
charts but also as discussion points for activities part.
Catalogues, magazines, scissors paste etc
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Lesson Two : Seasons:
Autumn: Changing the clocks
AIM:
To raise the children’s awareness that the design and colour of their autumn/winter clothing
may have some bearing on their safety.
KEY QUESTIONS:


What colours of clothing are easiest to see in gloomy weather?
How can we make ourselves easier to see when we travel on the roads?
Activities:

The need to be seen
As the days shorten in autumn, children will find themselves travelling to and from school in
dark or gloomy conditions. Often the road safety implications of this fact are brought to our
attention by the annual change of the clocks from BST to GMT. On the roads as pedestrians or
cyclists, this includes making themselves visible by wearing light coloured clothing, together
with other aids such as reflective armbands
Florescent material is best for daytime as it reacts to UV rays in the sunlight which causes it to
glow. It makes you stand out against the background.
Reflective material is best at night because it contains lots of tiny prisms/points that reflect the
light from a source, such as a car’s headlights, directly back towards it, making the material
appear to ‘light up’
With the use of a high visibility jacket get the class to list all the people they can think of that
use these type of clothing. Discuss what it is they do and why they think they need to be more
visible.
Make a chart.
Choose a less conspicuous garment such as a dark coloured anorak or coat and fix a reflective
strip to it. Get the children to shine a torch on it. Does it help make the garment visible?
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Note: the very nature of reflective materials makes them reflect light directly back towards the
source, that is, the torch. Only children standing quite close to the torch will see this light, so
the experiment needs to be conducted carefully, with small groups or even individual children,
if the desired conclusions are to be reached.
The improvement in dark visibility afforded by even a small piece of reflective material is quite
dramatic if the above note is observed.
Discuss the places where reflective materials might be worn to improve visibility and the
advantages and disadvantages of each. Generally speaking. Small reflective patches show up
best on moving objects and when they are low down (to catch the light from dipped
headlights). That is why pedal reflectors on cycles are very effective in drawing the attention of
drivers. Reflective patches on shoes are particularly valuable for pedestrians, but they can
soon become faded and dirty, losing effectiveness. A reflective patch anywhere is better than
none at all!!
(Another possible discussion point concerning bad weather conditions i.e. wearing
headgear/scarf etc can reduce children’s ability to see all round and also their hearing, if it is a
windy day this too reduces your hearing ability).
Experiment:
Restriction of vision by hoods and other protective headgear also affects safety. These often
make it harder for children to look all round in traffic.
Stand or sit child at the centre of a reasonably large clear open space (indoors or out). Ask
them not to turn their head, to keep looking straight. Hold a conspicuous object such as a
sheet of white paper at child’s eye level and starting from behind the subject move slowly
round towards the front of the circle until the child can see the object “out of the corner of
his/her eye”. Mark the position and continue around until the object is no longer visible.
Repeat until you have different results to compare.
Discuss the possible consequences of not seeing a moving vehicle and stress the importance of
taking particular care to look when wearing headgear which may restrict vision.
Weather conditions: icy, wet etc: Stopping points for drivers. Takes longer for car to brake
suddenly in these conditions than on dryer roads.
Discuss the problems caused by rain puddles on roads; splashes from vehicles passing nearby,
puddles may conceal potholes, tyres my lose grip due to aquaplaning “the tyre loses contact
with the road surface.
Drivers have difficulty in seeing clearly due to downpour, windows steaming etc.
Experiment:
How objects are affected by different surfaces. Using toy cars roll them along different surfaces
to see how far they go, marking different stopping points. Try and compare surfaces used to
actual road surfaces. i.e. bubble wrap = cobble stones or speed bumps!!
Discussion concerning cars, speed and stopping distances indifferent weather
conditions
Fog: Is a big hazard to drivers. Fog muffles sounds so that vehicles appear to be more distant.
It is very difficult to estimate distances in fog so vehicle speeds are harder than ever to
estimate.
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Powerful lights on cars may help to penetrate thick fog a little but pedestrians are very hard to
pick out especially as night.
Hazards associated with rain
Ask the children to identify some of the hazards associated with rain, especially on the roads:
Friction is reduced significantly on wet roads. Car and lorries take much longer to stop and the
distance needed to stop also increases. Pedestrians therefore need to take extra care in the
rain. Most cycle brakes do no work as well in the wet either.
Heavy rain reduces visibility generally. Added to this is the problem of spray, especially from
lorries on busy roads. Even with good windscreen wipers, drivers cannot see as well as in dry
conditions. Also if rain continues there are possibilities of floods in low laying places. Deep
puddles can cause accidents.
Winds/Gales
Autumn and spring are often associated with periods of gales and windy weather. Storms can
often bring down trees, causing blocked roads and accidents, or dislodge tiles, slates and other
debris.
High winds are a particular hazard for drivers of high vehicles and also for cyclists, who can
easily be blown into the path of other vehicles. In exceptional winds pedestrians, especially
children, can be blown off course.
Ice, Snow & Frost
Low winter temperatures bring generally poor weather conditions. In particular ice and snow
bring a regular crop of road accidents as drivers are unable to cope with slippery conditions.
Visibility is frequently poor and stopping distances are greatly increased.
For pedestrians falls are a real problem in freezing condition
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Lesson Three: Hidden or seen
To examine the pro and cons of Conspicuity
Preparation
Will need to use a room where there are curtains or some form of blackout.
Have prepared a range of coloured cards including dark and dull colours and light bright
colours.
Method
a) Explain to the class that apart from using pattern and colour to attract, plants and animals
are also experts at camouflage.
Ask the class to explain and why they think camouflage is used. (stick insects!)
Divide the class into small groups and ask the groups to visualise the following colours and
prioritise those that they think show up best:
Red
black green yellow brown blue grey
white orange
Ask the groups to compare and discuss their findings.
Conduct the following experiment to find out which colour does show up best.
Pin all the coloured cards onto the board
Ask the groups to rank the colours in order of Conspicuity putting the ones most visible at the
top and the ones least visible at the bottom. They should arrange the colours in a diamond.
However, any pattern or shape will do because the main purpose of the exercise is an aid to
discussion.
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Discuss the findings of the group.
Add some fluorescent strips to the colours and ask groups to reconsider their rankings.
Repeat the exercise but with the room darkened.
Repeat the exercise again but with a torch light shining onto the colours.
b) Draw a picture on coloured background with same coloured pen. Starting at a distance get
the children to identify the design and see how it is to them before or if they do. Repeat the
exercise but this time adding highlights. Continue adding until they have the complete picture.
Compare these colours types to weather/day conditions and using colours get children to sort
out which colours would be best suited for which conditions. (black on black, white on black,
white on blue etc)
Discussion points
Was there a general consensus as to the findings?
What implications does this present with regard to road safety?
What colours would the class recommend should be worn at night in order to be conspicuous?
What were the main differences in the various lighting situations?
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Fluorescent for Day
Did you know..... Information for classroom discussion.
Fluorescent colours help you to be seen in the daytime and near dusk.
They work really well in dull or rainy weather and when daylight is fading. On a rainy
day it’s hard for drivers to see pedestrians and cyclists so it’s a good idea to wear or
carry something fluorescent.
Fluorescent colours look really bright because of the way they absorb and emit
different kinds of light.
Many people don’t realise it but...
.... fluorescent colours don’t show up in the dark or ‘glow in the dark’. To be seen by
drivers at night you need something reflective.
To be seen day, dusk and night you need something that is fluorescent and reflective.
Reflective for Night
Reflective materials work at night by bouncing back the light from a source.
To work properly it needs to be dark and there must be a light source such as car
headlights.
Light can also be reflected by white or pale objects such as a newspaper or white
carrier bag; these will reflect light but scatter it in all directions so a driver will see
some brightness.
However, special reflective materials work much better. They are called ‘retroreflective’; this means they are designed to bounce back most of the light back to its
source instead of scattering it, so the driver can see them much brighter. This can
help drivers to see you three seconds sooner – which could save your life.
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Many people don’t realise it but….
Reflective material on your clothing will not reliably help you to be seen in daytime
(unless it is also fluorescent!) Although reflective tape can sometimes catch sunlight
and shine a bit, it does not show up properly to drivers until it is dark.
Different Fluorescent Colours
Lots of colours can be used for fluorescent clothing and bags, not just yellow but red,
pink, green and orange too. (These colours are listed on the EN1150 quality
standard.)
In industry, yellow and orange fluorescent clothing is often worn under health and
safety laws (for quality standard EN471). You’ve probably seen police officers, postal
workers, lorry drivers, builders and refuse collectors wearing these jackets.
Lifeboat crews have orange lifejackets; this colour shows up best against blue and
grey water (yellow might not be as conspicuous against foamy waters). What colour
were your armbands when you learnt to swim?
Horse-riders often wear pink as it is a colour not found often found in nature and so
shows up well against autumn leaves. The Safe Lanes scheme in Mayfield, Sussex has
even encouraged motorbike riders to wear fluorescent pink so they can be seen!
Yellow waistcoats for children can attract flies but colours with some red in don’t have
the same effect, making orange, pink and red a good choice for young children on
outings.
However...
The colour blue is not used for fluorescent clothing; because of its wavelength it is not
good at emitting light and the human eye is not so good at seeing blue generally. So
if you’ve got a blue school uniform it’s a good idea to also wear or carry something
fluorescent to make yourself seen.
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Bright Quiz
Do you know how to be bright? Test yourself here when you have read our ‘Did you
Know’ section. (Answers below)
1 What kind of material helps you to be seen at night?
2 What helps you to be seen in daylight?
3 Which colour of the following is the most difficult for the human eye to see? Yellow,
pink, green or blue.
4 Which fluorescent colour is popular with horseriders in the countryside? Why?
5 Which fluorescent colour is good for lifeboat crews? Why?
6 What do you need for reflective material to work at night?
7 When do fluorescent colours show up best?
8 Why is ‘high viz’ clothing fluorescent and reflective?
9 How much sooner can a driver see you at night if you are wearing or carrying
something reflective?
10 Name five types of job where fluorescent, reflective clothing is worn.
Answers
1.
Reflective 2. Fluorescent 3. Blue 4. Pink. It contrast with colours in nature. 5. Orange. It shows up well
against blue and grey water and white foam. 6. A light source, e.g. car headlights. 7. In poor daylight, e.g.
rain, mist or when it’s starting to get dark (but not when it’s dark) 8. So it can be seen anytime - day, dusk
and night 9. Three seconds - which could save your life 10. Policeman, builder, lorry driver, postal worker,
school crossing patrol (lollipop man/lady)
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0208 356 8364. Thank you
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