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Briarcliff Students Design Driving Reaction Time Experiments

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. -- Seventh-grade students in Jessica Loprieno’s science class at Briarcliff Middle School recently got creative as they designed experiments to test the types of actions that could slow a driver’s reaction time.

Seventh-graders in Jessica Loprieno’s science class at Briarcliff Middle School designed experiments to test the type of actions that could slow down a driver's reaction time.

Seventh-graders in Jessica Loprieno’s science class at Briarcliff Middle School designed experiments to test the type of actions that could slow down a driver's reaction time.

 Photo Credit: Contributed
Seventh-graders in Jessica Loprieno’s science class at Briarcliff Middle School designed experiments to test the type of actions that could slow down a driver's reaction time.

Seventh-graders in Jessica Loprieno’s science class at Briarcliff Middle School designed experiments to test the type of actions that could slow down a driver's reaction time.

 Photo Credit: Contributed
Ken Davis

“The authentic tie was relating to whether distractions during driving – such as texting, singing along to music, chatting with a friend, eating food, applying makeup, etc. – could increase a person's reaction time significantly enough to make driving unsafe,” said Loprieno, who developed the project along with teacher Robert Iovino.

The project required students to design experimental procedures, identify the variables involved, run experimental trials, and analyze and present their data using graphs and PowerPoint presentations.

“Using an online reaction time tester, we found that every one of the distractions tested increased a person's reaction time, sometimes quite dramatically,” said Loprieno.

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