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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Can I Get There 

from Here?

A safe way to cross the street is important for people 

walking between different places in a neighborhood. 

The longer it takes someone to cross the road, there 

is a greater chance for them to be struck by a driver. 

Participants will discover strategies that can make shorter 

crossings that improve safety for people walking.

Supplies

▸ Measuring tape

▸ Bucket or box

▸ Construct crosswalk on floor from one or

combination of following:

▸ Rectangular sections of white paper

▸ Tape outlines of crosswalk bars

▸ Long black roll of paper with white

crosswalk bars colored or pasted on

▸ Gray poster board or butcher paper

(check dimensions needed on handout)

▸ Masking tape or strips of white paper to indicate

new end point of crosswalk for road diet

▸ Spinning device (choose one option):

▸ Use a laptop or tablet to set up a virtual

spinner using wheeldecide.com

▸ Re-purpose a spinner from board game

by affixing your own labels or create a

spinner using poster board/ brad fastener/

paperclips

Supplemental Materials Provided

▸ Visual aid: WALK and DON’T WALK signal

(1 per sheet)

▸ Visual aid: 6 images of serious and silly street

improvements (1 per sheet)

▸ Handout: layout for crosswalk, refuge island,

curb extension, and road diet

▸ Visual aid: Person cut-outs (4 per sheet)

Audience: 

Suitable for all ages 

(including adults)

Format: 20-minute activity 

to complete on a rolling 

basis at an all-comer event 

for elementary students 

and their families.

STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

FHWA-SA-20-086
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Introduction to Concept 

and Activity

These concepts should be reinforced by 

the lesson leader the during activities.

▸ Some people walk faster than others. A person’s

walking speed may change over the course of

their life for a variety of reasons (e.g., they may

experience an injury, be walking with heavy

bags, need the help of an assistive device).

▸ The faster someone is driving when a crash

occurs, the more severe the impacts. People

outside of vehicles are disproportionately

injured over those protected inside the vehicle.

▸ The distance that someone must cross and the

amount of time that they are in the travel lane

can both be changed through design. Designs

that visually narrow the road and decrease the

distance that someone walking must cross can

also decrease drivers’ speed and give them a

better view of someone trying to cross the street.

Activity Part 1: This activity is 

modeled after the children’s game 

“red light/green light.” Tell the group 

of participants to gather at the 

crosswalk. One person becomes 

“captain” and stands at one end of the crosswalk 

while remaining participants line up at the other 

end. Give up to 4 remaining participants one 

of the people cut-outs and tell them to simulate 

the speed at which they imagine their individual 

would walk (or roll). When the captain says walk 

and shows the WALK sign, participants move 

forward. When captain says don’t walk and shows 

the DON’T WALK sign, everyone must stop instantly. 

Anyone who keeps moving is told to go back to 

the start of the crosswalk. Start a new round with a 

new captain when everyone gets fully across the 

crosswalk. Remind participants not to run.

Activity Part 2: Ask participants to guess 

the crossing distance and/or guess the 

crossing time by selecting values on a 

chart or writing their answer on a chalk 

board/easel. Select a few students to 

measure and then announce values. 

Say why lower values (i.e., shorter times/

distances) are better for people crossing 

the street on foot then ask, “what are ways 

we could we make the number better”?

Ask students to take turns pulling images from 

“Better Crosswalk” bucket filled with serious 

examples (e.g., refuge island, street with fewer 

lanes) and silly examples. Ask students to shout 

out yes or no to each example pulled from the 

bucket and with each serious “Better Crosswalk” 

you could ask for a volunteer to explain what 

makes it better or offer a brief description yourself.

Optional: With access to a laptop/tablet, another 

way to do this might be to use a “fortune teller”: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvKE3mJ-QOA

To Do in Advance

 Review “The Why and How Behind the

Concepts” in the Primer.

 Identify large space, ideally in

a multi-use room or outside.

 Print items for the

“Better Crosswalk” bucket and 

WALK/DON’T WALK activity. 

 Prepare chosen materials for crosswalk

improvements for Activity Part 3.

 Install crosswalk using selected supplies.

 Set up laptop/tablet or make spinner

labeling three “pieces of the pie” as refuge 

island, road diet, and curb extension.

 Set up chalk board or easel

with writing supplies.
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Activity Part 3: Participants 

then spin a wheel to “win” items 

to improve the crosswalk. These 

items are curb extension, road 

diet, and a refuge island. For 

each item won, the lesson leader 

shows the photo from Activity Part 2. Participants 

then place the prepared items on the crosswalk 

based on what they won and what they see in 

the images. White paper strips or tape are placed 

on one or both ends of the crosswalk to indicate 

the removal of one or two travel lanes (road diet). 

With each combination of treatments, ask what 

effect these may have by looking at the crosswalk 

and thinking through the crossing.

Activity Part 4: The WALK/DON’T WALK activity is 

repeated from Activity Part 1, this time with some 

or all of the crosswalk improvements 

from Activity Part 3 showing a 

shortened crossing. (can be 

shortened or skipped if needed). Ask 

students to guess crossing time; then 

select students to measure the distances needed 

to cross. Compare the results with the numbers 

from Activity Part 2.

Optional: For groups with older students or when 

more time is available. Have participants measure 

the crossing distance and calculate a walking 

speed. Using this calculation and the crosswalk 

improvements, participants can work out an 

optimal road width or refuge island placement to 

ensure pedestrians can cross in a given time.

Notes
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Visual Aid: Activity 1& 4 - Walk
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Visual Aid: Activity 1& 4 - Don’t Walk
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Visual Aid: Activity 1
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Instructor Handout: Activity 2 - Better Crosswalk

PEDESTRIAN REFUGE ISLAND
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Instructor Handout: Activity 2 - Better Crosswalk

ROAD DIET
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Instructor Handout: Activity 2 - Better Crosswalk

CURB EXTENSIONS
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Instructor Handout: Activity 2 - Better Crosswalk

CROSSWALK SPACESHIP LIGHTING
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Instructor Handout: Activity 2 - Better Crosswalk

PEDESTRIAN TROPICAL ISLAND
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Instructor Handout: Activity 2 - Better Crosswalk

PEDESTRIAN LIGHTHOUSE 

BEACON
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STEM Lessons for Pedestrian Safety: Can I Get There from Here?

Instructor Handout: Activity 3 - Improve your Crosswalk

Crosswalk: Please use the style that is likely 

to be most recognizable by members of your 

community (options shown in the image). FYI: 60 

feet across could represent a wide thoroughfare 

in your community (e.g., providing room for some 

combination of multiple vehicle travel lanes, 

vehicle parking lanes, a median, or bike lanes). 

Dimensions: 60 feet X 10 feet

Pedestrian refuge island:

Road diet: 

▸ Using strips of white paper: Create two strips of 11 ft. X 12 ft.

▸ Using making tape: Be prepared to mark off one or both sides of the crosswalk about 12 feet in from

the edges.

Curb extension (create two):