Text neck
Text neck
Short description
New research suggests that smart phone use is seriously damaging our necks. Looking down at an angle places great strain on the spine, and can result in serious harm. In this activity students learn about the forces acting on the spine. They then devise a plan to investigate the causes of text neck, before solving a dilemma: will they use their phone less to prevent neck damage?
Learning objective
- Forces: identify forces on objects
- Hypothesise: define a problem and devise a plan to investigate it
Blueprint curriculum link
- Unit: Moving & turning
- Concept: Moments: The turning effect of a force varies with force and distance. Objects are in equilibrium if the moments are equal and opposite
- Skills: Variables: Choose variables to answer a scientific question
- Learning stage: Analyse
Activity contents
- Teachers guide
- PowerPoint file
The activity is delivered as a zip file. After you checkout, you will be sent an email with the link to download it.
Weblinks
Text neck - how smartphones are damaging our spines
A newspaper article describing the research
A second newspaper article describing the research
The scientific paper in Surgical Technology International
Forces acting on the neck (see figure 8)
Share
I used this to show students a real-life example in forces and levers. They engaged well and it was good to download an app to measure the angle of their necks.
I used this to show students a real-life example in forces and levers. They engaged well and it was good to download an app to measure the angle of their necks.