Future Transport Competition: a teacher talks about the approach with his students + tips for getting entries completed. Design thinking: an interview with university students who design and build electric cars. Safety around trucks is the theme of new curriculum resources.

1. Some students working on competition entries are looking at past and present
transport in their suburb before imagining the years ahead.
Decades ago there was a tram
line out to the Auckland
suburb of Pt Chevalier.
Nowadays, the local school
and residents are being
consulted on proposed
cycleways.
Past and present transport
ideas are stirring the
imaginations of year 5-6
students at Pt Chevalier
School. They are creating
entries for the Future
Transport Competition as part of a gifted and talented
programme run by teachers Sarah Boddy and Nathan
Crocker.
Nathan says cycling is growing in the city. The
cycleway proposals were a good springboard for
students to start thinking about their own ideas.
‘So we’re taking them into that thinking, looking at the
past, leading into the now, and what will happen in the
future,’ says Nathan.
‘Sarah and I expect to be kept on our toes, and to
be learners too. Our role will be to question the
students’ choices and thinking, so they produce
entries they’re really proud of.’
He says the competition will help students
put thinking skills into action.
‘I could see that it was suitable for a
human-centred design thinking approach.
The students will really have to look at what our
transport needs will be in the future. With the way
technology is growing exponentially, I don’t think that
we can predict all our future transport needs, but it will
be interesting to see what they come up with.’
‘I’m a big believer in learning through the struggle. Let
them get immersed in the work and intervene when
necessary. Our job as teachers is to fill their tool box
with knowledge and skills so they can influence the
world if they choose to.’
He says this group of students are animated when
immersed in their learning.
‘There’s a real buzz and robust discussion – they
challenge each other. And as a teacher, you might pose
a curly question and give them that thinking time, see
how they react to it.’
education.nzta.govt.nz
ISSUE 36 | MAY 2017
The Future Transport
Competition challenges
student teams in years 1–13 to
enter games or narratives
about transforming transport.
Entries must be by teams of
three or more students. The
deadline is Friday 30 June.
education.nzta.govt.nz/
competition
COMPETITION
#FUTURETRANSPORT17

2. THE FUTURE IS NOW FOR STUDENT DESIGNERS
Young people can be innovative when it comes to design thinking. For inspiration,
look at the university students who design and build electric cars.
Willy Dunlop and Jeremy Evans turn to show the race car up on
its stand in a University of Canterbury Motorsport (UCM)
workshop. Each wheel assembly includes a compact electric
motor and a planetary gearbox. This is not your usual car.
In fact, the machine – designed, built and tested by students in
2016 – was the first electric vehicle to win a dynamic event at
the Formula SAE Australasia competition, which challenges
university teams to design and build prototype race cars.
‘Our aim was to put all of our resources into building a complete
high performance machine that could win the competition.’
The team designs a new electric car every year. Any enrolled UoC
student can join. Final year engineering students lead design work,
earning course credits. Commerce students work on the business
plan. And it all happens to a strict schedule, says Willy.
‘By January we lock in the concept. Then we have design reviews. In
April is the design freeze. Then we start manufacture. That timeframe
is all about creating direction for the team.’
Willy says a huge focus is on reliability, with the car ready for testing
from mid-July. This takes lots of work says lead electrical engineer
Jeremy Evans.
‘It’s a fairly aggressive timeline, but it gives us time to iron out all the
bugs and make sure we get the best performance out of it,’ says
Jeremy. He’s a master’s student, aged 22, who has poured hours into
design and testing of the electrics. Tasks in 2016 included tuning the
electric motors and spot welding hundreds of battery cells.
Jeremy says he has learned a lot.
‘I’ve gained a phenomenal amount from this project. I’m designing and
implementing systems on the car and then getting feedback from the
drivers. It’s an amazing test bench for design.’
Follow the team: www.facebook.com/UCMFSAE
Design principles
The UCM team works to these
principles:
Professionalism – in team structure, the
design process and safe workshop
practices.
Validation – ‘We have to justify our
design decisions through calculations
and real life testing,’ says Willy.
Integration – All the subsystems are
optimised to work together – for
example, the team ensures all parts will
fit elegantly in the carbon fibre one-
piece chassis (monocoque) with weight
and ease of maintenance in mind.
Why go
electric?
Electric cars have
performance
advantages, plus
they prepare students
for future careers.
‘If you look at where the
motoring industry is
heading, it is towards electric
vehicles. So, it helps us a lot
to get this experience,’
says Jeremy.

3. Advice and support for getting the
Future Transport Competition entries in.
To help, the competition’s student guide includes
suggested project stages, inspired by design thinking.
education.nzta.govt.nz/competition/student-guide
Students needing a dose of inspiration can watch the
Future Competition videos or take another look at the
ideas bank.
education.nzta.govt.nz/competition/videos
education.nzta.govt.nz/competition/ideas-bank
Quick help
Check there’s only positive travel safety messages.
Games or narratives should model safe, responsible use
of roads and other transport systems. Help students to
think in terms of how citizens can share the transport
network with one another.
Check all files and links in your entry can be viewed by
the judges. Online documents must have privacy settings
which allow anyone with the link to open them. Digital
games or presentations must be able to be played or
viewed directly. Avoid project files that require specialist
software to open.
Check entries against the judging criteria.
• INVESTIGATION: The quality of your research.
Evidence about how you looked into the
future of transport.
• PRESENTATION: How well your game
or narrative was developed.
• IDEAS: Evidence of deep thinking
and innovative ideas.
• SHARING: Evidence of how you
shared your ideas in your school
community.
• OVERALL IMPRESSION:
The ‘wow factor’
of your entry.
JUNE 30 DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES
Meet two of our judges
Competition winners will be picked by a
panel of judges. Two are profiled here:
Daniel Faitaua
Daniel is a familiar face on TV as
the newsreader for TVNZ Breakfast
and 1News Midday. Before that he
developed extensive experience as
a broadcast reporter for One News
and Close Up, an evening current
affairs programme.
‘Don’t let the lights and camera fool you, the job of a
TV reporter is far from glamorous. Journalists must
use dogged determination and persistence to
investigate and research stories to keep people
informed, facilitate change and hold
those in power accountable.’
Dr Bron Stuckey
Bron is a Global Consultant
Specialist in game play, game
inspired learning, communities of
practice and learning communities.
Bron cut her teeth in games for
learning through her 10 years with
the highly successful Arizona State
University Quest Atlantis program. She
coined the term ‘lived curriculum’ through her
work on digital citizenship in online games and
virtual worlds.
She also explores, curates and supports teachers
using Minecraft in their classrooms. She works
both in school with kids and teachers and online.
The full judging panel is online:
education.nzta.govt.nz/competition/judges

4. www.twitter.com/nztaeducationpinterest.com/nzta#futuretransport17facebook.com/TransportAgency/events
April 2017. New curriculum resources use safety around trucks as a context for
concepts in science, mathematics, social studies and health and PE.
Science is one of four learning areas
covered by a new set of curriculum
resources – Keeping Safe Around
Trucks. The resources can be freely
downloaded from the NZ Transport
Agency Education Portal and
modified by teachers to meet student
needs.
Other learning areas are
Mathematics with Statistics, Social
Studies and Health and PE. Activities
are arranged to help students:
• identify prior knowledge
• bring in ideas
• connect ideas
• extend ideas.
The resources are mapped against
level 1-4 achievement objectives of
the New Zealand Curriculum. They
are suitable for students in primary
school, middle years and early
secondary school.
NZ Transport Agency
Freight Strategy Manager
Marinus La Rooij says
‘trucks provide a critical
service to the New
Zealand economy,
moving goods to market.’
‘But while trucks have an important
function, those of us not in trucks
need to be more aware of some of the
safety risks of being around trucks on
the road and how to keep ourselves
safe,’ he says.
‘Around two thirds of crashes
involving trucks and another vehicle
are caused by a mistake by someone
not in the truck.
So there is a big opportunity to give
people a better idea of what the
safety risks are and how to keep
themselves safe around trucks.’
education.nzta.govt.nz/resources/
primary/trucks
SAFETY AROUND TRUCKS IS FOCUS
FOR CURRICULUM RESOURCES
P a g e | 7
www.education.nzta.govt.nz
TRUCK SAFETY FACT 3.
FACT: Large trucks take more time to accelerate and more time to
slow down than smaller vehicles.
EXPLANATION:
FUTURE THINKING:
TRUCK SAFETY FACT 4.
FACT: Large trucks have bigger blind spots than smaller vehicles. A
blind spot is an area around the vehicle that the driver cannot see.
Truck blind spots are found:
• immediately in front of the truck – the driver cannot see
pedestrians crossing in front of the truck
• beside the truck driver’s door
• on the passenger side – this is bigger than the driver’s side
blind spot, stretching the length of the truck and extending
out the width of three lanes
• directly behind the truck – the cab has no rear vision mirror
because the trailer behind a truck is so high, a rear vision
mirror would only show the truck driver their own trailer.
EXPLANATION:
FUTURE THINKING:
P a g e | 7
www.education.nzta.govt.nz
TRUCK SAFETY FACT 3.
FACT: Large trucks take more time to accelerate and more time to
slow down than smaller vehicles.
EXPLANATION:
FUTURE THINKING:
TRUCK SAFETY FACT 4.
FACT: Large trucks have bigger blind spots than smaller vehicles. A
blind spot is an area around the vehicle that the driver cannot see.
Truck blind spots are found:
• immediately in front of the truck – the driver cannot see
pedestrians crossing in front of the truck
• beside the truck driver’s door
• on the passenger side – this is bigger than the driver’s side
blind spot, stretching the length of the truck and extending
out the width of three lanes• directly behind the truck – the cab has no rear vision mirror
because the trailer behind a truck is so high, a rear vision
mirror would only show the truck driver their own trailer.
EXPLANATION:
FUTURE THINKING:
P a g e | 9
www.education.nzta.govt.nz
TRUCK SAFETY FACT 7.
FACT: Large trucks throw out more water during wet weather thansmaller vehicles.
EXPLANATION:
FUTURE THINKING:
TRUCK SAFETY FACT 8.
FACT: Large trucks create more air turbulence than smallervehicles, which can affect oncoming vehicles.
EXPLANATION:
FUTURE THINKING:
P a g e | 9
www.education.nzta.govt.nz
TRUCK SAFETY FACT 7.
FACT: Large trucks throw out more water during wet weather than
smaller vehicles.
EXPLANATION:
FUTURE THINKING:
TRUCK SAFETY FACT 8.
FACT: Large trucks create more air turbulence than smaller
vehicles, which can affect oncoming vehicles.
EXPLANATION:
FUTURE THINKING:
Prompt for future thinking
The resource includes Fact – Explanation – Future
Thinking cards. These contains 15 cards on truck safety
and 3 cards on energy use. Exemplars are included for
teacher reference. These can be the basis for student
explanations, wonderings and presentations.