Mobility box

The mobility box for Aachen elementary school

41 mobility boxes were distributed to all elementary school in Aachen. The boxes were put together as part of the "FahrRad in Aachen" campaign. The contents can be used by teachers at Aachen's elementary school in mobility and traffic lessons.

According to the decree, one of the tasks of schools is to impart knowledge to children in traffic and mobility lessons and to promote the skills and attitudes required for responsible participation in road traffic. In this way, schools should enable pupils to reflect on their shared responsibility in road traffic. "To support teachers in this, the Department of Urban Development and Traffic Facilities has put together the mobility kit as part of the "FahrRad in Aachen" campaign," explains Dr. Stephanie Küpper, project manager of "FahrRad in Aachen". "As a result, we have increased our offer for schools."

Last year, three roll-ups were developed on the topics of "The roadworthy bicycle", "The important traffic signs" and "Information for parents", which can be borrowed free of charge by schools. Mobility projects have been carried out at various elementary school since 2008. The aims of this project are to make the traffic area around the school safer, to train children to ride as safely as possible in traffic and to practise cycling in a safe space. This last component serves both to improve coordination skills and to prepare for bicycle training.

The contents of the boxes are structured in the same way. They contain material for pupils in the first and second grades to introduce them to cycling. For pupils in the third and fourth grades, the boxes contain material to prepare them for bicycle training.

Teaching unit for 1st to 3rd grade

For mobility and road safety education, teaching units have been developed for the first, second and third school years. For the first classes, the topics of perception and crossing the road are suggested, for the second classes the topic of "blind spots" and for the third classes the topics of children's city map, distance, vehicle speeds and mutual consideration.

For the first classes: The perception exercises serve to train attention, consciously use eyes and ears, recognize key or warning signals and the associated potential dangers in order to be able to act accordingly to the situation. Various lane crossings are addressed and practice sessions are suggested. Experience from the mobility projects shows that the initial police inspection alone, i.e. without further practice by the school, is often not enough for children to be able to handle difficult crossing situations safely without adult help.

For the second class: The aim of the lesson is to raise children's awareness of the blind spots of vehicles. Once they have learned to correctly assess the dangers, most blind spot accidents can be avoided if the safety rules are observed.

The third grade lesson is divided into a theoretical and a practical part. The topic of the theoretical part is the children's city map and takes place in the classroom. The topics of the practical lessons are vehicle speed, distance and consideration and take place on the street and in the gym.

A detailed description of the lesson content can be found in the brochure. The brochure for first to third grade can be downloaded here.

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