Risk Watch: Make Time for Safety

Check Your Checkbook!
Grades 5-6

Objective

Students will be able to demonstrate and reinforce their knowledge of Risk Watch risk areas; correlate appropriate safety precautions; write a story in sequential order; and work effectively in cooperative learning groups.

Core Subject Integration

Procedure

Review the eight major risk areas outlined in Risk Watch.
Ask students if they have ever seen a checkbook. Explain that working adults put money in a bank. A check is written to buy something or pay a bill. The person receiving the check turns it into the bank for cash.
Tell students that their task will be to figure out the story of the Exeter family by reviewing the family's checkbook. The story takes place over a 30-year period. By looking at the date, amount, the "memo," and the "payee" on each check, students should try to identify the characters in the story, what events are taking place, what risks the family encounters, the safety precautions they take, and the items they have purchased.
Divide the class into cooperative learning groups, with three or four students in each group. Distribute copies of the check register below and/or the "checks" (attached PDF file). Note: The attached checks can be printed, laminated, and provided to each group of students. Have students start the lesson by putting the checks in order by number or date.
Have each group identify and list the risks and/or safety precautions taken by the Exeter family.
Have each student write a short story describing the events that took place.

Check Register

Check #	Date	Paid To	Amount
101	8/3/67	Sky Mortgage Corporation	$12,000
182	9/15/68	Riskville Community Hospital	$775
183	9/15/68	Fancy Flowers	$30.45
324	4/3/71	Bob's Auto	$7,800
325	4/3/71	Safety Seats Unlimited	$26.50
497	11/29/73	Sam's Gun Shop	$78
498	11/30/73	Locksmith Pro	$29.99
532	5/9/74	Fun Play Equipment Co.	$124.75
533	5/10/74	Lovely Landscaping	$49.29
780	9/15/76	Cool Cycles	$80.99
782	9/21/76	Riskville Community Hospital	$300
783	9/22/76	Cool Cycles	$20
1020	6/2/80	The Pool Place	$9,500
1024	6/10/80	Locksmith Pro	$540
1515	9/2/86	Whitehall Community College	$6,250
2076	5/14/90	Mary's Marina	$435.70
2077	5/14/90	Mary's Marina	$89.20
2145	8/1/91	Home Stuff, Inc.	$28.98
2515	12/8/94	Carl's Catering	$900
2926	3/19/97	Finnegan's Toy Store	$52.60
2942	5/12/97	Riskville Public Health Dept.	$30

Here is one possible sequence of events that could be inferred by reviewing the check register:

John and Mary Exeter buy a house
The Exeters have a baby
John Exeter buys flowers to celebrate the birth of the baby
The Exeters buy a new car
The Exeters buy a safety seat for the baby
John Exeter buys a gun for a hunting trip
Mary Exeter buys a "lock box" for the gun
The Exeters build a swingset in their backyard
The Exeters have a landscaper prepare the surface below the swingset to provide adequate cushioning in case of a fall
The Exeters buy a bike for their child
Their child falls off the bike and must go to the emergency room
The Exeters buy the child a bike helmet
The Exeters have a built-in pool installed in their backyard
The Exeters have a fence with a lock installed around the pool
The Exeters send their child to college
The Exeters buy a row boat for their child's college graduation gift
The Exeters buy personal flotation devices (PFDs) for the row boat
Mary Exeter buys new smoke alarms and batteries for her home
The Exeters purchase catering services for their child's wedding reception
The Exeters buy toys for their new grandchild
Because they sometimes babysit for their new grandchild, the Exeters attend a choking and poison prevention class at their local public health department