Texting while Walking: Dangerous or Not?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of my experiment was to find out if texting while walking has an effect on balance and coordination. It was hypothesized that if one walks while texting, it will not have an overall effect on balance and coordination. Methods/Materials 25 students in grades 4th through 8th walked through the cup course once without texting and I second time while texting a list of items that can be found in their bedroom. The amount of time it took to finish the course, the number of cups hit, and the number of items texted were recorded. Results The completion time on the cup course increased by 144% while walking and texting. The number of cups hit on the cup course increased by 552%. The number of items texted increased with the amount of time to complete the course. It was observed that subjects walked slower, swayed, and lost balance while texting. Conclusions/Discussion My hypothesis was incorrect. Texting while walking does have an effect on balance and coordination. This loss of balance and coordination could result in physical injuries. Thus one should limit texting while walking in areas where balance and coordination are important such as busy cities and busy streets, sidewalks, subways, stairs, train tracks, and tourist attraction places to name a few.

Awards (1)

• First Place

Competition history

• CSEF 2015 Mammalian Biology · Entry J1206

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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