There are three activities in this unit. They have been written to be followed sequentially and take students through a comparison of the risks associated with different activities using data at personal, community, national and global levels.

In the first activity  ‘Fancy a swim?’ students analyse data on drowning incidents and decide whether swimming in rivers and streams should or should not be banned.

For the second activity  ‘Calculating and comparing risk ‘ students calculate the risks involved in various activities and then compare the risks and benefits of some sports and travel risks and decide what level of personal risk is acceptable.

The unit concludes with and activity ‘Time to decide – should we be making decisions for others?’ in which students research and debate the balance of risks and benefits of technologies that affect everybody, e.g. growing GM (genetically modified) crops, using nuclear power stations or burning fossils fuels to generate electricity, and decide who should be making the decisions.

The activities ‘Calculating and comparing risk’ and ‘Time to decide – should we be making decisions for others?’ could also be used in isolation if some background information is provided for students. The third activity could be used as an extension.