Module Description:
In this module, you use data from scientific investigations and engineering design to explore factors that affect vehicle efficiency and safety. You will research real‐world mass transit options, alternative fuels, and government tax incentives that encourage alternatives to the gasoline‐powered vehicle. You will collect information about the types of vehicles that teachers, friends, and neighbors drive and their transportation habits. Finally, you will use this information to create an action plan to reduce transportation‐related energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in their community.
Module Project:
Analyze local private and mass transportation usage, and develop a plan to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere by members of the community.
Module Objectives:
Identify efficiency for vehicles that use different sources of power, including gasoline, electricity, and biofuels.
Identify personal driving habits that use fuel more efficiently and reduce automobile emissions.
Explain ways to conserve energy and reduce emissions from transportation, including the use of mass transit and alternative fuel sources for vehicles.
Develop an action plan to reduce greenhouse gas and other emissions from vehicles used in the local community.
Lesson 1 – Introduction to Fuel Efficiency
You will begin their research by considering different types of energy sources that are currently used to power vehicles. You will use data to help develop an operational definition of efficiency for these different fuels.
Lesson 2 – How Does Driving Behavior Affect Fuel Efficiency?
You will explore different aspects of driving behavior that lead to increased fuel consumption. You will explore gear ratios and efficiency of the power needed to propel a vehicle.
You will design and build a structure meant to withstand a large impact in order to examine the costs of building safe vehicles. You will use real data to determine how much extra energy is used to run car electronics such as GPS devices and DVD players.
You will use data on individual vehicles and mass transit to compare the efficiency of both types of transportation. You will consider factors that cause people to choose one type of transportation over another.
Lesson 5 – Government Incentives
You will examine incentives that encourage the use of alternative energy source vehicles. You will use data to examine the opportunities and challenges of using alternative energy vehicles and consider the requirements needed to expand this use in the future.
You will go out into the community to collect information about the vehicles that are driven by their neighbors, friends, and teachers. You will also determine what alternative forms of transportation are being used in the community.
Lesson 7 – Can You Design a Better Community?
After reviewing the main concepts developed in the first six lessons of this module, you will design an action plan intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their community. You will create multimedia presentations to share their plans with their classmates.