-Class Discussion
To create a great action plan, students will need to know what kinds of vehicles are in their local community. In this lesson, you will survey the vehicles near the school and use statistics to create a profile of the average car. You will also compile data about the use of mass transit in their neighborhoods in an attempt to better understand the needs of their community.
Did you know that the average fuel economy of vehicles in the United States depends largely on two variables—fuel economy laws enacted by Congress and the price of gasoline. The fuel economy laws put a minimum level on fuel economy by charging car companies when they sell too many low-fuel-economy vehicles. Gas prices affect the market more directly—when gas prices are high, people tend to buy more fuel-efficient cars. Other factors, such as demographics, family size, and the local jobs profile, can also affect what type of vehicles people choose to drive or ride in.
As a reminder, at the end of this module, you will be asked to create an action plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced by transportation usage in their community. The final project should be produced in small groups. You may wish to have students meet at the end of this class period to discuss their findings and prepare the final project.
Key Vocabulary (appropriate for a word wall):
light‐duty truck
Resources from other Web sites:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm – Compare Side‐by‐Side
Let's review the previous lesson. Are there are government incentives involved in the way they get to school? Please explain your reasoning. Since the school bus is free, those who take the bus are in fact receiving an incentive in the form of savings on gas and car insurance. You will find out whether those incentives are working or not by examining how people get to school.
Here's a list of the top ten best-selling car and light truck models in 2002 and 2008. For simplicity, only the type of car is included.\
Ask students what changes they see in the types of vehicles purchased in 2002 and in 2008. They should see that in 2008 many more cars, particularly small cars, were purchased, and in 2002 more SUVs and trucks were purchased.
Ask students what they think the cause of this change in buying habits was. They should be aware that gas prices were at record highs in 2008, which influenced people to buy smaller, more fuel‐efficient cars.
Student Activity
Divide students into pairs. One student will be the observer and one the recorder. Lead the students out to the school parking lot or into the local community. Be conscious of the need for safety in either situation, and keep track of all the students.
Each group will be responsible for recording the make and model of at most ten vehicles. Students should also try to estimate how old each vehicle is. The categories will be one to twp years old, three to six years old, and seven or more years old. Each vehicle should be counted only once.
If students do not have access to a sample of at least 20 vehicles, use the following list of the top 20 best‐selling cars and light trucks from 2008. This list may not be representative of your community, but it will allow students to perform the statistical analysis that will be used in this project.
Once you have completed your survey, access the Compare Side-by-Side site at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm. This site will allow you to find the fuel economy of most vehicles. For new vehicles, you should use the 2008 model year. For vehicles that fall in the middle category, students should use the 2003 model year. And for the oldest vehicles, you should use the 1998 model year.
Use this data to calculate the mean fuel efficiency of the vehicles that are driven to school by teachers and students. Compare this data to the average U.S. fuel economy of 20.8 miles per gallon for cars and light‐duty trucks.
Let's examine the causes of the difference between the two values, if one exists. There are many reasons why a community might have higher or lower fuel efficiency than the national average. For example, a farm community would likely have more trucks than the national average, which would bring the fuel economy down. On the other hand, many urban neighborhoods have limited parking and high gas prices, so people are more likely to own small cars. Many students have smaller, more efficient cars, because they cannot afford costlier, less efficient vehicles.
Do any of you own a vehicle? If so, what factors did you use in deciding what type of vehicle to buy.
Let's conduct a survey of the class. Do you drive to school, take a bus, walk, or get a ride from a licensed driver. How do your parents get to work—bus, train, individual car or truck, carpool, cycling, or walking. Record this data in a table on the board or on a computer spreadsheet.
Use the data to develop a profile of the daily travel habits of community members. As a class, let us calculate the percentage of people that walk, take the bus, or get a ride to school. Then calculate the percentages of parents that use a given form of transportation to get to work. Let's record these values on the Community Survey worksheet.
Write a short essay analyzing the survey techniques used in this lesson. Questions that you should think about include whether there were enough vehicles in the sample from which to draw valid conclusions and whether the sample of cars at the school is representative of the overall community.
Classroom Discussion
Briefly review the results of the two surveys conducted in this class. Ask: How did the average car driven to school compare to the average American car? How do people in the community get to work?
Preview Lesson 7. Remember that in the past six lessons, you have learned many factors that determine what vehicles are purchased and what types of transportation people in their community use. In the final lesson, you will use this information to create an action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their community.