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Car of the Future
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/activities/3507_car.html

Jeff Lockwood, NOVA Teachers

In this activity, student teams research and develop a proposal to decrease the carbon footprint of their city's/town's public transportation system and then prepare a report that explains why their transportation plan is the best for their community.

Activity takes about four class periods. Computer access is necessary.

Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»


Grade Level

Ideal audience are students grade 7-12 but activity can be modified to meet the needs of a college-level "non-major" intro science course.

Topics

Climate Literacy

This Activity builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.

Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.

Energy Literacy

This Activity builds on the following concepts of Energy Literacy.

Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.

Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines

2. Knowledge of Environmental Processes and Systems:2.4 Environment and Society:C) Resources
Other materials addressing:
C) Resources.
2. Knowledge of Environmental Processes and Systems:2.4 Environment and Society:D) Technology
Other materials addressing:
D) Technology.
3. Skills for Understanding and Addressing Environmental Issues:3.1 Skills for Analyzing and Investigating Environmental Issues:C) Identifying and evaluation alternative solutions and courses of action
Other materials addressing:
C) Identifying and evaluation alternative solutions and courses of action.

Notes From Our Reviewers The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials
Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy | Technical Details

Teaching Tips

  • Educators will need to preview activity to determine what prerequisite knowledge is required before the start of this project.
  • Have the groups with "the best" proposals present them to school administrators or community members to raise awareness.
  • Educators could use the jigsaw cooperative group method to organize students for this activity - divide students into 4 alternative technology groups and after students have become experts on their one area, reorganize groups to write proposals so that each group has one member from the original alternative energy groups.

About the Content

  • Activity addresses concerns about air pollution, CO2 emissions, and the U.S.'s dependence on imported oil and introduces students to the following areas: hydrogen fuel, ethanol fuel, vehicle engineering, and hybrid and electric cars.
  • Internet resources are provided as background readings for each area. Not all links work, but students should be able to find alternative sources to research if necessary.
  • Excellent worksheets and resources.
  • Comments from expert scientist: This resource is relevant to current issues (CO2 emissions reduction, alternative fuels, renewable technologies, vehicles) and it can be expanded upon, and will help students think about current and future issues in US.

About the Pedagogy

  • Student driven project with collaborative groups working together to create a final presentation.
  • Good visual materials are provided.
  • Interesting NOVA program clips (8-10 mins each) are provided for each alternative technology.
  • Group work, research, discussions and presentations will engage learners of different learning types.
  • Sample rubric and assessment questions provided.

Technical Details/Ease of Use

  • Easy to follow, step-by-step directions for the educator are provided.
  • Not all links work. Consider other sources to recommend students explore.
Entered the Collection: February 2015 Last Reviewed: February 2015

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