Automobile Choices and Alternative Fuels. PBS NewsHour. Grades 9-12. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/science/ethanol_interactive.html. This is an activity in which students take the role of either a car seller or a car buyer to learn about transportation energy options. Car sellers are challenged to pitch to buyers about cars with a particular fuel type while car buyers each have a specified personal and socio-economic background that must be considered when buying a car.

Getting Around Without Gasoline by the Northeastern Sustainable Energy Association. Grades 6-9. http://www.nesea.org/k-12/uploads/textWidget/1109.00020/documents/Getting_Around_without_Gasoline.pdf. This interdisciplinary unit explores the feasibility of "Getting Around Without Gasoline." Students interpret statistics, develop graphs, express their thoughts in writing, and conduct mathematical calculations in order to compare powering vehicles with gasoline vs. electricity. Activities include designing a model vehicle and a city, and selecting a project that will make a difference in their community. Background information included. Cars of Tomorrow and the American Community.

Northeast Sustainable Energy Association. Grades 6-9. In this high school curriculum on sustainable driving behavior and alternative fuels, students investigate the impact of present-day transportation on their communities and explore the possible effects of a shift to alternative-fueled vehicles. The unit provides guidelines for a typical class to research nine fuels in the topic areas of Availability and Distribution, Health, Pollution, and Safety, and Operation, Maintenance, and Refueling. Includes 35 hours of activities and suggestions for unit organization.
 
K-12 Energy and Sustainable Transportation Lessons. General Motors. Grades K-12. http://education.gm.com/corporate/responsibility/education/index.html. On GM’s education web page, educators can access lesson plans, games, and information in three grade bands: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Primary students can learn what a fuel cell is and make an edible car. Middle level students can build a model car from paper or explore electricity through The Power of the Plug lessons. High school students can learn how hybrid engines work and find tips on teen driving.

Wedge Analysis of the U.S. Transportation Sector. http://www.epa.gov/oms/climate/420f07049.htm. The U.S. transportation sector represents about 10% of all energy-related greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide. Over the next 50 years, rising numbers and use of vehicles could increase greenhouse-gas emissions from U.S. transportation sources 80% above current levels. However, many current and anticipated vehicle and fuel technologies, as well as approaches for reducing vehicle use, could be deployed to slow or halt the increase in accumulated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from transportation.

Great Lakes Bioenergy Resource Center. http://www.glbrc.org/education. The mission of GLBRC Education & Outreach is to inform a variety of audiences about bioenergy research, energy concerns, and sustainability issues affecting our planet. Our goal is to broaden the understanding of current issues in bioenergy for the general public, and students and educators at the K-12, undergraduate and graduate levels.

Clean Vehicles 101. Union of Concerned Scientists. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/clean_vehicles_101/. This web site discusses various vehicle technologies and their costs and benefits.