Transportation Information
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Introduction
Terms to Know
Classroom
Ideas
Support Materials
Transportation
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Whether the people are inside
or out. Automobiles are a story unto themselves. They've come so far in such a
short time. They have taken over everywhere. They break thru the forests and the
dunes and the mountains and bring civilization faster and wilder than the
railroads ever could. They aren't bound by two rails. They suggest an absolute
freedom, freedom that could take the mind to anywhere. They can go even where
there are no roads; they can run over everything old and suggest a constant
present. They seem like so much freedom but they actually are so much
dependence. When you gain a car you lose a self. Cars keep driving to the
furthest reaches, past where the roads peter out. The people stay inside them,
enclosed in glass and steel. ~ John Akre (www.sloppyfilms.com) |
Many people's daily routines involve travel. We
commute to school and work. We go to a store or a shopping mall to buy
things. We run errands to the dry cleaner, post office, and photocopy
shop. We travel to restaurants, movie theaters, scout meetings, and
sporting events. We visit friends and relatives.
Most of Wisconsin
travel takes place in a private motor vehicle. Although there are many
other modes of transportation - bus, train, bicycle - for some of us,
automobiles are the only means of getting to our daily destinations.
Transportation is a major energy user in Wisconsin, comprising over a quarter of total
energy use in the state. Nearly all the energy used for transportation
comes from one energy resource-petroleum-which is used to make gasoline,
diesel fuel, and jet fuel.
Another consideration of transportation is
environmental costs. Every gallon of gasoline that is burned emits about
20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Automobiles are the
primary source of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, that could
result in global climate change. In addition to how car production and
use affect the environment, building the roads we use to drive cars
destroys habitat and adds pollutants to the air, land, and water.
There are many ways car production and use can be
managed to save money and to be less damaging toward the environment.
One of the first steps is to make sure a car uses fuel efficiently (see
What is the MPG?) or to investigate alternative fuels (see
Alternative Transporation).
Driving habits and how well the vehicle is maintained
can also cause noticeable variations in fuel efficiencies. Inflating the
tires to the proper pressure, tuning up the engine, aligning the wheels,
and changing the oil and oil filter are maintenance measures that can
contribute to increased vehicle efficiency.
We should also become aware of how we travel on a day-to-day basis, and
explore using alternative means of transportation to meet our travel
needs. Walking, bicycling, carpooling, riding a school bus, and using
public transit are alternatives that not only get us to our
destinations, but can save us money, reduce traffic congestion, decrease
air emissions, and improve energy efficiency as well.
Carbon dioxide
(formula: CO2):
A colorless, odorless gas formed
during respiration, organic decomposition, and combustion of fossil and
other carbon-based fuels. Carbon dioxide is taken up by green plants
during photosynthesis, dissolved in bodies of water, and circulated in
Earth's atmosphere.
Carbon monoxide (formula: CO)
A colorless, odorless, poisonous gas formed by the
incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels such as coal, gasoline, natural
gas, and wood and listed as a criteria pollutant.
Combustion
1. The
process of burning. 2. A rapid chemical change in which a substance
reacts with oxygen and generates heat and light
Emissions:
The release of gases to the atmosphere, usually
resulting from fuel combustion.
Fuel : Substances that are
burned or consumed by some means to produce energy.
Ozone: A
colorless, odorless, reactive gas composed of three oxygen atoms. Ozone
located in the stratosphere (the ozone layer) absorbs ultraviolet
radiation that would otherwise be harmful to organisms on Earth's
surface. However, ozone located near Earth's surface adversely affects
human health.
Guest Speakers
1. Invite a guest speaker from a local car
dealership to your classroom to talk about energy efficient automobiles,
such as hybrids.
Sample Academic Standards Addressed:
Science Education H.12.4: Advocate a solution or combination of
solutions to a problem in science or technology
Environmental Education D.12.1: Identify a variety of approaches to
environmental issues, evaluate the consequences of each, and select and
defend a position
Click
here to find contacts for guest speakers in your area.
Field
Trips
1. Create and lead walking tours of your community
Sample Academic
Standards Addressed:
Social Studies A.12.1: Use various types of atlases and appropriate
vocabulary to describe physical attributes of a place.
Click
here to find field trip ideas in your area.
Activities
and Lessons
1. Research
the history of the transportation, focusing on a particular topic
(number of vehicles, development of the highway system, modes of travel,
etc.). Create a vision for the future of technology.
Sample Academic Standards Addressed:
Social Studies B.12.9: Select significant changes caused by technology,
industrialization, urbanization, and population growth, and analyze the
effects of these changes in the United States and world.
Technology Education D.12.5: Describe
current challenges and project future challenges of governing a
technology once it has become an integral part of the way people live,
work and play.
2. Conduct experiments to
investigate various air pollutants or their sources. Some common
activities are listed below. If there is an air quality monitoring
station nearby, learn what tests they conduct.
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Put a white sock on
exhaust pipes of different cars and compare emissions by looking at the
gray scale of the socks. Caution: Make sure the car is cooled down
before the sock is put on and removed; this activity should be conducted
in an open area and students should not stand near the car when it is
running. When finished, place socks in plastic bags and dispose of
properly.
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Compare the density of
particulate matter as it comes out of different smokestacks. (Simple
scales that classify the concentration of pollutants emitted from smoke
stacks can be purchased or designed.)
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Collect and compare
particulate matter from different locations (such as a parking lot,
windowsill, and kitchen counter) using a thin layer of petroleum jelly
smeared onto a piece of white cardboard.
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Buy a carbon monoxide
detector and test the air inside the school.
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Investigate the effects
of acidic water on plants. (Create an acidic solution with lemon and
water and use it to water vegetables such as beans or tomato seedlings.)
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Check the ozone in your
area by participating in a bio-monitoring project. The Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources sponsors a milkweed bio-monitoring
project. Contact them for information or for instructions on how to
become a part of the project.
Sample Academic Standards Addressed:
Environmental Education B.12.9: Analyze causes and
effects of pollutants and other environmental changes caused by people
on human health.
Science G.12.3: Analyze the costs,
benefits, or problems resulting from a scientific or technological
innovation, including implications for the individual and community
Student Projects
1.
Does
your school have a parking problem? What about traffic congestion on
streets near your school? Perhaps you want to learn about the potential
for car pooling. There are many different investigations related to
transportation. Simple tests, such as setting pieces of paper coated
with petroleum jelly around your parking lot, provide insight into
potential air pollution. Surveying students about how they get to school
lets you know who rides in cars, buses, and on bicycles.
Sample Academic Standards Addressed:
Science H.8.3: Understand the consequences of decisions
affecting personal health and safety
Environmental Education D.12.5:
Develop a plan to maintain or improve some part of the local or regional
environmental, and enlist support for implementation of the plan
2. Involve students in an
Energy Issue Investigation and Action Project related to alternative
vehicles.
3. Have students make a
Science Fair presentation about their research into alternative
vehicles.
Web sites
Wisconsin Department of
Transportation
www.dot.wisconsin.gov/
Wisconsin
Partners for Clean Air
www.cleanairwisconsin.org/index_educators.php
Getting Around Clean and Green
www.nesea.org/education/edmaterials/CandG.html'
Energy Education Curriculum Project
www.earth.uni.edu/EECP/mid/mod3.html
National Energy Education Development Project
www.need.org/curriculum.php
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