Introduction to Transportatation & Survey

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Objectives:

This lesson was carried on through several eco-class sessions at each grade level. The idea was to introduce and discuss different modes of transportation and in the end, create one or more transportation artifacts.

Vocabulary:

water, air, land, boats, cars, automobiles, ships, sailing, walking, movement, bicycle, sled, canoe, airplane, truck, schoolbus, skateboard, skates, airport, vehicles, driver, pilot, captain, traffic light, horn, windshield wipers, safety belts, steering wheel, trains, fuel, gas, tires, dump truck, pick-up truck, station-wagon, sports car, garage, tractors

Discussion:

We discussed different modes of transportation on land, sea and in the air. We talked about how people get to where they are going (school bus, ferry boat, car etc.)  We observed school buses dropping of students, walked around the school parking lot to look at cars,etc. We watched slide shows and videos that showed different forms of transportation. We asked  if anyone has been on a plane ... a train ... a horse ... etc. We asked how students get to school everyday. We asked how kids in other countries travel? We used Kagan cooperative strategies to enhance discussion. We also reviewed safety rules (seatbelts in cars, obeying traffic signals, walk and don't walk signs).

Transportation Survey:

Through this activity we conducted a survey to identify the different modes of transportation our students use to get to and from school.

 

Before we began we:

1. Find out the round trip distance from your home to school. You can either do this by noting the mileage while doing the journey or go to www.mapquest.com and put in the correct addresses to calculate the distance. 2. If you travel to and from school in a car – alone or in a carpool - determine the average fuel economy of that vehicle in miles per gallon by checking www.fueleconomy.gov1.U.your classmates use to get to and from school.

Transportation Class Survey

General Questions

1. What is the most common way students in your class get to and from school? Why do you think this is the case?

2. Which mode of transportation generates the most CO2 per person in your class?

3. How many students generated “zero” pounds of CO2 from their commute?

4. Looking at the Class Data Summary, how many students in your class ride the bus to and from school?

5. What might be some ways to increase bus ridership?

6. If you do not currently walk or bike to school, would you consider either of these options as possible for you? Why or why not?

7. Would you be willing to carpool to school? How can you get a carpool together?

8. What might be some incentives our school might offer to encourage carpooling?

9. How might your class decrease its transportation CO2 footprint?