Energy powers Iowa's economy. But the energy we use and the ways we use it are not necessarily good for our Iowa economy. Iowans spend almost $5 billion each year to import and consume coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power. That money, for the most part, does not create jobs and wealth for Iowans. Iowa is dependent on imported fuel to a high degree.
Our use of energy affects the environment. It affects our health and the health of our natural and economic systems. Many of our environmental concerns are linked to energy production, transport, storage, and use. We can address our state's energy dependence from two different avenues. One way is to use energy more efficiently. The second way is to increase our use of renewable energy sources that come from within our state. These include wind, biomass, solar and ethanol.
This unit will concentrate on energy use by the transportation sector within our state. Transportation is a large consumer of energy in Iowa. Iowa's transportation sector traditionally has moved products and people on roads and highways, railroads and waterways. Iowa has more miles of road than 40 other states, although it ranks 25th among the states in land area. There are more than 2.6 million passenger vehicles registered in Iowa. About 72% of these are cars and 28% are trucks.
Transportation can be accomplished with less imported energy by increasing vehicle efficiency, using alternative modes of transportation (such as carpooling), with alternatives to transportation (like telecommunicating), and by using more renewable fuels. In Iowa, with gas prices low, little traffic congestion and few publicly perceived air quality problems, there are few incentives for greater efficiency in this sector. However, because transportation fuel causes a large share of pollution problems, federally mandated fleet conversions will play an important role in promoting the development of alternative and renewable fuel infrastructures and increased alternative and renewable fuel use.
Transportation is a very broad area. In this module we will concentrate our efforts on transportation by the personal sector. It is hoped that students will carry home to their parents and other drivers in their families some of the ideas they learn in this module and that they will be able to take some of the suggested actions when they become of driving age.
Science: Smart Driving
The science portion of this interdisciplinary unit focuses on providing students with some first-hand experience with three different factors affecting fuel
efficiency. Students will be involved in activities designed to illustrate the changing viscosity of motor oil at different temperatures. In addition, students simulate the effects of driving with underinflated tires on vehicle speed and fuel efficiency. Finally, students investigate the role of air
resistance on fuel efficiency. As a culminating experience, they are challenged to design an aerodynamic school bus.
Math: Fuelish Choices
The mathematics portion of this unit revolves around the topic of fuel
efficiency in transportation. Throughout the unit students will gain experience analyzing data. One of the major sources of data will be excerpts from Consumer Reports. In the first activity, each student determines the fuel cost of their transportation to and from school for one year. Students will also approximate the lifetime fuel cost for their family vehicle. Given
data on all 1994 cars, students will prepare an advertisement for what they believe are the top 5 energy efficient vehicles. They will use the results of their data analysis on fuel efficiency as part of their advertisement. In the final activity, students plan a fictional class trip to any location within the
continental United States. Students then compare the fuel cost per person for this trip for different vehicles and modes of transportation.
Language Arts: Don't Let Your Car Make a Fuel Out of You!
The language arts portion of this unit focuses on improving student's abilities
to read for important details and to write using details. The vehicle for this process will be automobile advertisements and student writing. In the first activity, students will analyze magazine advertisements for cars. The second
activity involves students in creating their own advertisements for new cars. The fuel efficiency and transportation theme is carried further in the final activity where students employ the RAFT writing strategy to communicate
energy-related content details into their writing. This approach to writing is designed to enable students to better understand their roles as writer and their audience. The RAFT format allows students to use creative ways to communicate
content through writing.
Social Studies: On the Road Again
In Social Studies, students apply map reading skills to develop a transportation route around Iowa. The exercise takes in a scavenger hunt-type mode by
challenging students to find the route which would use the least amount of fuel. Students complete the exercise by following their final route on an Iowa map from the 1920's. This helps to illustrate the tremendous changes that have taken place in the transportation system in Iowa over the past 80 years.
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