APES CAR EMISSIONS INTERNET ACTIVITY Page 1

For air pollution, energy efficiency, and/or global warming I have found the "tailpipe tally" at the environmental resource defense fund helpful. I have a handout to guide the students in the computer lab or on their own for homework. They really get into comparing cars and the mpg, costs or gas per year, particulates, CO2 emissions, NOx, etc. I believe we decided not to attach documents to emails on this listserv, so I will paste in the text of my activity below. If it comes out badly, you can email me directly(not back to the listserv) and I will send your the activity as a word file attachment.
Jennifer L. Snyder
Loyola Academy
Wilmette, IL

CAR EMISSIONS INTERNET ACTIVITY

due date ______
Purpose: Increased carbon dioxide in our near atmosphere has been increasing since the industrial revolution. While some sources of CO2 in the air are perfectly natural, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has determined that a significant amount of this CO2 is a direct result of human activity. Burning fossil fuels adds CO2 to the atmosphere very quickly and in large amounts. Burning gasoline from a car engine is the most immediate way you and I add to the increasing CO2 levels. In this computer lab activity you will compare various makes and models of cars and rate their impact on the atmosphere. This site allows you to input up to 4 car models at one time. It will calculate fuel needed per year and exhaust gases for each vehicle. Save your work in a Word document as you go so you can reset the calculator and add four more cars.
Directions:

1.  Open a new Word document.

2.  Open a web browser and go to The Tailpipe Tally site: http://209.10.107.169/tailpipetally

3.  Enter values* for 4 cars you or your friends own. Press “proceed to tally results” and copy and paste your results into a Word document.

4.  Go back to the calculator to enter 4 more cars. Enter values for your dream cars. Press “proceed to tally results” and copy and paste your results into the same Word document.

5.  Repeat one more time, trying cars that you would expect to have great gas mileage, therefore low emissions. Copy and paste into your Word document.

Reflection Questions:

Answer the following reflection questions within the same Word document that has your data.

  1. Which car performed the best as far as CO2 emissions are concerned? Which was the worst?
  2. Was there a trend among cars that had high CO2 output?
  3. What surprised you about the cars you chose?
  4. In your opinion, what is the most important output from cars? Why?
  5. If you had the money, what would be your next car purchase (honestly)? Why?
  6. Will you change any habits as a result of this investigation?

* In order to run a valid comparison, you must enter the same number of miles per year for EVERY car.