Electric Vehicles and Climate Change

• This lesson allows students to investigate where their electricity comes from, the effects of gas-powered vehicles on our health and the planet, and how we can help reduce emissions by making the switch to electric cars for most situations.
• The lesson includes a short podcast, teacher pages and resources, student worksheets, brief readings, investigation activities, a group project, and an analysis of charts and maps to establish why electric cars are an important climate solution.

Positives

• The resource includes all teaching materials, an educator's guide on how to use the activities, and resource links for additional information.
• The Air Pollutants Communication Project allows students to apply their knowledge in the real world by creating a communication plan to encourage solutions for improving air quality at their school.
• Each section can be used as a standalone or in sequence.

Additional Prerequisites

• The first two activities require access to the internet.
• The Air Pollutants Communication Project tiny URL link is broken, so use this link instead.
• Students should be comfortable with reading charts and graphs.

Differentiation

• The first activity includes a glossary on the website and activity sheet for students unfamiliar with certain terms.
• Students could research the total emissions and costs of the different vehicles if we counted the footprint of the production of the cars. The last section of this resource only evaluates the cost and emissions once the vehicles are in use.
• This resource can also be used in language arts classes during lessons about communicating complex scientific topics and the importance of climate solutions.
• Health classes can make connections using this resource when discussing health conditions such as asthma, COPD, and cardiovascular disease.
  
• Additional resources include this activity on comparing gas and electric vehicles and this reading comprehension activity on electric cars.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.