Transportation and the Environment

Engineering
Engineering
Created by
Let's Talk Science National Office
Activity Language
English
Grade
Grades 9-10
Time Needed for Activity
1-2 hours
Subjects
Earth and Environmental Sciences,  Engineering,  Information Technology/Computer Science,  Physics
National Office Lending Library Kit

Participants examine current and potential energy sources used for transportation.

Drive into the multi-faceted world of transportation! In this workshop, participants examine current and potential energy sources used for transportation. They will test fuel cell cars, wind-powered cars and explore the various types of fuels used in transportation. Discussions will encourage critical thinking around this topic in connection to sustainability in everyday travel.

What You Need

Physical Requirements

  • A computer and projector is required for the Transportation and the Environment PowerPoint presentation.
  • Activity 1: Fuel Cell Car and Activity 3: Wind Car requires clear space to drive the cars. 
  • Activity 3: Wind Car requires access to an electrical outlet. 

Note: All activities require the Transportation and the Environment worksheet. 

Introduction

Option 1: Climate 

  • Ice core images (PowerPoint presentation or printed)
  • Ice core
  • Ice core legends (PowerPoint presentation or drawn on board)
  • Analysis table (PowerPoint presentation or drawn on board)

Option 2: Renewable vs. Non-Renewable 

Activity 1: Fuel Cell Car 

Activity 2: Energy Source Match-Up 

Activity 3: Wind Car 

  • Wind Cars (2)
  • Long arms, 6” (8)
  • Short arms, 3” (8)
  • Large cones (8)
  • Small cones (8)
  • Hair dryers (2)
  • Floor mats made of fun foam, 1m long (2)
  • Stopwatches (2)
  • Wind Car Design Task Card (2)
  • Masking tape (2)
  • Extension cords (2)

Guide:

Presentation:

Safety Notes

  • Very small quantities of hydrogen and oxygen will be generated during Activity 1: Fuel Cell Cars. Keep them away from open flames and sparks.
  • Always use caution when working with electricity.
  • Keep water away from the battery.

What To Do

Activity Prep

  • Discuss with the educator to determine which option for the Introduction is best suited for the visit.
  • Print Transportation and the Environment worksheets (1 per participant + extras). 
  • Set up stations for Activities 1-3 around the room. Depending on the group size, two stations may be required for each activity to guarantee small group sizes (2-4 participants per group).
  • Check the batteries required for Activity 1: Fuel Cell Cars. 
  • Set up the fuel cell cars by ensuring:
    • 1 syringe with tubing is attached to the upper nozzle on the H2 side.
    • 1 pressure release with tubing attached to the lower nozzle on the H2 side.

Introduction

  • Discuss the environmental impacts of driving or taking the bus. 
  • Define greenhouse gases and climate change. 
    • Explain how greenhouse gases contribute to climate change.
  • Discuss ways to reduce the negative impact of our vehicles that burn fossil fuels. 
    • Use different energy sources for vehicles.
    • Reducing use of vehicles, carpooling, etc... 
  • Explain the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy.

Option 1: Introduction to Climate research with Ice Cores 

Refer to the Transportation and the Environment Introduction Version 1 PowerPoint presentation. 

  • Write the following table on the classroom board: 
    Layer Materials Found Conclusions (warmer, neutral or cooler)
    10 (top)    
    9    
    ...    
    1 (bottom- oldest)    
  • Define weather and climate.
  • Discuss the different types of evidence climatologists use to study climate change.
  • Explain why climatologists use ice cores to study the Earth’s climate record.
  • Discuss some of the evidence that can be found in ice cores, such as: 
    • Particles
    • Chemicals
    • Thickness of layers 
    • Gas bubbles
    • Different types of snow
  • Show pictures of ice cores (either on PowerPoint or task cards).
    • Point to the oldest and newest ice layers on the image.
  • Separate participants into groups of 2 or 3.
  • Hand out one ice core layer to each group.
  • Using the Examining Ice Cores legend (either on PowerPoint or task cards), they will observe what is in their ice core and write their answer on the table.
  • Refer to page 13 of the Transportation and the Environment Manual for the table for the solution. 

Option 2: Introduction to Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy

Refer to the Transportation and the Environment Introduction Version 2 PowerPoint presentation.

  • Before the activity, hang the Renewable Energy Continuum poster on the classroom board. 
  • Explain how fuel is used to power engines. Briefly discuss how most fuels undergo combustion reactions to release energy.
    • Mention electrical motors. 
  • Handout “Sources of Energy for Vehicles” information cards (or show via PowerPoint presentation. 
  • Depending on the amount of time available, they may
    • Work collaboratively as a group to fill in the continuum on the board. 
    • Work in pairs to fill in their own continuum on scrap paper and then discuss the answers at the front. 
    • Work in pairs to discuss 1 energy source and place it along the continuum where they think it falls.
  • Discuss discrepancies between groups using the answers found on page 15 of the Transportation and the Environment Manual. 
    • Note: because electricity can be generated from a variety of sources, it can fall in different places along the continuum
  • Ask the following questions: 
    • Can a fuel (i.e. gasoline or diesel) be easily classified as renewable or nonrenewable?
    • What limits the use of renewable energy sources in transportation?

Provide a brief introduction to each activity below before splitting participants into groups of 2-4 to rotate between the activity stations. Give each student a Transportation and the Environment worksheet. 

Activity 1: Fuel Cell Car

  • Explain the term electrolysis. 
  • At this station, they will be applying an electrical current to water, breaking it into molecules of hydrogen and oxygen. When the hydrogen and oxygen recombine, the energy comes back.
  • Start by reading the “What is a Fuel Cell” task card.

Part 1

  • Begin by breaking water into separate molecules of hydrogen and oxygen: 
    • Fill one syringe with 1ml of distilled water and inject it into the bottom nozzle of the Oxygen side. 
    • Make sure that the battery pack is OFF.
    • Set up the fuel cell by placing the red clip to the O2 side and the black clip to the H2 side. 
    • Turn the battery pack on. Once the syringe on the Hydrogen side fills to 5ml, turn off the battery pack and disconnect the clips from the cell. 

Part 2

  •  To use the stored energy to fuel the car, participants will:
    • Hold the car in place, ensuring that there is space to drive and that there is nothing blocking the wheels. 
    • At the same time, the other group member will attach one red clip to the Oxygen side of the fuel cell car and the other red clip to the motor contact with the red dot. 
    • Attach one black clip to the Hydrogen side of the fuel cell and the other black clip to the other motor contact. 
    • Now the car is ready to be released!
    • After the car stops moving, remove the clips, empty the syringes and reset the car.
  • To wrap-up the activity, ask questions such as:
    • Where on the continuum line would the energy source (electricity) be?
    • Do electric cars depend on renewable or non-renewable resources?
    • How could we modify the vehicle so that it relies on more renewable resources?
    • What is the advantage of using hydrogen and oxygen tanks instead of a battery?
    • Why was more hydrogen produced than oxygen when the water was split?
    • How practical would this method be for a real car?

Activity 2: Energy Source Match-Up

  • At this station, participants will read about the given fuels and match them up with the vehicles(s) which use(s) the fuels. 
  • They will place the images beside the description of the fuel. Each photo will be used and some will match up with two or more fuel types (some images have multiple copies for this reason).
  • They will answer the questions from the task card on their worksheet. 
  • Wrap-up the activity by discussing the solution to the match-up and the following questions:
    • Which energy sources do most vehicles use? Why?
    • Which type of vehicle can be built to use multiple energy sources?
    • Why do you think all vehicles do not use the same energy source?
    • Should all vehicles be made so that they can all use the same sources of energy? What would be the pros/cons of this?
    • Are you surprised by the results?

Activity 3: Wind Car

  • At this station, participants will design a wind car to travel 1 metre as fast as possible. The rules are:
    • The car must travel upwind from the starting line and only use wind as an energy source.
    • The wind source must stay behind the finish line. 
  • They will test the car by changing variables (i.e. arm length, cone size, # of arms, angle of wind, etc…).
  • They may use the mat under the wind car to gain traction or they may test running the car to the side of the mat on the bare floor/table. 
  • Participants may choose to tape the cones and arms to improve stability or adjust the wind power on the hair dryer. 

Wrap-Up

  • Discuss possible careers related to the topics covered and what they would need to do (schooling, experience, etc…) to get into those careers. 

Discovery

Introduction Version 1: Introduction to Climate research with Ice Cores 

Ice is used to study the climate record because it preserves or protects things like dust and particles from changing over time. Scientists can look at the thickness of the ice and snow layers to determine the temperature and duration of the winter. Scientists also look for particles stuck in the ice, chemicals in the ice, and the thickness of the different types of layers and bubbles of gas (such as carbon or oxygen) in the ice. All this information provides climatologists with clues about what the environment on Earth was like at the time. Climatologists can compare the amounts of gases in the air of the past to the number of gases in the air today.

Activity 1: Fuel Cell Cars

Electrolysis is the change in energy from electrical energy to chemical energy. This happens when an electric current is applied to a liquid or gas. Fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into electric power. Their only byproducts are water and a little bit of heat (compared to the toxic byproduct of a dry cell battery). In a real world application, the water can be left to evaporate or drop onto the road.

Fuel cells work by separating hydrogen into electrons (e-) and protons (H+). The protons flow through the cell while the electrons flow through the circuit to power a motor (for example). At the other end, a reaction combines the protons (H+), the electrons (e-), and oxygen (O) to make water (H2O).

In this experiment, a battery is used as the source of electricity to power the fuel cell. In real applications, it wouldn’t make sense to use a battery to charge up the fuel cell and then run the fuel cell. Instead, greener sources of hydrogen, such as wind power or solar panels, would be used. The hydrogen created in this way could be distributed in fueling stations just like how we distribute gasoline. 

Introduction Version 2 & Activity 2: Energy Source Match-up

Fuels are materials that store potential energy in a form that can be released and used as heat energy. In most fuels, this potential energy is stored in the bonds of molecules that make up the fuel (chemical potential energy). To release this stored energy, most fuels undergo a chemical reaction called a combustion reaction. In this type of reaction, a fuel reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. Combustion reactions also release a lot of heat which can be converted into mechanical energy in the engine and transferred to other moving parts such as wheels and propellers as for movement (kinetic energy).

Fuels may be solid (wood, coal, etc.), liquid (gasoline, diesel, ethanol, etc.) or gas (propane, natural gas, hydrogen, etc.). Vehicles have different types of engines and each engine uses a specific type of fuel. For example, very large vehicles have engines that require a lot of energy and require energy dense fuels such as heavy fuel oil or diesel fuel. Most of the fuels we use in vehicles today can be sorted into two categories – petroleum-based (fossil fuels) and biofuels (such as ethanol and biodiesel).

It would be convenient for all vehicles to rely on the same fuel because there would be universal fuel pumps, lower research costs and it would simplify the supply chain, vehicle maintenance and regulatory system. However, it creates some concerns such as it would increase demand for fuel, provide less incentive to research new types of fuels and any fuel chain disruptions would have large effects. 

Activity 3: Wind Cars

Gears are simple machines that work by increasing the distance or speed of an applied force. The wind car uses gears to change direction of the applied force from the hair dryer and to transfer the force to the wheels of the car. In this activity, students are able to modify their wind car to see which design makes the car move as fast as possible. Factors that affect the speed of the car include: 

  • The angle that the air hits the cones.
  • Drag (resistance to an object's forward motion), created by the car and cones. 
  • Thrust (the force that moves vehicles forward). Thrust needs to be greater than drag and friction for the vehicle to move forward.
  • The added gravity/weight of the larger cones and longer arms.
  • Torque is affected by the length of the arms.

Transportation heavily relies on the burning of fossil fuels, which increases greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to climate change. Scientists are exploring ways to use renewable resources to generate power for vehicles to reduce the environmental impact of transportation.

What's Happening?

Introduction Version 1: Introduction to Climate research with Ice Cores 

Ice is used to study the climate record because it preserves or protects things like dust and particles from changing over time. Scientists can look at the thickness of the ice and snow layers to determine the temperature and duration of the winter. Scientists also look for particles stuck in the ice, chemicals in the ice, and the thickness of the different types of layers and bubbles of gas (such as carbon or oxygen) in the ice. All this information provides climatologists with clues about what the environment on Earth was like at the time. Climatologists can compare the amounts of gases in the air of the past to the number of gases in the air today.

Activity 1: Fuel Cell Cars

Electrolysis is the change in energy from electrical energy to chemical energy. This happens when an electric current is applied to a liquid or gas. Fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into electric power. Their only byproducts are water and a little bit of heat (compared to the toxic byproduct of a dry cell battery). In a real world application, the water can be left to evaporate or drop onto the road.

Fuel cells work by separating hydrogen into electrons (e-) and protons (H+). The protons flow through the cell while the electrons flow through the circuit to power a motor (for example). At the other end, a reaction combines the protons (H+), the electrons (e-), and oxygen (O) to make water (H2O).

In this experiment, a battery is used as the source of electricity to power the fuel cell. In real applications, it wouldn’t make sense to use a battery to charge up the fuel cell and then run the fuel cell. Instead, greener sources of hydrogen, such as wind power or solar panels, would be used. The hydrogen created in this way could be distributed in fueling stations just like how we distribute gasoline. 

Introduction Version 2 & Activity 2: Energy Source Match-up

Fuels are materials that store potential energy in a form that can be released and used as heat energy. In most fuels, this potential energy is stored in the bonds of molecules that make up the fuel (chemical potential energy). To release this stored energy, most fuels undergo a chemical reaction called a combustion reaction. In this type of reaction, a fuel reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. Combustion reactions also release a lot of heat which can be converted into mechanical energy in the engine and transferred to other moving parts such as wheels and propellers as for movement (kinetic energy).

Fuels may be solid (wood, coal, etc.), liquid (gasoline, diesel, ethanol, etc.) or gas (propane, natural gas, hydrogen, etc.). Vehicles have different types of engines and each engine uses a specific type of fuel. For example, very large vehicles have engines that require a lot of energy and require energy dense fuels such as heavy fuel oil or diesel fuel. Most of the fuels we use in vehicles today can be sorted into two categories – petroleum-based (fossil fuels) and biofuels (such as ethanol and biodiesel).

It would be convenient for all vehicles to rely on the same fuel because there would be universal fuel pumps, lower research costs and it would simplify the supply chain, vehicle maintenance and regulatory system. However, it creates some concerns such as it would increase demand for fuel, provide less incentive to research new types of fuels and any fuel chain disruptions would have large effects. 

Activity 3: Wind Cars

Gears are simple machines that work by increasing the distance or speed of an applied force. The wind car uses gears to change direction of the applied force from the hair dryer and to transfer the force to the wheels of the car. In this activity, students are able to modify their wind car to see which design makes the car move as fast as possible. Factors that affect the speed of the car include: 

  • The angle that the air hits the cones.
  • Drag (resistance to an object's forward motion), created by the car and cones. 
  • Thrust (the force that moves vehicles forward). Thrust needs to be greater than drag and friction for the vehicle to move forward.
  • The added gravity/weight of the larger cones and longer arms.
  • Torque is affected by the length of the arms.

Why Does it Matter?

Transportation heavily relies on the burning of fossil fuels, which increases greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to climate change. Scientists are exploring ways to use renewable resources to generate power for vehicles to reduce the environmental impact of transportation.

Investigate Further

Resources

Print

SAE International (2009). The Fuel Cell Challenge. A World in Motion: The Design Experience. http://awim.sae.org/

Attachments

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