Introduction
This unit is designed to introduce students to various sources of energy for vehicles. It will explore the technology currently available for vehicular transportation and the technologies that are being developed for future use in vehicles. This unit is being written in 2007, which will probably be seen as a time of transition to new technologies. As a result, some of the specific technologies discussed in this unit may become obsolete; however, the unit is being written in such a way that new technological advances may be substituted in the lessons for those older technologies that become obsolete.
The unit is written for a ninth grade integrated science (sometimes called Phy/Chem) class. In our school system, that means that we cover primarily physical sciences in this class. This unit is intended to address three of the science standards we are supposed to cover: Standard 9.3 addresses the use of fossil fuels and other technologies in the generation of electricity, Standard 9.5 on the chemistry of hydrocarbon combustion, and Standard 9.9 on the environmental impact of human transportation choices.
This unit is broken into three major sections. In the first section, past and current, commonly available transportation technology options are discussed. The second section looks to the future. In this section, transportation technologies that are being developed and perfected today are discussed. This is the section that is likely to become obsolete; please feel free to substitute technologies that you feel are more appropriate to your current situation in this section. The final section of this unit is the project that the students will produce based on the information presented in the first two sections of this unit.
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