Holly S. Anthony
DAY 12: AIR POLLUTION (SHARE YOUR RIDE: ACTIVITY WHERE STUDENTS ARE GIVEN INFORMATION TO DEBATE THE PROS AND CONS OF RIDING IN A CAR ALONE, CARPOOLING, RIDING A BUS, OR RIDING A TRAIN)
Students will learn that the average Connecticut commuter has a daily round trip commute of 60 miles. The IRS calculates the cost of operating a car at 29 cents per mile. Based on these facts, with 21 working days per month, the monthly cost to commute alone is $365.40. Sharing the ride and splitting the cost with others will reduce this cost. The students can calculate how much money can be saved monthly and yearly. Part two of this activity approaches the idea of reducing the amount of pollutants that we send into the atmosphere. It offers given information and requires students to calculate quantities of pollutants given off. The given information tells students that for each gallon of gasoline burned, approximately .403 pounds of carbon monoxide, .075 pounds of nitrogen dioxide, and .032 pounds of other chemicals enter the atmosphere. All of these substances upset our delicate environmental balance. Knowing that a car travels approximately 1200 miles / month, the typical car gets 20 mpg, and the average van gets 15 mpg, students can calculate the pounds of pollutants released per person per year by traveling in a vehicle. (Burns, 1995)
Below is a list of questions that can be answered after “Share Your Ride” activity:
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1. When your ride is shared with two others at 9.7 cents / mile / person, what is the savings monthly? yearly?
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2. When your ride is on a bus after you purchased a monthly bus ticket for $100.00, what is the savings monthly? yearly?
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3. When your ride is on a train after you purchased a monthly train ticked for $79.00, what is the savings monthly? yearly?
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4. What are the following pounds of pollutant / person / year created by a car with a single occupant at 1200 miles / month:
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a. carbon monoxide
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b. nitrogen dioxide
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c. other chemicals
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d. total
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5. What are the following pounds of pollutant / person / year created by a car with a three occupants at 1200 miles / month:
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a. carbon monoxide
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b. nitrogen dioxide
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c. other chemicals
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d. total
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6. What are the following pounds of pollutant / person / year created by a van with eight occupants at 1200 miles / month:
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a. carbon monoxide
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b. nitrogen dioxide
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c. other chemicals
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d. total
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7. What have your calculations shown?
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8. Imagine a situation twenty years into the future, where 50% of the population uses mass transit. Describe how this dramatic reduction in pollutants entering the atmosphere would affect the environment.
