YOUR CAR & GLOBAL CHANGE
 

OBJECTIVE:  To research  the necessary information to make a sound decision on selecting the best vehicle  for you (now or in the future) that balances the following:

  1. safety (remember Newton's Laws & the "Physics of Car Crashes" video)

  2.  fuel economy (and therefore impact on the environment via CO2 emissions)

  3. cost AND/OR other criteria that are especially important to you (need a truck for work, need a van for kids, need a hot-looking car so I look cool, etc.)

Your selection criteria should balance your personal values with information you can collect from the links below in the categories of:  impact on the environment (based on fuel economy, CO2 emissions, etc.)  safety (based on crashworthiness, etc.), & cost/other criteria   --  Since a vehicle choice is a very personal decision, feel free to include "other criteria"  categories such as  "performance," or even "dream-car quotient" --  if these are important to you.  Use principles you've learned in class this semester to guide your decisions (e.g. laws of motion, greenhouse gas emissions, etc.)  [NOTE:  You don't have to choose a car/sedan -- you can choose a truck, motorcycle, bike, etc. as long as you set your criteria up to evaluate a choice for this type of vehicle and can find data to support it.] 

STEP 1: DATA & INFORMATION COLLECTION

Spend some extended time scanning through the DATA COLLECTION LINKS below to see what kind of data and information are available on the web to help you decide which is the best vehicle for you. 
  LINKS for COLLECTING DATA TO CONNECT YOUR CAR & GLOBAL CHANGE 

STEP 2:  SELECTION OF THE BEST VEHICLE -- for YOU

Using information gleaned from the Data Collection links, select a vehicle that balances safety, fuel economy and the things that are important to you.  (You may select more than one if you find two or more that are suitable.)  For some of you, safety may be more important, for others, fuel economy, for others, something else -- the point of this activity is not to dictate what kind of car is best for you, it's to help you  become an informed consumer who can make choices based on a broad spectrum of data -- just as a scientist would. 

STEP 3:  PERSONAL STATEMENT

Write up a personal statement  that summarizes and illustrates your selection process. Describe the data and information you collected from the different websites -- you may put it in a table or graph if you prefer. This should lead to a paragraph with your final revelation of which vehicle YOU have selected as the best vehicle (or vehicles) for your needs and values.   State what you selected and substantiate your choice by showing how the data you collected points to this vehicle as being the best to fit your criteria.

OPTIONAL APPROACH:  Focus on new fuel efficient technologies for automobiles (hydrogen fuel cells, etc.)

For this option, you should follow the directions above, but focus on the automobiles of the future and the new technologies that are being developed to produce more fuel efficient cars.

  •  You'll have to do a bit of extra research to learn what alternative technologies there are out there (hydrogen fuel cells, future hybrid plans, solar(?) cars, etc) and you'll need to use a little creativity to compare these cars to the existing cars that are listed on the web sites. 

  • For example, if there is no safety information provided,  try to estimate how the new cars might do in "crashworthiness" tests, based on the type of platform they are built on or how closely they compare to existing vehicles that have been tested. 

  •  Focus your personal statement write-up on the future of the automobile industry and whether or not you see these new technologies defining that future. 

  • Also be sure to address whether these new technologies will really reduce total energy consumption, or just shift the use of energy to some other form that might still contribute to enhanced greenhouse gas emissions.

BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY:  Do a bit of field work and visit one or two car dealerships.  Check out one of the new gas/electric hybrids and compare it with a similar model based on standard emissions technology.  Try to engage a car dealer in discussing fuel economy and safety issues and see if their answers agree with what you've already learned from your web searches.   (worth 1- 3 bonus pts, depending on the level of effort represented and quality of the Discussion Board paragraph.

Then post a thoughtful 1-paragraph message on the D2L Discussion Board about what (if anything) you learned by visiting the dealership(s) and whether it helped to be a more informed consumer via the websites before you hit the car lot.  [NOTE:  this bonus activity may be done with one or more other students in the class.  Each student needs to write up his/her OWN unique message and post it. If you worked with others, be sure you list their name(s).]
                      


  LINKS for COLLECTING DATA TO CONNECT YOUR CAR & GLOBAL CHANGE 

Car Mileage and Emissions-Related Sites

  • GreenerCars.com  The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEE) Environmental Guide to Cars and Trucks.  ("Highlights of the Model Year" is a good place to start )
  • U.S. Department of Energy's Fuel Economy Site -- includes info on the miles per gallon and equivalent annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for all recent makes of cars, along with a "Fuel Economy Rating"
  • The Eco-Cars -- Good series of articles on the new eco-cars and hybrids  from BusinessWeek Online

Car Safety Sites

General Information Car Sites

  • Edmunds.com  -- find out loads of information on any vehicle, new and used; includes a "Town Hall" forum where you can read up on what it's REALLY like to own a given model and what consumers are saying about their cars; also includes crash test ratings (under Safety Info)

     
  • "Car Talk" (cartalk.cars.com) -- great website chock full of both fun and intelligent information that accompanies the radio show called "Car Talk" with Tom & Ray Magliozzi (aka "Click and Clack")-- Under "Time Kill Central / Classic Features"  you can find amusements such as "the Lousiest Cars of the Millennium," "The Ultimate Guy Cars and Chick Cars of All Time" 
  • ==> See their an entertaining and informative link about SUV's:  Live Larger, Drive Smaller, Not everyone needs an SUV  (click on Other Stuff for some several informative articles on SUVs)
  • ==> Also see Car Talk's Better Guide to Fuel Economy