Take It Home
Drive the environmental issues surrounding transportation home with these easy projects. Fortunately for parents, when it comes to greening how they get about town, it also means more green in their wallets.
Hypermile
Every little step counts, especially when it comes to driving. Send tips home to parents and ask them to gauge their exact gas mileage before they try some of the following tips. Then, have them report back after two weeks of following the steps. To get their car's exact gas mileage, they should check the odometer before filling their car with gas. The next time they fill the car they should write down the new reading on the odometer to find out how many miles they have gone since the last time they gassed up. Then they should divide that number by the number of gallons of gas they put in their car the second time. This will tell them exactly how many miles they are currently getting per gallon of gas.
Have them try some of the tips from the following list of tips to get better gas mileage:
Go easy on the pedals by easing into acceleration and stops.
Avoid idling by turning off the engine whenever you know you'll be sitting for more than thirty seconds. It's harder on your car's engine to idle than to stop and start again.
Dress warmer and reduce your car's warm-up time in the winter.
Keep your trunk as empty as possible because extra weight decreases gas mileage.
Slow down. Gas mileage increases about 15 percent when you drive 55 miles per hour rather than 65 miles per hour.
Open windows or air vents instead of using the air conditioning.
Keep tires properly inflated.
Get regular tune-ups.
Ask parents which steps they took and if their gas mileage increased. If it did, hooray for them! Well done! If it didn't, it may mean that two weeks just wasn't enough time to see a difference. Encourage them to keep trying and report back later in the year if they'd like.
No one likes to be told what to do and no one likes to feel as if they are being judged. When you send eco-assignments home, be sure to discuss the issues in a light and friendly way. Always be encouraging about every small act and be sure to talk about how it directly benefits them. Emphasize activities that save money and protect their family's health.
Eco-Travel Challenge
Get your students' families involved in reducing pollution by choosing Earth-friendly transportation. You can set up the challenge to last one month, the entire school year, or anything in between. Have the students brainstorm all the different ways to eco-travel. This can include walking, biking, riding public transportation, and carpooling. It should not include options such as driving a hybrid because not all families have access to one. Make up a symbol for each of the eco-friendly methods of moving. Make a chart that has each child's name and rows of boxes for the dates your challenge will cover.
Send home a notice saying you will be having a class Eco-Travel Challenge and you would like the families to try to choose Earth-friendly options as much as they can for the duration of the challenge. Any time they choose an eco-friendly mode of transportation instead of driving, the student gets to mark it on the chart using the appropriate symbol. Don't let them know until the end, but everyone who tries at least once is a winner. Every little bit helps, and being supportive of all efforts will hopefully promote more efforts in the future. Make awards to send home with the students.
