The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Government Sets New Fuel Economy Standard." The article begins, "The nation’s fleet of new cars and trucks will be required to achieve
31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, the Bush administration said Tuesday." "The fleetwide average does not mean that all vehicles have to achieve
the target efficiency — larger vehicles will not be as fuel efficient
as smaller ones — only that collectively passenger vehicles average
that figure."
Read the Article!!
Discussion Starters for Younger Children
Have students ever had to stop running because they had run too much? Were they more tired after they ran or before they ran? Why? Can students think of any ways that they might have been able to run further or longer?
What do cars need in order to run? Do people need anything to be healthy? If so, what? Have students ever seen a car stop because it ran out of gas?
Do students think that it's fair to expect a short child to be able to reach the top shelves on a book shelf as easily as a taller child? Why/why not? How high do students think that most of their classmates will be able to reach? Why?
Do students think that it's OK to throw garbage on the ground? Why/why not? If somebody always threw garbage on the ground do students think that it would be fair to expect this student to stop throwing any garbage, all at one time? Why/why not?
Discussion Starters for Older Students
Vocabulary terms to discuss: Fleet; Aggressive; Standard; and, Amid.
The article states, "Automakers opposed increases to the regulations in previous years, but
supported a compromise version of the legislation in Congress amid
rising gasoline prices and concerns about global warming." What can be learned from this fact? Do students think it would be fair to say that anybody who opposed this legislation was simply irresponsible? Why/why not? Challenge students to argue both sides of this question.
Challenge students to write mathematical equations to symbolize the required increases in miles per gallon.
Ask students if they think that global warming will be slowed/stopped if cars drives more miles on less gallons. Why/why not? What would slow/stop global warming? Do students think that cars will still drive on gas one hundred years from now? If not, what will power locomotives?