DESCRIPTION:

The idea behind this STEM lesson is that transportation vehicles – cars, trucks, buses, trains – consume a substantial percentage of our limited environmental resources. The motivation here is that Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) can potentially reduce total resource consumption through the use of programmed travelling patterns that minimize fuel-inefficient commuting routes, and maximize largescale multimodal system use. Analysis and hands-on student activities will help reinforce these ideas.

OBJECTIVES

Students will:

• Recognize the need for sustainable transportation solutions.
• Investigate ITS-based solutions for reducing fuel consumption.
• Calculate costs for transportation given pre-determined trip scenarios, or those supplied by instructor, using provided and/or researched information on multiple modes of transportation.
• Also calculate the carbon footprint of the trip and compare their trip to other trips where different types of vehicles or modes were used for travel.

SUPPLEMENTARY VIDEO:

Provided by a joint venture between JET, True North Stars Perkins Consortium, IRRRB, and Story North Productions to be used with the Northeast Minnesota Virtual Industry Tour Project, Transportation Sector.

TRANSPORTATION VIDEOS: