Unit Overview
How can chemistry help us evaluate fuels and transportation options to benefit the Earth and our communities?
This unit is anchored by the problem of continuing carbon dioxide emissions from transportation, despite the harm it causes established throughout the rest of the course. Students explore fifteen fuels used for transportation, ranging from “human power,” to fossil fuels, biofuels, batteries, hydrogen, and uranium. First, students leverage data from physical and computational models to develop science ideas about how carbon-based fuels get energy from the breaking and forming of bonds, as energy transfers between particles and fields.Then, students figure out where energy comes from in fuels that are not carbon based. They also think more deeply about the energy implications of using different fuels. Finally, students are pushed to think at the transportation system level, and use engineering thinking to weigh science ideas from throughout the unit with information about larger social impact of fuels, including costs, availability, safety, and impacts on Earth systems.
*This performance expectation is developed across multiple units.
†This performance expectation is developed across multiple courses.
Performance Expectations:
HS-PS1-4, HS-PS1-8†, HS-PS3-1†, HS-PS3-2†, HS-PS3-5†, HS-ESS3-1*, HS-ESS3-2†, HS-ESS3-4*, HS-ETS1-1*, *, †
Coming Soon!
We are putting the finishing touches on this unit! Fully aligned adapted materials—crafted specifically for NYCPS and NY State standards—will be ready in late-September. Make sure you’ve registered for an account, and we’ll email you when the links are live.