Fuel-saving speed
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 6
- Subjects
- science (environmental science, technology and innovation), thinking skills (higher order thinking, information literacy)
- Provider
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Special requirements
- 7.01, 7.04, 7.05
Legal
This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.
In this Science Update, students explore the best speed for fuel efficiency—an appropriate lesson in the time of rising gas prices. Oak Ridge National Laboratory engineer Brian West says that the optimum speed is about 50 to 65 miles per hour. Going slower, the engine runs less efficiently, and going faster, the drag from the wind offsets the engine power. That’s because there are two main factors that impact fuel efficiency: engine efficiency, how effectively your engine converts gas into energy, and drag, the wind resistance on your car. As you go faster, your engine efficiency improves, which helps your fuel efficiency, but your drag increases, which hurts it. There are other factors which figure into this equation, so it is difficult to predict an optimum speed for all vehicles. Science NetLinks provides a link to the audio file, a written transcript, and questions to engage students in discussion about the factors involved in determining optimum speed for fuel efficiency. This activity also includes links to a related Science NetLinks lesson and EarthEasy.com, which provides information about fuel-efficient driving.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 6
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
- Explain observations.
- Make inferences and predictions.
- Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
- Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
- Communicate findings.
- Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.09: Use technologies and information systems to:
- Research.
- Gather and analyze data
- Visualize data.
- Disseminate findings to others.
- Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
- Scientific text.
- Articles.
- Events in the popular press.
- Goal 7: The learner will conduct investigations and use technologies and information systems to build an understanding of population dynamics.
- Objective 7.01: Describe ways in which organisms interact with each other and with non-living parts of the environment:
- Coexistence/Cooperation/Competition.
- Symbiosis.
- Mutual dependence.
- Objective 7.04: Evaluate data related to human population growth, along with problems and solutions:
- Waste disposal.
- Food supplies.
- Resource availability.
- Transportation.
- Socio-economic patterns.
- Objective 7.05: Examine evidence that overpopulation by any species impacts the environment.
- Objective 7.01: Describe ways in which organisms interact with each other and with non-living parts of the environment:
