Mobilize Electric Bicycles
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Type: Articles/Websites
Subjects: Economics, Engineering
Authors: Project Drawdown
Location: Earth
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of electric bicycles, their current usage in global transportation, and how many CO2 equivalent emissions could be reduced if electric bike usage continues to grow.
- Students will learn that electric bikes have a motor that makes it easier to travel long distances, electric bikes have higher emissions than a regular bicycle, most electric bike usage is in China, and over a gigaton of carbon emissions could be prevented if electric bike use increases.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This article does an excellent job of explaining how electric bikes can reduce emissions without too much technical language, making it easier for students to comprehend.
- This article also talks about the health benefits of riding bikes.
Prerequisites
- Students need to understand the importance of carbon sequestration and how emissions from cars and other forms of transportation contribute to climate change.
- Some links in the reference section may not work but are not necessary to analyze this article.
Differentiation & Implementation
- To engage students in the reading and assess prior knowledge, the teacher can ask students about their prior experience, if any, with e-bikes or bicycles in general.
- This resource pairs well with other Project Drawdown articles on transportation-based solutions found in this resource.
- Teachers can ask students to list the times they used a car or other forms of transportation that week, then highlight all the trips that could have been achieved using an electric bicycle or regular bicycle.
- This article can support a lesson on various methods of reducing urban/suburban greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from combustion engines.
This article discusses the benefits of increased electronic bicycle (e-bike) use. Specifically, the change in global carbon dioxide emissions is calculated for different amounts of e-bike use, as well as the cost of implementing these changes. The article is organized similar to a scientific paper in the way it breaks down this climate solution into an introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion sections. These make this resource a good example of how scientific articles are often structured. Resources are included. The information presented is accurate and this resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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