Building Support for Electric Vehicles
Provided by: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication|Published on: April 27, 2021|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Articles/Websites
Subjects: Social Studies, English Language Arts, Mathematics
Authors: Abel Gustafson, Matthew Goldberg
Location: Europe, North America, North America > United States
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 shows the effect of positive radio stories on people's perceptions of electric vehicles in Norway and the United States.
- It shows how media messaging changes popular opinions about electric vehicles.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The article describes an easy-to-follow experiment and includes data to support the findings.
- This can be a significant component of a media literacy, advertising, or literacy lesson.
Additional Prerequisites
- The article links to the two stories mentioned in the experiment.
- Students should understand what standardized mean difference is to properly analyze the data.
Differentiation
- Teachers can preview essential vocabulary terms, such as EV and emissions, to help students' comprehension.
- ELL students can be given the article beforehand to read.
- After reading the article, students can create a podcast story about an aspect of sustainability, such as eating less meat, EVs, solar power, buying recycled items, or composting. Then students can run an experiment to see if their podcast story influenced people's attitudes or beliefs.
- Other resources related to these topics include this video analyzing the impact of various types of cars on the climate and this video about the history of electric cars.
To transit from gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles is one of the efficient ways to reduce global warming. Selecting 912 random samples was effective to study this risk perception of transitioning. An Independent sample t-test would have also been a good technique to experiment with this type of data. However, this resource is recommended.
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.
Learn about our review process →
