Carter's School Page
Electric Cars:
History and Future
We need to energize the future. Where will that energy come from? Definitely not fossil fuels! Fossil fuels are polluting the environment. But if we can’t use gasoline powered cars then how will we get places? Electric cars are the answer. Everyone thinks electric cars are new and a breakthrough in technology. But electric cars are way older than most people think. In fact, the very first cars were electric.
Electric cars were invented in the 1830s by Robert Anderson of Scotland. Robert Davidson and Thomas Davenport made vehicles that ran on electric power cells. But when their energy was depleted, they had to be replaced. Two Frenchmen created the lead-acid battery- a car battery that could be recharged. It powered a vehicle by sulfuric acid eating away lead to make a chemical reaction. Then, it makes an electric charge which powers the car. There were problems with the car though. For instance, the cars batteries died fast and the cars speed wasn’t. Soon, gas cars were created, therefore making electric cars as popular as horse-drawn carriages are today. Almost a century later, in 1973 a gas shortage caused many drivers to think about switching to electric cars. Gas car drivers were given as little as 1gallon of gas.
How are prehistoric plants polluting our air? China’s air, for example, is so polluted that people wear gas masks outside. How did this terrible fuel get underground, waiting to be obtained? A really long time ago, plants died and sunk into the ground. The pressure on top of them makes the carbon inside of the plants into fossil fuels, like coal. What can fit in a teacup and lift a thousand pounds 1,000 meters
The answer: Gas!
About 20 years after the fuel crisis, an electric car (the GM EV1 Impact) was made. It was a very popular car and people loved it. The only problem was that they were not buyable. They were lease-only. Why were they not buyable? Where did they go after they were returned? People did not know for a while. They eventually found out the truth. What happened was gas and oil companies forced them out of production because they would lose their jobs and were not ready to change from making gas and gas cars, to charging stations and electric cars. The cars were taken to the same place they were tested and were crushed and destroyed.
Now, people are starting to realize the consequences of driving gas cars, and switching to hybrid cars and electric cars. In fact, some gas cars can go way farther and faster than electric cars. The Nissan Leaf, for example has a 107-mile drive range, but can cost as little as 14,000 dollars. That is cheap for an electric car, since some cars can cost 80,000 dollars! That would be like buying a house, but a little less expensive. If everyone is going to start using electric cars, then we will have to get rid of gas cars first.
For years we have been trying to switch from gas cars to electric cars, but gas and gas car companies keep saying “Give us more time”! And it has been way too long. We must put an end to this before we say goodbye to gasoline powered cars.
BIBLIOAGRAPHY
ABC (Director). (2007). Crude: The Incredible Journey of Oil [Motion Picture].
Accardi, S. (2011). Electric Cars: History and Future.
Anytime, S. (1995). Weather Watch. New York: Harcourt Brace and Co.
Book, K. B. (2016, september 9). Nissan Leaf Vehicles for Sale.
Jenson, N. (n.d.). Deep Trouble: The Gulf Coast Oil Spill. Reading A-Z.
Mockler, K. (n.d.). To Drill or not to Drill. Reading A-Z.
Paine, C. (Director). (n.d.). Who Killed the Electric Car? [Motion Picture].
PBS (Director). (2009). California's Energy Gamble [Motion Picture].
Peoples Effect on The enviroment. (2007). Geography tools and concepts.
Tayler, S. (2007). Threats to our atmosphere. Dallas: Reading A-Z.
Thorsen, L. (2016, September 4). A Spark To Fuel Electric Car Sales? St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Yvkff, L. (2016, February 29). Suburb Stress-Testing the 2016 Nissan Leaf: Is 107-Mile Range Enough outside the city? Retrieved from Forbes Magazine .
The Dust Bowl/Oil Spill
_____________________________________________________________________________________
People need to start rationing natural resources.
We need to use fossil fuels only when necessary.
We need to start driving electric cars and stop making pollution. The books/movies (Deep trouble, To Drill or Not to Drill, Crude, and so on) talk about how people don’t think about the consequences of their actions and they pollute or make a disaster.
The Dust Bowl, otherwise known as the Dirty Thirties, was a time period from the late 20s to the early 30s. It was a bunch of dust storms that were caused by a drought and farmers plowing up all the cover crops. They should have thought about what effect it would have on the environment before they did it.
During the Dust Bowl, tons of soil blew away. This happened because farmers plowed up all the cover crops and replaced them with wheat. With no prairie plant roots to hold it down, the dirt blew away and made dust storms. So the farmers made wind erosion. This was terrible because the soil that blew away took a long time to form. A centimeter of dirt takes from 100 to 1,000 years to form. Soil is made by parent material over time. So the soil that blew away during the dust bowl was enough soil to fill half of the Grand Canyon. If farmers would have not plowed up the cover crops, then the dust bowl wouldn’t have happened.
The books Science Time Anytime and To Drill or Not to Drill talk about people affecting the environment by trying to get oil. Pumping oil leaves a foot print and destroys animals’ habitats and oil rigs can explode, harm wildlife, kill workers, and pollute beaches and the ocean. These two books connect to the Dust Bowl because people aren’t thinking about the environment and then do something for themselves, but end up harming it.
The movies Wall-E and The Lorax (the old one) are both about people polluting a clean place and not realizing it nor thinking about their effect on the environment. These movies connect to The Dust Bowl and Deep Trouble because they are about people who make decisions without thinking about their consequences and they make a disaster or pollute.
Easter Island is an island that has been stripped bare of its trees and resources. The islanders used all the trees to move the giant statues and then when all the trees were gone, they had a war. Eventually, there were no tree roots to hold in all the soil and it washed away. The animals all left and after that, the islanders disappeared. This connects to the oil spill and the Dust Bowl because they are about people harming the environment for resources.
Conclusion
A lesson can be learned from these books/movies-
Think about the consequences of your actions.
A lot of things need to change to prevent future disasters. We need to stop using fossil fuels before we fight over them. We need to start driving electric cars again. Also, we need to stop using slash-and burn.
Bibliography
Brace, H. (1995). Cycles and Soils. In H. brace, Science Anytime (pp. E37-E38). Harcourt brace .
Geographic, N. (Director). (2010). Mysteries of Easter Island [Motion Picture].
Jenson, N. (2009). deep trouble:the gulf coast oil spill. Reading A-Z.
Pratt, H. (Director). (1972). The Lorax [Motion Picture].
Roberts, B. (2011). Dust Bowl Disaster. Reading A-Z.
Stanton, A. (Director). (2008 ). Wall-E [Motion Picture].
Healthful Lifestyles
Deciding on what to eat can be difficult. If you eat an unhealthy food, you will not have very much energy to make it through the day. I choose food by using the Dietary Guidelines. I have learned that the healthier you eat, the more energy you have. Eating cereal does not give you very much energy and you cannot remember things as well when you eat it. Oatmeal, however, helps your memory and gives you more energy. For example, a box of fruit loops would give you a little bit of energy. A bowl of fruit would give you lots of it.
In the world, there are areas called blue zones where people live healthier and longer than normal. In Costa Rica, people eat tortillas that are made with a special process that gives it more calcium. In Sardinia, people drink wine that is made with healthy ingredients. In Okinawa, people have plant based diets and eat tofu. In blue zones, retirement does not exist. People have to work hard to live healthy. They work and stay fit. Knowing about blue zones help me with my food choices because the healthier you eat, the longer you live. For instance, eating a plant based diet and exercising every day can add 8 years to your life! So I can live longer because I know what to eat to live healthy.
Free radicals are cells with missing electrons that try to break apart cells to replace their missing electrons, but end up making more free radicals. Free radicals are made by pollution, stress, smoke, etc. Free radicals can be stopped by antioxidants, which are in foods like acai berry, cherries, wheat grass, and pomegranate. They help fight free radicals by donating electrons to free radicals but don’t make themselves free radicals.
My Pyramid is a pyramid that shows how many servings of food you need from each food group every day. I do not eat the recommended amount of food from each group. Most people do not. I should eat more fruits because they are healthier than fats. I should eat fewer fats because they are unhealthy.
My family affects how I eat because I eat whatever they make. I do this because I don’t want to hurt their feelings by not eating their food.
My personal preferences affect what I eat because I am a very picky eater.
Meal planning is planning what foods you will eat in the future. It is healthy because you can use My Pyramid to plan healthful meals.
Being physically active is good for your health because it keeps you at a healthy weight and burns calories. Activities like baseball, soccer, swimming and other sports help you burn calories. Activities like YouTube, TV, eating unhealthy foods and video games do not help you burn calories. If you do too many of these activities and you don’t exercise, you end up gaining too much weight because you are eating more calories than you can burn.
Body image is how you think of your body. TV affects your body image because you may think what they are doing on TV is cool so you think you should do it.
I have learned that if you eat healthy foods and exercise daily, you will live a lot longer. Now that I know this, I want to eat healthy and exercise so I can live longer.
Bibliography
CNN (Director). (2008). Blue Zones On CNNs Chasing Life [Motion Picture].
Meeks, L. (2008). Health and Wellness. In L. Meeks, Health and Wellness. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Oz, D. (Director). (2014). Cancer Fighting Antioxidants [Motion Picture].
Youtube (Director). (2010). How Antioxidants Work [Motion Picture].