Anti-Idling Projects for
Students Linked to Curriculum
Math
- Students can do a traffic study around their school.
Calculate the percentage of parents/caregivers who idle their car engines
outside the school (before and after educating about idling at your school).
- Students can figure out what five minutes of idling
costs the driver, what it does to the environment and how carbon dioxide is
released into the atmosphere.
- How much greenhouse gas does one car emit when it idles
for five minutes? 1 car X 5 minutes/day ÷ 60 minutes/hour X 0.6
litres/hour X 0.00236 tonnes eCO2/litre = 0.000118 tonnes/day.
- How much would the same car emit over one year?
0.000118 tonnes/day X 365 days/year = 0.04 tonnes/year.
- How do we convert tonnes to pounds? Multiply by 2,200.
How do we convert tonnes to kilograms? Multiply by 1,000.
Science and Technology
- Students can look at the impact of cars on air quality
and climate change. Investigate the use of alternative fuels and alternative
transportation. Figure out the impacts of roads on habitat destruction.
- Students can write about the change of seasons and how
the seasons are affected by pollution.
Health & Physical Activity
- Identify safe routes to walk to school instead of
getting dropped off by a car (for older children).
- Talk about traffic safety and being safe when walking
in the community.
- Talk about how air pollution affects our health,
especially for children.
- Discuss smog and asthma and if they are related.
Arts
- Students can perform songs to promote or educate about
anti-idling (Turn Your Key, Be Idle-Free – and Think Of Me!)
- Make banners to hang in the school yard or create
reminder anti-idling tags for parents' cars (see enclosed Message to Students).
Language
- Write to students in other parts of Canada or the world
and share information about unnecessary vehicle idling and what it does to the
environment and to people's health.
- Write an anti-idling story for the community paper or
the school newsletter. Spread the word that it is time to stop idling car
engines when parked.
- Write and perform P.A. announcements, songs, skits, or
stories about anti-idling (see enclosed Ideas from Schools).
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