Amidst record-breaking gas prices, the rise of electric vehicles, and the booming business of the rideshare industry, it is more relevant than ever to implement transportation lesson plans in the classroom. Often, green transportation lesson plans are introduced in early education, but there is something empowering about engaging students with modes of transportation more and more as they age. This is especially true in our growing, developing, and ever-changing world.
"On a personal level, two-thirds of Americans (66%) say that they “would like more transportation options so they have the freedom to choose how to get where they need to go.” Along these same lines, 73% currently feel they “have no choice but to drive as much as” they do, and 57% would like to spend less time in the car," Future of Transportation National Survey.
As a teacher myself, who also created and taught these 6 unique green transportation lesson plans in our culminating Green Transportation Unit, I know this will help you teach your elementary students about the impact of transportation choices, media messages, and the power of innovation. This integrated project-based unit includes access to complete lesson plans, videos, vocabulary cards, printable worksheets, and a grading rubric for you and your students. Each lesson is formatted into sections labeled ‘Inquire’, ‘Investigate’, and ‘Inspire’ to guide your teaching.
What Are Carbon Emissions? (Green Transportation #1)
Grade: 3rd, 4th, 5th
Subjects: Science, Earth and Space Sciences
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Inquire
Students reflect on what they know about photosynthesis and how plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Investigate
Students learn about the greenhouse effect and calculate their ecological footprint.
Inspire
Students generate ideas on how to reduce their carbon footprint and impact on the environment.
This lesson introduces carbon emissions and the relationship between human activity and the environment. Students learn about the greenhouse effect and the concept of global warming. Included in this lesson is an interactive tool that allows you and your students to calculate your ecological footprint. You can discover how many planets the human population would need if everyone lived like you!
When I taught this lesson, my students got so excited about sharing their results and it led to great discussions as the class searched for the student who needs the most/least amount of planets. This led to breakthroughs about how we can make better choices in our everyday lives to reduce our ecological footprint for a happier, healthier planet. Students began to develop their growing sense of environmental stewardship.
This lesson is great for growing vocabulary and introducing important scientific concepts. With a majority of my own students being English language learners, this lesson was a wonderful way to integrate science into our English language development class time. The vocabulary words were represented on our classroom word wall and the anchor chart we generated together was hung right next to it.
Students got to see their ideas each time they walked into class and were reminded of all the ways they could reduce their carbon footprint. Above are the results of our anchor chart with students recommending using bikes, scooters, or skateboards to get around. Another student recommended turning off lights when not needed and having a classroom monitor to make sure we practice it when we leave for recess, lunch, and after school.
Emissions by Mode of Transportation (Green Transportation #2)
Grade: 3rd, 4th, 5th
Subjects: Science, Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Inquire
Students analyze a bar graph of carbon dioxide emissions by different modes of transportation and calculate the most environmentally conscious modes of travel based on emissions.
Investigate
Students analyze commuter survey results of the top concerns with public transportation and complete real-world math problems based on different transportation scenarios, calculating the difference in carbon emission outputs.
Inspire
Students learn about transportation planners and watch a video about Hong Kong's transit system.
In this math integrated lesson, students compare and contrast emissions from different modes of transport and explore the concept of transportation planning. By analyzing a bar graph of carbon dioxide emissions by different modes of transportation, students get the opportunity to calculate the most environmentally conscious modes of travel.
This lesson plan can be integrated into your English language arts and/or math time. Students get to learn through real-life examples and scenarios. This applicability and relevance brought student engagement to an all-time high in my classroom. When it came time to calculate carbon emissions to students’ destinations of choice, the classroom was buzzing with voices and excitement. Students were comparing calculations, supporting each other, and relating the content to their lived experiences.
This lesson was also great for career exploration. Students learned about the work and role of transportation planners in cities. I was able to connect with Los Angeles Metro and set up a virtual visit with one of their transportation planners. My kids were beyond enthusiastic to hear about the upcoming projects and get a direct insight into this career pathway. Now that your students understand the greenhouse effect and the impact of carbon emissions on the environment, it’s time to let them see how this applies to the real world, including their everyday lives. When I taught this lesson, I started by projecting a bar graph that depicted the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by different modes of transportation in pounds.
This graph can be altered to fit appropriate grade levels and notes in this resource will guide you in how to make those modifications. With my third graders, we used addition and subtraction sentences to compare emissions. Students then practiced verbalizing their calculations: “I found that a plane emits .45 more pounds of carbon dioxide per mile than a transit bus.” This analysis of bar graphs is in line with third-grade common core standard CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.3 solve one and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. Resources for upper elementary math problems are also included in this resource to develop solving multiplication problems with decimals.
Into the Mind of a Transportation Planner (Green Transportation #3)
Grade: 3rd, 4th, 5th
Subjects: Social Studies, Geography
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Inquire
Students analyze the transit route maps of four different cities.
Investigate
Students explore in greater depth the elements and features of four different transit systems.
Inspire
Students recall transit rider concerns and create a reimagined metro system to appeal to more riders in the community.
Students can demonstrate a general understanding of transportation planning from the previous lesson and in this lesson get to explore the transit route maps of four different cities. After investigating the elements and features of these unique transit systems, students are introduced to their project assignment. They are tasked with reimagining their community’s transportation system.
Lesson planning can often be incredibly challenging. Not only is this lesson plan ready-made for teachers, but it also requires very little explicit teaching. This lesson is oriented to promote student agency, giving elementary students the chance to take control over their learning and get creative! The final project is intended to teach essential collaboration skills. For example, my students love having classroom jobs. I’ve always loved classroom jobs too because they give students a purpose beyond being a student. I have found that their confidence grows and it cultivates a sense of community.
In this lesson, they get to take on roles within small groups and reimagine a metro system together. Students self-delegate these roles. Surprisingly, there was no disagreement amongst my students when it came to this delegation activity. Many of them decided to share the responsibilities so that nobody was left with a task they didn’t want to do. My biggest takeaway from using this lesson in my classroom was to not be afraid of letting students guide the direction of the lesson, even if it meant taking detours. This lesson is designed to generate meaningful discourse and build connections between the students and the world. I gave students ample time to explore the four cities transit maps on their own in small groups. It definitely went over the instructional time I allotted, but it was so worth it! Students got to conduct research, ask questions, and be driven by their curiosity.
Understanding the Power of Media (Green Transportation #4)
Grade: 3rd, 4th, 5th
Subjects: English Language Arts
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Inquire
Students reflect on how their reimagined metro systems address the top ten concerns riders had with the metro.
Investigate
Students think critically about how different transportation advertisements get consumers to want to use their services or purchase their products.
Inspire
Students brainstorm an advertisement for their reimagined metro system.
The problem we introduced at the beginning of this unit was the decline of alternative modes of transportation and the dominance of cars. As students reimagine their public transit systems, they are brought to the next essential question: how do we get riders to choose this mode of transportation over others? This is where the magic of critical media literacy is introduced. Students look at advertisements for different modes of transport from a fresh perspective that encourages critical thinking and questioning.
These transportation lesson plans combine media literacy, essential standards, and creativity. This resource is awesome because we’ve included a ready-made advertisement analysis worksheet. Your students can use this as they investigate Brie Larson starring in ‘The New Nissan’ campaign and the cinematography of rideshare commercials. My students love the media in all its forms. They engage with it in their everyday lives on a regular basis, so why shouldn’t we invite it into our classroom as a learning tool?
They activate their listening, speaking, and writing skills from the lens of a marketer and critical thinker. After analyzing what worked and what didn’t in these advertisements, students dove into creating their own advertisements for the transit system they designed. One of my students shared, “I want to make a TikTok so other kids can see how cool my metro is!” Another student suggested, “Let’s come up with a catchphrase like in the Mercedes commercial when they called it the ‘one car to conquer them all.'”
They activate their listening, speaking, and writing skills from the lens of a marketer and critical thinker. After analyzing what worked and what didn’t in these advertisements, students dove into creating their own advertisements for the transit system they designed. One of my students shared, “I want to make a TikTok so other kids can see how cool my metro is!” Another student suggested, “Let’s come up with a catchphrase like in the Mercedes commercial when they called it the ‘one car to conquer them all.'” This resource introduces new concepts like critical media literacy, but it is introduced in a way that meets both teachers and students at their level. You start with the familiarity of everyday advertisements and apps and start sparking that curiosity of internal messages within the media.
Metro Campaign Creation Time (Green Transportation #5)
Grade: 3rd, 4th, 5th
Subjects: English Language Arts
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Inquire
Students explore the definition and guiding questions of critical media literacy.
Investigate
Students analyze a video about car-free cities.
Inspire
Students begin creating their own advertisement for their metro designs.
Students utilize this time to recall what they’ve learned and apply it to their creations. This could look one of many different ways. For example, in my classroom, we spent an entire week on creation time, about one hour each day. By the end of the lesson, my students could describe critical media literacy and deliver an effective advertisement.
Also included in this resource is a rubric for your students' final projects. You can integrate these transportation lessons into your grading for ELA, Media Literacy, Engineering, and Art. Students had to plan their metro systems holistically, including what the cost of fares would look like and resources that would promote ridership. Those messages were conveyed through art forms. This all led to their presentation, which fulfilled speaking and listening standards.
I’ve struggled in the past with getting students excited about engineering design and presenting in front of the class. However, I didn’t run into those issues with this unit. Students were passionate about jumping into the role of a transportation planner. Students were excited about seeing how other groups targeted their audiences for ridership. Students had a choice in what they created. I have videos, posters, and “billboards” designed by multiple student groups. Below is an example:
Feel free to take up time and space in the classroom. Students are working simultaneously on a multitude of skills throughout this project and really want to do well in presenting this information. I had one group beg for another poster paper because of a few coloring mishaps. Though I encouraged them that it didn’t have to be perfect, they still wanted it to be their best work. As aforementioned, I let my students have a week of creation time in one-hour blocks. Your students may need two weeks or may only need 1-2 days. Whatever that looks like for your students, roll with it and you will not be disappointed with the products!
Metro Campaign Presentations (Green Transportation #6)
Grade: 3rd, 4th, 5th
Subjects: English Language Arts
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Inquire
Students reflect on the advertisement process and their role in small groups.
Investigate
Student present their final advertisements to their peers.
Inspire
Students brainstorm what to do with their ideas in order to increase metro/public transit ridership in their community.
Students get the opportunity to reflect on their advertisement creative process, from how it felt to work in groups, to what they found most challenging about the project. Here is where they reflect and celebrate what they’ve accomplished. This resource provides two different options for how students can reflect: one at a time in front of the whole class, or through a gallery walk where students rotate in small groups to each metro’s “station.” In both cases, students leave feedback through power words or hashtags to show their support and appreciation for the presenters. At the end, you can brainstorm with your students about what they can do with their projects and ideas to support public transit ridership! We want our students to feel inspired and to understand how their work in the classroom translates into real life.
I love this resource because I can’t count the times I’ve been asked, “But Miss, when am I going to use this in real life?” and this unit always highlights how relatable it is to real life. Many of my students had experience riding the metro and using city buses. Where once they felt embarrassed for their family’s inaccessibility to a personal car, now they feel pride in their use of a sustainable system. They wanted more people to use public transit. They wanted it to be cleaner, safer, and more fun. They felt a personal connection to the project. When I used this lesson plan in my classroom, we opted for the whole class presentations. When a group finished presenting, I let the rest of the class use their dry-erase boards at their desk to write a hashtag to show their feedback and support for the presenters. Some of the hashtags generated were: #MaketheMetroGreatAgain #CleanerFasterBetter #TheEarthSaysThankYou.
Invite the students to choose how they present their reimagined metro system. My students wrote out the features of their transit system on one paper, created a draft of their advertisement on another, and then had the final product of their advertisement. Most groups opted to bring all of these materials with them to present and each student shared a little bit about each. My students who created video advertisements used a story map template I provided them in order to draft their script and content.
After the presentations concluded, I led my students in a jigsaw to share what the most challenging part of the process had been. Some students were the most nervous about presenting, but the majority of my students found the pressure of designing a campaign to be the most challenging. One student shared that it felt like time moved by so fast when they were designing. She would go home and come up with more ideas and want to just jump into that in class before she would forget. She would just wait and wait through our ELA and math instructional blocks to get to the campaign creation time. It was the most exciting part of her school day.
In 2020, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation accounted for approximately 27% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making it the largest contributor of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. (EPA) Studies show time and time again that using real examples in the classroom encourages students to be aware of the choices they make and how they fit into a greater societal context. It’s also important to teach how these choices affect the natural world. These transportation lesson plans provide worldly perspectives and promote critical thinking in a meaningful way. What used to be simply getting from one place to another turns into an opportunity to be an eco hero and environmental steward. See more of Amber and another unit plan she created below, Teach about Green Spaces in your classroom:
About the Author
Amber is a third-grade elementary school teacher who has taught ELA, Environmental Education, and SEL. With a degree in Environmental Policy and Planning, her passion for environmental justice and action-integrated curriculum led her to her commitment to climate education.
