Is It Sustainable? Renewable Fuels for the Future

Issues of sustainability and the effect of nonrenewable and renewable fuels are experienced in this unit using hands-on exercises and problem solving. Students create and analyze algebraic models for fossil fuels and green (non-fossil) fuel automotive data for cars. The unit also contains a lesson which simulates the use and depletion of nonrenewable energy and the effect of its replacement with renewable energy. Lastly students are engaged in creating motion graphs which match supplied graphs and determining the equation of the linear models using a motion detector. This curriculum unit is written for high school mathematics students in grades 9 through 11 who are studying Algebra 1 or Algebra 2. This curriculum unit could also be used in science courses such as physical science, environmental science or physics since it provides experiences creating real data and determining the mathematical models in science.