Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes – Part A: The context - Briefly introduce students to the IPCC's Sixth Report on climate change science, and the hope lens we will use for approaching potential solutions to the challenges the report presents.
20 minutes – Part B: The challenge - Students explore how electric cars work and how they can reduce carbon emissions from transportation.
20 minutes – Part C: The solution - Students create a diagram of how electric cars work. They reflect objectively on some of the challenges electric cars might present with regards to the goal of reducing carbon emissions.
5 minutes – Part D: Reflection - Students reflect on whether electric cars are actually a solution for reducing carbon emissions.

Part A: The context

Step 1.

Explain to your class that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was created to

provide policymakers (governments) with regular scientific updates about climate change;
highlight the impact climate change will have on the planet in the future; and,
offer some ideas about how to tackle the challenges of climate change's potential effects on the planet.

In 2021-22, the IPCC released Part 1 of the Sixth Assessment Report. This is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change.

Step 2.

The report makes a number of important points:

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land (A1). You might like to take a moment to discuss with students the meaning of the word unequivocal.
Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades (B1). The report describes five possible climate futures, where #1 is not great and #5 is extremely bad. If we want to keep global warming at less than two degrees, which the IPCC says is the best-case scenario, we need to reduce our CO₂ and greenhouse gas emissions significantly and start right away.

Step 3.

Explain that 'net zero' or 'carbon neutral' are terms that refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Getting to net zero means we can still produce some emissions, so long as we're doing something else to reduce the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere at the same time, kind of like balancing a set of scales (more info).

Step 4.

Give students some time to respond to this information. Enable them to share their feelings and discuss their thoughts on the matter, so that they feel validated and reassured about approaching this content.

Acknowledge how hard a challenge this report sets. While this real-world issue is essential for students to understand, there is no doubt it can make them feel sad or anxious about the future is becoming darker and scarier by the day.

So, reassure students that we can have a hopeful and optimistic outlook on this report, rather than one of doom and gloom. Explain that optimism involves looking objectively at a situation and making a conscious decision to focus on the good (more info), and that hope is the belief that you can make an impact (more info). Explain to students that you are going to look ahead, identify what needs to be improved, and then work on the skills and confidence so that they can go out and do it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to approach challenging topics in your classroom through a Hope and Optimism lens, consider our PD course.

Part B: The challenge

Step 1.

Currently, 8 gigatonnes of total annual carbon emissions are emissions from our transportation. If, by 2040, 50% of the kilometres driven (2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, cars, buses, and trucks) on the world’s roads are electric, and by 2050 95% are electric, this alone will reduce these emissions by 5Gt (Source).

Step 2.

As a class, discuss potential solutions to this challenge.

One obvious approach is to reduce our reliance on fossil-fuelled vehicles.

On the basis of recent studies, the total life cycle emissions from a fossil-fuelled car in Australia were about 333g of CO₂ per km, and 273g of CO₂ per km for an electric car, making EVs 18% better in terms of their carbon footprint. In New Zealand, life-cycle emissions for fossil-fuelled cars were at about 333 g of CO₂ per km for fossil-fuelled cars and 128g of CO₂ per km for electric cars, making EVs 62% better than fossil cars in carbon footprint terms.

In the activity for this lesson, students will be required to demonstrate how electric vehicles can help us reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 (although the solution isn't as simple as removing our reliance on petrol and gas as fuel for cars, and will need to be explored in detail.)

To be able to demonstrate this, students will first need to understand how car engines propel vehicles.

Step 3.

It might be worth watching these clips once through so that students can get a general overview, then rewatching them and allowing students to take notes.

Watch:

How Car Engine Works | Autotechlabs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKF5dKor_Y)

Reiterate to students that the 'combustion' of fuel in the chamber is what forces the pistons down to turn the crank shaft and, ultimately, rotate the wheels of the car.

Step 4.

So how do electric vehicles differ?

Watch:

How Do Electric Vehicles Work? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHGXy_sjbgQ)

Reiterate to students that clever (and quick) reversal of the polarity of magnets allows them to rotate and continue to depress the pistons in place of the combustion force in traditional engines.

Step 5.

Discuss some potential challenges in making the change to electric vehicles. Why might Australians be reluctant about making this change?

Create a mind map on the board of student suggestions.

Some pointers to direct your discussion:

Cost. Are electric vehicles (EVs) prohibitively expensive, or at least more than the regular cars we drive now? Why is this the case? Are there incentives to make EVs cheaper?
Travel distance. How far can you drive an EV before having to refuel? Could you make it from say Melbourne to Adelaide? Are there refuelling stations along the way? Does this make EVs unviable for travelling across our big country? At the very least we'd need to consider the infrastructure required for EVs, which comes with other challenges.
'Green' Fuel? It's worth challenging the idea that electric cars are truly 'green'. Is there really any difference between a petrol car and an EV that charges from electricity generated from coal or petrol power plants? Would charging from solar panels make EVs more appealing?
Waste. Electric cars still use rubber tyres, and brake pads that create toxic-heavy metal dust. Are there other ways we could reduce our use of traditional transport without taking up electric cars to replace them?

Provisions for Learning Extension: You might like to have your students independently conduct some additional research into the potential challenges, myths, and proposed solutions to EV conversion (also available on the Student Worksheet).

• Costly, toxic and slow to charge? Busting electric car myths by Thomas Bräunl (https://theconversation.com/costly-toxic-and-slow-to-charge-busting-electric-car-myths-21321)
• Climate explained: the environmental footprint of electric versus fossil cars by Arif Hasan (https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-the-environmental-footprint-of-electric-versus-fossil-cars-124762)
• How are we going to get around in a decarbonised world? by Peter Newman and Dean Economou (https://360info.org/how-are-we-going-to-get-around-in-a-decarbonised-world/)
• The embarrassingly easy, tax-free way for Australia to cut the cost of electric cars by Peter Martin (https://theconversation.com/the-embarrassingly-easy-tax-free-way-for-australia-to-cut-the-cost-of-electric-cars-171919)
• Australia’s ‘electric car revolution’ won’t happen automatically by Graciela Metternicht and Gail Broadbent (https://theconversation.com/australias-electric-car-revolution-wont-happen-automatically-90442)

Part C: The solution

These steps can also be found on the Students Worksheet.

Step 1.

Independently, students create a labelled diagram describing how engines work in electric vehicles, and how they differ from combustion engines.

Step 2.

Next, students write objectively about the benefits, and challenges, involved in adopting electric vehicles. Remind students to make specific reference to the Learning Intentions and Success Criteria of this lesson. How do electric vehicles help us reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Be sure to also discuss some challenges, or ways electric vehicles don't quite help us reach this goal.

Reflection

"Australia’s ‘electric car revolution’ won’t happen automatically".

Ask students to reflect on what is meant by this quote. Do students think electric vehicles are a legitimate replacement for combustion engines? Are they overwhelmingly beneficial? Do they come with too many complications and challenges? Or is the answer somewhere in the middle?

Where to next?

If you're interested in debating the true impact of electric cars on working towards the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, check out our English lesson here.

If the IPCC report has really inspired your students, check out our unit on finding other solutions to our emissions challenges.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

IPCC - How Do Electric Cars Work?

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