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Students Explore Future at 'Kids and Cars For Clean Air' Expo

9 November 1998

Students Explore High-Tech Future at 'Kids and Cars For Clean Air' Expo

    LOS ANGELES, Nov. 7 -- Teachers, students and their families
today celebrated the land-based version of "the right stuff," experiencing
first-hand the present and future of advanced-technology transportation while
culminating a year-long Southern California curriculum program that's helping
the next generation discover how the region can harness electric and other
clean-fuel vehicles to create a healthier environment.
    A highlight of the "Kids and Cars for Clean Air" Expo, held at the
Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, involved competitions in which
students used model electric cars from the curriculum program in contests for
speed and hill-climbing ability.  This activity -- an extension of classroom
learning -- provided a hands-on means of exploring traditional scientific
principles and new technological concepts.
    The event also featured displays of production-model electric vehicles
(EVs), electric bikes, and demonstration solar cars, plus test drives in
General Motors' (GM's) EV1 electric car.
    "I truly think this program is a great way to spark interest in the youth
of today," said Teri Tsosie, a teacher at Hermosa Valley School (in Hermosa
Beach) who brought student teams for the expo's model electric car
competitions.
    She added, "Students are eager to learn about the technology behind
electric cars.  They seem to get involved and stay involved with a subject
when it involves hands-on learning."
    The education program is providing 60,000 Southern California middle and
high school students -- through approximately 300 teachers -- with the
opportunity to build working model EVs and learn first-hand about this
emerging industry and its effect on society.
    This issue is particularly relevant in the greater Los Angeles region,
still home to the worst air quality in the nation.  According to Tsosie, many
students are shocked to find out the severity of air pollution in Southern
California.
    In addition, the program ties into the facts that automakers are
introducing electric and other advanced-technology vehicles to this market in
the next several years, and that business and industry are increasingly
requiring technically savvy entry-level employees who can grasp the
applications of new technologies.
    One of Tsosie's eighth-grade students who utilized the curriculum program
expressed his opinion in an essay he wrote:  "Personally, I consider that the
electric vehicle is extraordinary.  It stops the expulsion of harmful gases
into the atmosphere...When I become old enough to drive, I will definitely
consider purchasing an electric vehicle."
    A classmate concluded in her essay, "I think that this is the perfect car
to start the new millennium with."
    The sponsors of the education program are the Mobile Source Air Pollution
Reduction Review Committee (MSRC), GM, Southern California Edison, the
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the California Air Resources Board,
the Coalition for Clean Air, the American Lung Association of Los Angeles
County and EV Media, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based company that created the
curriculum materials.  The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD)
and the Petersen Automotive Museum also helped sponsor the expo.
    In addition to the reusable model EVs, the program's Electric Vehicle
Classroom Kit features an extensive teacher's manual, including correlations
with key state and national instructional objectives; and a student booklet
highlighting technical, environmental, economic and infrastructure issues
associated with EV development.  It also includes separate Air Quality
Los Angeles (AQLA) lesson materials to help students understand that decisions
they make daily can affect the quality of the environment.  The AQLA materials
won the 1997 AQMD Clean Air Award.
    Besides co-funding and in-kind contributions from the various sponsors,
monies from the state's Assembly Bill 2766 Discretionary Fund -- overseen by
the MSRC to encourage clean-air efforts -- helped make the program a reality.
The sponsors plan to continue to work with schools to further expand EV and
environmental education in subsequent years.