TAKE ANOTHER STEP TOWARD A CLEANER AND HEALTHIER SCHOOL

Wheels Up
Project-Based Learning Plan

Schools@GaCommuteOptions.com
1-877-9-GA-OPTIONS
Wheels Up
Section I: Project Overview

Wheels Up is an elementary-school Project Based Learning (PBL) activity kit centered around the following
driving question: How can you (as a student) clean the air and make it safer for everyone to drive and walk around
your school? Students will strategize, track their progress, and communicate the results.

Description: The air is polluted, and it’s getting worse every day. The United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) tells us how clean the air is supposed to be, and tests and grades each county in the same way
teachers test and grade students. Twenty counties in the Atlanta metropolitan area do not pass the air quality
test.
Polluted air affects all of us. Do any of your students suffer from asthma? Have you ever shown up to work late
or angry because of traffic? Does the carpool line stretch around the block at your school? Students will explore
these and other effects of poor air quality and traffic congestion in the project tasks. They may choose from a
differentiated menu of grassroots outreach strategies to influence changes in the behaviors of adults in their
school community. From tracking and plotting data to planning a week-long outreach campaign, students will
have access to expert Georgia Commute Options resources and be exposed to the comprehensive, step-by-
step process of reaching out to their community for a cause.
Pre-reading and launch activities, as well as a reflection survey and questionnaire, are included.
Grade Level: Elementary, Grades 3-5
Primary Topics: Air Quality, Emissions, Pollution, Conservation, Renewable and Non-renewable resources,
Percent Increase, Fractions, Persuasive and Informational Texts, Career Pathways and College Readiness
Estimated Duration: 5-10 class periods over the course of one month (one or two 60-minute block(s) per week)
Resources: The majority of materials needed for the project are included in this document. Additional
promotional materials can be provided by Georgia Commute Schools upon request.

ELA: Georgia Standards For Excellence
(ELAGSE)
Reading: Integration of Knowledge and
Ideas
(ELAGSE3RI7, 4RI7, 5RI7 &
ELAGSE3RI8, 4RI8, 5RI8)
Writing: Text Types and Purpose
(ELAGSE3W2, 4W2, 5W2)
Math: Georgia Standards For Excellence Science: Georgia Performance
(MGSE) Standards (GPS)
Third Grade: Measurement and Data Third Grade: S3L2 (Students will recog-
MGSE3.MD.3 (Draw a scaled picture nize the effects of pollution and humans
graph and a scaled bar graph to repre- on the environment);
sent a data set) S3L2.b. (Identify ways to protect the
environment)
Fourth Grade: Numbers and Operations Fourth Grade: S4L2.b. (Identify factors
- Fractions that may have led to the extinction of
MGSE4.NF.2 (Extend understanding of some organisms)
fraction equivalence and ordering)

Writing: Production and Distribution of
Writing
(ELAGSE3W4, 4W4, 5W4)
(ELAGSE3W5, 4W5, 5W5)
(ELAGSE3W6, 4W6, 5W6)
Speaking and Listening: Comprehension
and Collaboration
(ELAGSE3SL4, 4SL4, 5SL4)
Fifth Grade: Geometry
MGSE5.G.1 & MGSE5.G.2 (Represent
real world and mathematical problems
by graphing points in the first quadrant)
Fifth Grade: S5P2.c. (Investigate the
properties of a substance before, during,
and after a chemical reaction to find evi-
dence of a chemical change)
Habits of Mind & Nature of Science
(Grades 3-5): S3-5CS1, S3-5CS2, S3-5CS4,
S3-5CS5, S3-5CS7, S3-5CS8
Wheels Up
Section II: TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION I: PROJECT OVERVIEW.................................................................... i

SECTION II: TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................. ii

SECTION III: PROJECT TIMELINE................................................................... 1

SECTION IV: EIGHT ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF PBL FOR WHEELS UP.......... 2

SECTION V: ACTIVITY DESCRIPTIONS........................................................... 3

SECTION VI: STUDENT HANDOUTS AND PRINTABLES................................. 9

STUDENT HANDOUT: AIR QUALITY FACTS
AIR IN ATLANTA POSTER
GUIDED READINGS
WHAT IS AIR? (3RD GRADE)
CAN ACID RAIN CAUSE ANIMALS TO DIE? (4TH GRADE)
IS CAR EXHAUST A CHEMICAL REACTION? (5TH GRADE)
TRAVEL TALLY SHEET #1
TRAVEL TALLY SHEET #2
STUDENT TRANSPORTATION BAR GRAPH
STUDENT HANDOUT: ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNING
STUDENT HANDOUT: GROUP PLANNING
COLLABORATION RUBRIC FOR PBL
STUDENT HANDOUT: CAMPAIGN CHOICE BOARD
PARENT CARPOOLING SURVEY
MATH EXTENSIONS
3RD GRADE (MEASUREMENT AND DATA MGSE3.MD.3)
4TH GRADE (FRACTIONS MGSE4.NF.2)
5TH GRADE (GEOMETRY MGSE5.G1&2)
PUBLIC PRODUCT INSTRUCTIONS
Wheels Up
Section III: Project Timeline

WEEK PROJECT TASKS CLASS TIME REQUIRED

• 1-2 class periods
• Launch Activity
Week 1 • 1 morning/afternoon near bus ramp
• Project Task 1: “Let’s Make it Count”
and car rider line
• Project Task 2: “Wheels Up Week Campaign
Week 2 • 1-3 class periods
Planning”
• 0 class periods

Week 3 • Project Task 3: “Welcome to Wheels Up Week” • Time required during morning and
afternoons to campaign and talk to
students, parents, and teachers
• Project Task 4: “Count it Again”
Week 4 • 2-3 class periods
• Project Task 5: “Tell Your Story”
Wheels Up
Section IV: Eight Essential Elements of PBL for Wheels Up

Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skills: The Wheels Up project teaches important skills
and concepts aligned to Georgia Performance Standards for Science and Georgia Standards of Excellence
for English and language arts (ELA), writing, and math. This project encourages students to think critically
about air quality: a real-world problem facing students and adults in Atlanta. (See Project Task Descriptions
for specific standard alignment.)

Challenging Problem or Question: The Driving Question for this project may be crafted by the students
(in collaboration with the teacher), after the Launch Activity. It will be something along the lines of: “How
can you (as a student) clean the air and make it safer for everyone to drive and walk around your
school?”

To answer this question, students will collaborate on a week-long, school-wide campaign encouraging
clean commuting. This open-ended question situates student learning within a real-world problem-solving
context.

Sustained Inquiry: This project is not designed to be a quick or easy way to cover a lot of standards in a
short amount of time. Instead, this project presents students with an opportunity to apply the principles
of scientific problem solving and persuasive communication to their own school. Over the course of the
project, students will ask themselves questions about how best to convey scientific data to their peers,
teachers, and parents. This will encourage them to educate themselves and dig deeper.

Authenticity: In the classroom, “authentic” means that the learning experience has traction in the real
world. Wheels Up is an authentic, backwards-planned PBL experience for students in Atlanta — and for
their parents and teachers who sit for hours in traffic. Students will consider a real-world problem and use
their words, actions, and products to have a real impact on real people.

Student Voice & Choice: Wheels Up allows students to craft a campaign plan that is unique to their
strengths and their school community. This project uses a Choice Board so that students can tailor their
own program for their school by choosing which avenues to use to reach each audience: peers, parents,
and faculty/staff. Then, the project allows students to assign each other significant roles in completing the
project, under the guidance of their teacher.

Reflection: Students learn from experiences, but they learn more from reflecting on those experiences. A
Student Reflection Guide is included in the Change in the Air Activity Kit. Additionally, the Launch Activity
encourages students to reflect on the underlying issues of transportation, which affect the logistics of
clean commute options.

Critique & Revision: High-quality student work can only be achieved through thoughtful critique and
revision. At several checkpoints during the project, students will receive feedback from the teacher and
their peers. Then, in collaboration with Georgia Commute Options, the school team will finalize their
campaign strategy for Wheels Up Week, order campaign supplies, and discuss industry best practices.

Public Product: This project culminates with two types of presentations. First, students will write a
newspaper article, morning news bulletin, or public service announcement for local or school media
explaining the success of their Wheels Up Week, and next steps for further air quality improvement.
Second, the students will submit a Mode Count Report to industry experts at Georgia Commute Schools
that details the traffic reduction that took place at their school. This report will mirror other reports
conducted by Georgia Commute Schools and other industry leaders in transportation.
Wheels Up
Section V: Activity Descriptions

LAUNCH ACTIVITY: “AIR IN ATLANTA”

What is Air? Why does it matter in Atlanta?
The hardest part about improving air quality is that air can appear clear even when it isn’t clean. It is much
easier to convince a company to stop polluting a lake that is toxic, because it looks cloudy and dirty.
Before your students begin this PBL activity, they must first realize how tricky it can be to improve air quality.
They will read a college-prep-style guided reading article. This article will expose them to the basics about air,
air quality, and air pollution, aligned to science standards. In responding to questions, students will be asked
to cite textual evidence, in alignment with ELA standards. A “Fun Fact Sheet” is provided, which students can
use to create a persuasive artifact (poster) that explains their favorite Fun Fact. The Launch Activity is both
scaffolded to build knowledge organically and differentiated to ensure all students will succeed.

Standards:
• Reading: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (ELAGSE3RI7, 4RI7, 5RI7; ELAGSE3RI8, 4RI8, 5RI8)
• Science: Students will understand important features of the process of scientific inquiry (CS5; CS7; CS8)
• Third Grade: S3L2.b.
• Fourth Grade: S4L2.b.
• Fifth Grade: S5P2.c.

Teacher Guide and Background Information (Launch Activity):

Why is air quality important to me, my school, and my community?
Did you know that you can go weeks without food and days without water, but we would last only a few minutes
without air? On average, each of us takes 20,000 breaths and breathes 3,400 gallons of air per day (American
Lung Association). And when that air is polluted, it can cause serious health problems. But it only takes one
person to create a ripple that can lead to lasting changes. Through everyday choices and actions, these ripples
can collectively make our world a better and healthier place to live.
This Wheels Up PBL Activity Kit will help students become ambassadors for a cleaner and healthier school
environment by leading a Georgia Commute Schools transportation campaign!
• According to recent studies, Atlanta has the seventh worst commute in the nation.*
• Traffic congestion in metro Atlanta caused drivers to spend an extra 51 hours a year behind the wheel.*
• Each Atlantan burns $1,120 per year in fuel while waiting in traffic jams: seventh worst in the country.*
Have you ever been outside your school and seen or smelled the exhaust from tailpipes? What was it like to
breathe in that polluted air? Air pollution around schools has risen as more and more parents make twice-daily
trips to and from school. In fact, studies suggest that almost 25% of morning rush hour traffic could be from
parents driving their children to school.**
Poor air quality can affect respiratory and cardiovascular systems and cause a variety of health problems, including
asthma, irritation of your eyes, nose, and throat, and weaker resistance to colds and other illnesses.
But there’s good news! There are lots of small actions that people can take to help reduce air pollution in their
schools and communities. Activities like riding the bus, carpooling, walking or riding your bike, and not idling
your car can really make a big difference.
*Source: 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard
** Source: Safe Routes to School
Wheels Up
Section V: Activity Descriptions

PROJECT TASK 1: “LET’S MAKE IT COUNT”

How are students and teachers getting to school?
In the Let’s Make It Count activity, students apply their understanding of air quality and pollution to what’s
happening in their school community. The students will conduct a survey of how classes, grade levels, or the
entire student body gets to the school on a given day. By the end of the task, students will know how many
students walk, carpool, get dropped off alone, or take the bus before any outreach and campaigning is done.
Based on the data, students will use graphing and statistical tools to consider and analyze the data.
We already know that air and air quality are important, but we don’t know exactly how bad the situation is at
your school, in your neighborhood, and in your community. Let’s get to work!
Standards:
• Math (3rd Grade): Measurement and Data - Reprsent and interpret data (MGSE3.MD.3)
• Math (4th & 5th Grade): Spiraled Review of Standard for Mathematical Practice 4: Model with Mathematics
• ELA: Reading, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (ELAGSE3RI7, 4RI7, 5RI7 & ELAGSE3RI8, 4RI8, 5RI8)
• ELA: Speaking and Listening, Comprehension and Collaboration (ELAGSE3SL4, 4SL4, 5SL4)
Teacher Guide and Background Information (Project Task 1)
LAUNCHING THE PROJECT
The teacher (you) introduces the concept of surveying, data collection, and tallying data. The goal of Task 1 is to
interest students in the idea of counting things, and representing the results graphically.
• Plinko Probability Simulation: https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/plinko-probability/plinko-probability_en.html
How does changing the size of the Plinko board affect the odds of landing in a given spot?
• 1940-2010 State by State: Key Comparisons between the Years:
http://www.census.gov/library/infographics/1940_census_comparison.html
SCAFFOLDING AND MANAGING THE DATA
The purpose of the survey is to figure out exactly how everyone is getting to school. Once you have the data
from the first survey, you and your class can plan how to purposefully and effectively persuade students, parents,
and teachers to try clean commute options.
Depending on your school and your students, you should decide how you should to gather the data. The
purpose of the Audit Tallies is to figure out how students are being dropped off in the morning and picked up in
the afternoon. The data will allow you and your class to evaluate traffic patterns, and come up with solutions on
how to improve air quality at your school.
Attention: Your class will eventually complete two Travel Tallies: one before Wheels Up Week, and one on
Thursday of Wheels Up Week.
Option 1: School Travel Tally: The “School Travel Tally” is the most comprehensive option. Students, under
the supervision of the teacher, will count students getting off the bus and out of cars during school arrival or
dismissal.
Option 2: Classroom Travel Tally: The “Classroom Travel Tally” collects the same data but in a more structured
style. Instead of counting every student getting out of a car or off a bus, the “Classroom Travel Tally” allows your
class to survey other classes in the school, one at a time. The Tally Survey can be distributed to classrooms and
collected. (Please see Classroom Travel Tally Survey, which can be found in the student handout section.)
Wheels Up
Section V: Activity Descriptions

PROJECT TASK 2: “WHEELS UP WEEK CAMPAIGN PLANNING”

How are we going to get other folks on board?
Students will carefully create a campaign that targets the three main populations at any school: peers, parents,
and teachers.
Within their groups, students will assign jobs and responsibilities. Additionally, students will consult the
differentiated choice menu to select campaign strategies that are aligned to areas of interest, strengths, and
population targets.
The most unique part of the Wheels Up learning opportunity is that students will get to collaborate with
industry experts at Georgia Commute Schools. Before Wheels Up Week, students will submit their Campaign
Plan to the Georgia Commute Schools team for feedback and critiquing. Students will also request campaign
supplies, such as posters, information pages, carpool hang tags, and promotional flyers.

Standards:
• ELA: Reading, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (ELAGSE3RI7 4RI7, 5RI7; ELAGSE3RI8 4RI8, 5RI8)
• ELA: Writing, Production and Distribution of Writing (ELAGSE3W4, 4W4, 5W4)
• ELA: Writing, Production and Distribution of Writing (ELAGSE3W5, 4W5, 5W5)
• ELA: Speaking and Listening, Comprehension and Collaboration (ELAGSE3SL4, 4SL4, 5SL4)

Teacher Guide (Project Task 2)

TEACHING SEQUENCE
1. Lead brainstorming session. (See questions below.)
2. Give student groups the opportunity to brainstorm about how to campaign at your school.
3. Student groups create a 5-minute presentation for what they want to do to help the group.
4. Come back together and share ideas.
5. Determine a plan for the class.
6. Request Materials.
LET’S GET YOU SOME SWAG TO FINISH THE JOB
You have created your campaign plan, and all you need is some materials to have a successful Wheels Up Week!
Georgia Commute Schools is here to help — just let us know what you need.
1. Download an Excel Request Form from GaCommuteOptions.com/Schools
2. Request items and posters that will help you coordinate your Wheels Up Week.
3. Send completed form to Schools@GaCommuteOptions.com

Teacher Guide: Discussion Questions for Class Brainstorming Session

BIG PICTURE IDEAS AND POTENTIAL FIRST STEPS

• How are people currently getting to school? Make sure you are looking at your Initial Travel Tally data. How
many people are taking the bus already? How many are walking? How do you get more people to start taking
public transportation, carpooling, or walking or riding their bike?
• Can you talk to the bus drivers or the transportation department at your school or district? Can you hang
posters in the buses?
Wheels Up
Section V: Activity Descriptions

• Who at the school wants to, or do you think should, carpool? How are you going to match them with potential
carpool buddies? Who should start walking or biking to school?
• How are you going to advertise or persuade them? Who do you know? Can you talk to everyone? Will you
have to hang posters? Make announcements? Pass out information cards?
• Do you want to organize a competition at your school? What will the winning class get? (Examples: pizza
party, smash a pie in the principal’s face.)

CONSIDER ORGANIZING AN EVENT

• Is there a PTA meeting coming up? Can you send some students to present to the parents then? Is there a
faculty meeting coming up? Can you send some students to present to the teachers?
• How about a big sports game or school event? Can you set up a table and pass out information about your
event?
• You might want to consider scheduling an evening meeting for parents to attend. Establish the ground rules
and back-up plans with parents beforehand, so there is no confusion later on. You will need to discuss sick
days, safety rules, rules surrounding kid behavior, and consequences for being late or absent. Suggest that
partners establish a way to confirm the coming week’s carpool schedule — for instance, with a weekly e-mail
reminder sent on Sundays.

WHEELS UP WEEK!

• When should we organize our Wheels Up Week? Be careful to check the school calendar and not schedule
the it during a busy week at the school. Stay away from report card time or the end of the semester.
Wheels Up
Section V: Activity Descriptions

PROJECT TASK 3: “WELCOME TO WHEELS UP WEEK”

It’s GO time? Let’s get the word out!
While there are four activities within the Wheels Up PBL Activity Kit, the culminating event for your students
and your school is Wheels Up Week.
Wheels Up Week is a five-day celebration of all the cleanest, greenest ways to get to school: bus riding,
carpooling, walking, and biking. And we want to help you get the word out! The Wheels Up PBL Activity Kit
is full of resources that provide your students with a uniquely authentic opportunity to consider and solve
real-world problems: air quality and traffic congestion. Upon completion, students will not only have thought
critically and planned collaboratively, but will have improved the air and sustainability in their school community.
The Activity Kit prepares students to maximize their impact during Wheels Up Week, and be able to mindfully
consider the success of the event through quantitative data analysis and qualitative growth-minded reflection.

Standards:
• Science: Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly (CS5)
• ELA: Writing, Production and Distribution of Writing (ELAGSE3W4, 4W4, 5W4)
• ELA: Writing, Production and Distribution of Writing (ELAGSE3W7, 4W7, 5W7)
• ELA: Speaking and Listening, Comprehension and Collaboration (ELAGSE3SL4, 4SL4, 5SL4)

PROJECT TASK 4: “COUNT IT AGAIN”

How many students and teachers started carpooling?
Students will conduct a graphical analysis to determine the success of their Wheels Up Week, using the Math
Extension: All Grades. Subsequently, 4th and 5th grade students will complete additional math extensions,
aligned to Geometry and Numbers & Operations Georgia Standards of Excellence. Students will see the real
world relevancy of the work they have just completed!
After using mathematical tools to analyze how many students changed their transportation patterns, students
will participate in a Reflection Process. Students will discuss what worked and what they would change for next
time. In addition, students will individually reflect upon their experiences, efforts, and what they learned during
the process.
This Project Task will prepare students to effectively educate and inform their community about the success of
Wheels Up Week.
Standards:
• Science: Students will use ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific matters (S6CS5)
• Math (4th Grade): Numbers and Operations - Fractions: Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and
ordering (MGSE4.NF.2)
• Math (5th Grade): Geometry - Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the
first quadrant (MGSE5.G.1 & MGSE5.G.2)
Wheels Up
Section V: Activity Descriptions

Teacher Guide (Project Task 4)

Use the same Tally Page to collect data on the Thursday of Wheels Up Week. Do the same procedure as you
did during the first tally last week. Look back to Activity 1 for directions and support.

ANSWER KEY - MATH ACTIVITIES

• 3RD GRADE - Graphs, dependent on unique school data

• 4TH GRADE
1) 1/2
2) 1/3
3) 1) Mr. Roberts (1/2 of his class or 12 students)
2) Ms. Allen (5/12 of her class or 10 students)
3) Ms. Johnson (1/3 of her class or 8 students)
T4) Ms. Thompson & Ms. Dantlzer’s class (1/4 of the class or 6 students)

• 5TH GRADE

2) The 150 bus riders are the most ever dismissed at one time. 3) At every other time, less than 150 students are dismissed.

4) At 2:45, there will be more students who have been dismissed than students left in the classroom. 5) We know this
because by 2:45, 50 walkers, 50 bike riders, 75 carpool riders, and 25 car riders (alone with family) will have been dismissed.
Those groups, when added together, equal 200, which is greater than the 150 remaining bus riders.

5) If the walkers and bike riders are held back, 100 students will remain in the school until 3:00.

PROJECT TASK 5: “TELL YOUR STORY”

What happened? What did you learn?
In the Let’s Make It Count activity, students apply their understanding of air quality and pollution to what’s
happening in their school community. The students will conduct a survey of how classes, grade levels, or the
entire student body gets to the school on a given day. By the end of the task, students will know how many
students walk, carpool, get dropped off alone, or take the bus before any outreach and campaigning is done.
Based on the data, students will use graphing and statistical tools to consider and analyze the data.
We already know that air and air quality are important, but we don’t know exactly how bad the situation is at
your school, in your neighborhood, and in your community. Let’s get to work!
Standards:
• Writing: Text Types and Purpose (ELAGSE3W2, 4W2, 5W2)
• Writing: Production and Distribution of Writing: (ELAGSE3W4, 4W4, 5W4; ELAGSE3W5, 4W5, 5W5)
• Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration: (ELAGSE3SL3, 4SL4, 5SL4)
STUDENT HANDOUT: aIR qUALITY FACTS
Name:
STEPS FOR SUCCESS:
1. Read the facts below and answer the questions that follow.
2. Underline facts that are most surprising or interesting to you.
3. Re-read the facts you underlined.
4. Pick the most surprising or interesting fact and put a star next to it.
5. Pick your favorite facts and use them on the poster sheet.

• Air pollution can make people sick. Polluted air can make it easier for people to get heart diseases or cancer.
When people breathe dirty or polluted air, their lungs don’t work well and it is hard to breathe, according to
scientists at UCLA.1

• Each gallon of gas used by a car, van or truck creates over 19 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution (CO2), which
is bad for the environment, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).2

• According to Safe Routes to School, in 1969, 50 percent of all kids in the U.S. walked to school. Today, less
than 15 percent do.3

• If your house is 10 miles from school and you take the bus, that bus ride costs your family $1200 each year.
Riding the bus is free for you and your family and costs $0.4

• School buses keep about 17.3 million cars off roads surrounding schools each year. When kids ride school
buses, America saves 2.3 billion gallons of fuel, 6 billion dollars, and 44.6 billion pounds of CO2 (Carbon
Dioxide) according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.5

• Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have told us that about half of all Georgians live in
areas with air that may not be healthy to breathe.6

• Humans pollute the air. Car, bus, and truck traffic; coal power plants; and off-road heavy-duty diesel machinery
pollute the air in Georgia cities more than any other human activities.

• All vehicle pollutants have dangerous effects on plants, animals, and humans. Pollutants from a vehicle’s
exhaust include soot particles, hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide
(CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Visit the EPA website (http://www3.epa.gov/airquality/peg_caa/elements.
html) to learn more!

• Driving to and from school contributes to “smog” in the air. Smog is visible air pollution that damages our
health and the environment. Smog is created when nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), and particulate matter (PM) mix with heat, often creating a visible fog or haze. Visit the EPA website
(http://www3.epa.gov/airquality/peg_caa/elements.html) to learn more!

• Each day, Georgians help to eliminate 1.1 million vehicle miles of travel by clean commuting to work and
school. That’s the same as circling the globe 56 times! This adds up to 550 tons less air pollution for us to
breathe.7

1 http://www.environment.ucla.edu/reportcard/article1700.html
2 http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=307&t=11
3 http://saferoutespartnership.org/healthy-communities/101/facts
4 http://georgiacommuteoptions.com/Save-Your-Commute/Commute-Calculator
5 http://www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov/staticfiles/tsm/PDF/schoolbus_safety3.pdf
6 http://www3.epa.gov/airquality/greenbk/ancl.html
7  Accordingto Georgia Commute Options research
air in atlanta poster
Name:

Students can use this poster page, or design their own poster on a blank sheet of paper.
What is Air?
A College Prep Reading (3rd Grade)
By Sky B. Clean, Georgia Commute Schools
In college, you will have to read about new ideas BEFORE class. This college-prep reading will get you thinking
about air and pollution in Atlanta BEFORE your teacher starts teaching about it. Start learning like a college
student!

STEPS FOR SUCCESS:

1. Read the article and answer the questions that follow on a separate sheet of paper.
2. Underline the information that is new or interesting to you.
Air is an invisible mixture of different gases, which all land animals and plants breathe. Air is
made of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and less than 1% of argon, carbon dioxide, and
other gases, as well as varying amounts of water vapor, according to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. Water vapor is just liquid water that has been heated by the sun
and has evaporated into the air during the water cycle.
What is Air Quality?
Air can be clean or dirty, just like water. Air Quality describes how clean the air is. When there is
less pollution in the air, the air quality is better and more healthy to breathe.
How is Riding the Bus Helpful?
If you ride the bus to school, you ride with other students. If no one rode the bus to school,
there would be a lot more cars on the road. When there are more cars on the road, there is
more pollution. So, when you ride the bus, you help keep the air clean.

The image below shows how this can have a positive impact on your environment, health, and
wallet. School buses keep an estimated 17.3 million cars off the roads every year. If you lined
those cars up end to end, they would circle Earth about twice, according to the American
School Bus Council.

EVERY SCHOOL BUS

EQUALS 36 CARS

FOR A NATIONAL 2.3 BILLION 6.0 BILLION 44.6 BILLION

SAVINGS OF GALLONS OF FUEL DOLLARS POUNDS OF CO2

Page 1 of 2
What is Air?
What is Carpooling?
Carpooling means that people from more than one family share a ride. It is a good way to
improve air quality, as well as save time and money. The effects of carpooling can add up
fast, especially if you carpool regularly. Yes, small individual changes can make a big impact!
Carpooling isn’t as good for the air as riding the bus or walking, but it is better than everyone
riding alone to school with their parents.
Why Should I Walk or Ride my Bike to School?
Carpooling and riding the bus are both great ways to reduce air pollution, but walking or
riding your bike is the cleanest way to get to school! That’s because walking and biking are
completely pollution-free.
When you walk, bike, carpool, or take the bus, you improve the air quality and you breathe
cleaner air. But you don’t just help yourself! You make the air cleaner for everyone who goes
to school with you, your family, and the entire city around your school. You make the world a
better place to live!
How Does Not Idling Help?
Does your mom or dad ever leave the car running when the car isn’t moving? “Idling” happens
when the engine is on, but the car isn’t going anywhere. Idling wastes a lot of gas and adds a
lot of pollution to the air.
Breathing in all that pollution can actually damage your brain cells. This is an easy problem to
fix; all you have to do is make sure the car is turned off when you will be stopped for more than
10 seconds!

REFLECTION QUESTIONS (REMEMBER TO CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE)

1. What is the air made of?

2. Which is better for the air: if everyone rides the bus, or if everyone carpools to school?
Why?

3. When you walk or ride the bus, you will breathe cleaner air. Who else do you help?

4. Why should your parents turn off the car while waiting in the carpool line?

5. What is one question you still have about air quality or air pollution?

Page 2 of 2
Can acid rain Kill Animals?
A College Prep Reading (4th Grade)
By Sky B. Clean, Georgia Commute Schools
In college, you will have to read about new ideas BEFORE class. This college-prep reading will get you thinking
about air pollution and acid rain BEFORE your teacher starts teaching about it. Start learning like a college
student!

STEPS FOR SUCCESS:

1. Read the article and answer the questions that follow on a separate sheet of paper.
2. Underline the information that is new or interesting to you.

What is Acid Rain?

Acid rain is any type of precipitation with large amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. Sometimes
when volcanoes erupt, they put chemicals into the atmosphere that can cause acid rain. Volcanic
eruptions are rare. Today, acid rain happens because of human pollution.
The biggest cause of pollution and acid rain is the burning of fossil fuels by power plants,
factories, and automobiles. In the United States, there are more than 255 million cars, trucks,
buses, and motorcycles on the road in 2013, according to the United States Department of
Transportation.1
How Does Air Pollution Turn into Acid Rain?
When humans drive cars and burn fossil fuels, Sulfer Dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)
are released into the atmosphere. Next, these chemical gases react with water and oxygen
and enter the water cycle. Winds blow these acidic mixtures across the atmosphere and over
hundreds of miles. When the acid rain returns to Earth, it flows across the surface as runoff
water, enters lakes and rivers, and sinks into the soil.
None of this is good. But can acid rain actually cause plants and animals to die or go extinct?
Songbirds and Snails in the Netherlands2
In the Netherlands, songbirds lay eggs to give birth. Usually, 10% of eggs laid by a songbird
never hatch because their shells are too thin and break too easily. This is normal. These eggs
that don’t hatch are called defective.
Some parts of the Netherlands have a lot of acid rain. In these acid rain areas, 40% of songbird
eggs are too thin and are defective. In the acid rain areas, more songbird eggs never hatch and
there are less songbirds. What is the connection between acid rain and songbirds?
Songbird eggs are connected to acid rain by the food chain!

1. http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_11.html
2. http://www.carnegiemnh.org/science/mollusks/forestcalcium.html
Can acid rain Kill animals?
When acid rain flows into the soil, it mixes with the soil. The acid rain pulls calcium out of the
soil and carries it to a nearby lake or river.
What does this have to do with songbirds and eggs?
Snails live in the so,il and snails eat dirt to get calcium to make their shells thick and strong.
When the calcium is carried away by the acid rain, the snails die because their shells are not
strong enough. Songbirds eat snails as a main part of their diet.
When snails die, adult songbirds survive by changing their diet and eating more spiders. Spiders
don’t provide enough calcium for the songbirds to lay eggs with strong shells. Without the
calcium, the songbird egg shells are too thin and won’t hatch into baby songbids.
Acid rain takes away calcium, the food source for snails. So, snails in the Netherlands die.
Songbirds usually eat the snails as a main part of their diet. After the snails die, the songbirds
has to change their diet because acid rain has killed their main source of food. The songbirds’
new diet doesn’t have enough calcium. Songbird eggs are now weak and defective.
So, acid rain causes baby songbirds to die. Acid rain decreases the songbird population and
could lead to extinction!

REFLECTION QUESTIONS (REMEMBER TO CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE)

1. What is acid rain? (answer 1-4 on a separate sheet of paper)
2. How does air pollution from automobiles cause acid rain?
3. What was the first animal that was affected by acid rain in the Netherlands?
4. Why did songbird eggs not hatch in the Netherlands?
5. Use the diagram below to draw and label the snails, birds, spiders, and calcium.
6. In the diagram, use arrows to show the food chain processes.
(example: rabbit grass)

soil

groundwater
Is Car Exhuast A Chemical Reaction?
A College Prep Reading (5th Grade) Name:
By Sky B. Clean, Georgia Commute Schools
In college, you will have to read about new ideas BEFORE class. This college-prep reading will get you thinking
about air and pollution in Atlanta BEFORE your teacher starts teaching about it. Start learning like a college
student!

STEPS FOR SUCCESS:

1. Read the article and answer the questions that follow on a separate sheet of paper.
2. Underline the information that is new or interesting to you.

A chemical reaction is a process that changes some substances into different substances.
A chemical reaction can be shown by a general equation:

Reactants Products

The arrow ( ) shows the direction of the reaction. A chemical reaction always begins
with a group of reactants and the reaction ends when the reactants have been completely
changed into the products. A reaction can happen very slowly or very quickly. A piece of pa-
per can burn in seconds, but an old wheelbarrow can take years to rust. Both are examples of
chemical reactions.

After school today, pretend that you go home and tell your younger neighbor, Peter, about
what you learned about chemical reactions. Peter is just 7 years old and he rips a piece of
paper into 10 smaller pieces. Peter looks up and smiles. He says, “Look! I made a chemical
reaction.”

1) Is Peter correct? When he ripped up a piece of paper into smaller pieces, did a
chemical reaction happen?

No – unfortunately, Peter is not correct. When you rip a piece of paper, it is a physical
change. In a chemical change, the bonds that hold atoms and molecules together break and
new products are formed. Peter didn’t break any chemical bonds when he ripped the paper.

How can you tell whether a change involves a chemical reaction? Just like a detective, you
can look for evidence. There are four major pieces of evidence to look for:

1) a change in color
2) a change in smell
3) a change in temperature
4) the creation of a gas
Is Car Exhuast A Chemical Reaction?
Now, we know that ripping paper is not a chemical change. Let’s try another example: When
your mom or dad drives a car, does a chemical reaction happen?

When your parent presses on the gas pedal, oxygen from the air is mixed with the gasoline
from the gas tank. This gas and Oxygen (O2) mixture is squeezed tight and compressed.
When a spark is added, it explodes and produces energy. It also produces new chemical
products, mostly Water Vapor (H20) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Sometimes other dangerous
gases, like Nitrogen Oxide (NO2) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), are also produced.

2) Why is an engine burning gasoline an example of a chemical reaction, but rip-

ping a piece of paper is not a chemical reaction?
travel tally sheet #1
Students will be able to track how students arrive at school by counting the number of students who arrive or
leave school by riding the bus, walking, biking, or carpooling. Students will be split into teams and posted at
safe locations around the outside of the school building. Ensure that students are not duplicating who they are
counting.

BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:
School Name:

Teacher Name:

Grade Level:

Number of Students in your Class:

Date:

Day of the Week:

Circle one: Baseline survey | Follow-up Survey

Circle one: Morning arrival | Afternoon Dismissal

Weather Conditions:

Additional Observations (optional):

STEPS FOR SUCCESS:

1. Pick two days during the same week to conduct your Baseline Travel Tallies. The days must be a Tuesday,
Wednesday, or Thursday. You will collect data for morning arrival and afternoon dismissal on both days.
Remember: your Follow-Up Travel Tally must take place during the same time of the day.
2. Complete the Background Questions (above).
3. Split your class or group into committees or teams (bus riders, car riders, carpoolers, walkers, bikers, and
public transit).
4. When a kid arrives at school, mark a tally (a check mark or slash) in the correct box.
5. Total all of the tally boxes and fill out the chart at the bottom of the Travel Tally Sheet #1.

Example:
Carpool to School Tally Box
Mark one slash for every student
who carpooled to school
Carpool to School 7 students

Page 1 of 2
travel tally sheet #1
Students Count During Arrival or Dismissal
Check One: _____ Arrival (AM) _____ Dismissal (PM).
Remember to complete a tally each morning and afternoon for two days.

School Bus
Number of Students Walkers Tally Box
Number
Mark one slash for every student
who walked to school

Car Rider (alone) Tally Box

Mark one slash for every student who rode
to school alone, or just with family

Carpool to School Tally Box

Bike to School Tally Box Mark one slash for every student
Mark one slash for every student who carpooled to school
who rode a bike to school

Number of Students Transit to School Tally Box

Transportation Mode Mark one slash for every student
(total)
who rode public transportation (like
School bus MARTA) to school
Car ride (alone)
Walk
Carpool
Bike
MARTA
Page 2 of 2
travel tally sheet #2
Students will be able to track how students arrive at school by surveying classes in the building. Students will ask
students in other classes to participate in a 2-minute survey: “How did you get to school today?”

BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:
School Name:

Teacher Name:

Grade Level:

Date:

Day of the Week:

Circle one: Baseline survey | Follow-up Survey

Circle one: Morning arrival | Afternoon Dismissal

Weather Conditions:

Additional Observations (optional):

STEPS FOR SUCCESS:

1. Pick two days during the same week to conduct your Baseline Travel Tallies. The days must be a Tuesday,
Wednesday, or Thursday. You will collect data for morning arrival and afternoon dismissal on both days.
2. Complete the Background Questions (above).
3. Work with your teacher and other teachers in the building to get permission to visit all of the classes in the
building to conduct your 2-minute survey.
4. Practice and edit your script. An example script might look like this:
• “Hello! My name is Chris and I am in Ms. Allen’s class. We are trying to keep everyone safe and clean
the air around the school. Does your class have time to participate in a 2 minute survey?”
• “How did you get to school today, and how do you plan to get home at the end of the day?”
• “Raise your hand if you rode the bus to school today.”
• “Raise your hand if you walked to school today.”
• “Raise your hand if you rode a bike to school today.”
• “Raise your hand if you carpooled to school today.”
• “Raise your hand if you rode alone with your parent or family member to school today.”
• “Raise your hand if you rode public transit to school today.”
5. Record your results on the Travel Tally Sheet #2. Ask the same questions for the morning trip to school.
6. Total up all of the tally boxes and fill out the chart at the bottom of the Travel Tally Sheet.
7. See below for an example of how the Travel Tally Sheet #2 should be completed:
Alone in
Teacher AM or
Bus Walk Bike Carpool family
Name PM?
vehicle

AM 14 3 1 4 4
Ms. Allen
PM 12 3 1 4 6
Page 1 of 2
travel tally sheet #2
Public transit
Teacher AM or Alone in
Bus Walked Bike Carpool (MARTA) to
Name PM? family vehicle
school

TOTAL

If more than 10 classes are being surveyed, do not complete the total page on every page. Only complete on
the final sheet for all classes surveyed.

Page 2 of 2
student transportation bar graph
Name:

Directions: Graph how all of the students get to school. If you haven’t done your mode count, form a hypothesis
and graph your hypothesis. Fill in your function table first. Label your axis. Set a scale for your graph. Make a key
for the colors on the bar graph.

Function Table Key
X (type of transportation) Y (number of students) Type Color
Rode bus Rode bus
Car rider (alone) Car rider (alone)
Car rider (carpool)
Car rider (carpool)
Walk or bike
Public transit Walk or bike
student handout: Advocacy campaigning
A Beginner’s Guide to Advocacy: How You Build an Advocacy Campaign in your Community
By: Joe Fuld, President - The Campaign Workshop

Advocacy is empowering for anyone, at any age, but don’t take my word for it. Here are three great advocacy
campaigns run by young people:

www.MalalaFund.org
www.KidsEcoClub.org
www.AlexsLemonadeStand.org

As we have seen, both globally and locally, the best advocates for change are people who can show the need for
change — no matter their age. If you are thinking of working in advocacy, here are some tips to get you started,
whatever your age may be.
Understand the change you want. Is it getting more people to take public transportation? Preventing childhood
obesity? No matter the issue, knowing what you would like to see changed and being able to articulate it is half
the battle. Many people just can’t say what the problem is and how they would fix it. Try to do that in ten words
or less.
Don’t wait. Waiting for other people to do something about it is a bad idea. Waiting is detrimental to action.
Think of the verbal and emotional barriers people create around change. You will hear them say things like:
• “Oh, that is a good idea, but we don’t have the money to do that.” Financial hurdles are big, but money is
available if people really want change. Your job is to make that case.
• “Someone else is already working on that.” Are they really working on it, or is that an excuse? Don’t take
someone else’s word for it, do some research for yourself. And a good cause needs as many people behind
it as possible.
• “We have always done it this way.” Yes, and this is why we still have a problem. Be respectful, but make the
case for why this needs to happen a different way.
• “That is inconvenient.” Yes, change is inconvenient. Car-pooling or taking the bus is harder than driving
alone, but if we don’t change our behavior now, our planet and our health will continue to suffer.
• “We are already doing that.” Someone may be doing something, but it may not be the way you want to do
it (and it may not be the best way to do it). Find out why the problem still exists and keep pushing for the real
change you need.

Be genuine. Use language that connects with your audience, and know who your audience is. Think about who
the real messengers are for the issue, and why their story would resonate with people.
Be creative. Poster contests, social media, videos, and letters can all be effective ways to capture people’s
attention. There is no limit to what you can imagine, and sometimes the wackier stuff gets noticed.
Don’t take “no” for an answer. People will say “no” because something is inconvenient or different, but don’t
let that discourage you. This is the normal process of creating change.
Invest for the long haul. A tactic for many elected officials is to wait people out and hope they will go away. If
you ask for a 4-way stop sign, authorities may ask you for petitions from the community to show broad support.
When you show up with 50 signed petitions, they may ask you for 50 more petitions, hoping that you will give up
and stop bugging them. If you keep at it, sooner or later you will likely get your way. It won’t be instant, and you
have to stick with it. Real change is not easy.

Page 1 of 2
student handout: Advocacy campaigning
A Beginner’s Guide to Advocacy: How you Build an Advocacy Campaign in your Community
By: Joe Fuld, President - The Campaign Workshop

Build a coalition. Find others who feel the way you do and want the change you want. To build the coalition, you
may have to explain to people why this change will be good for them.
Use social pressure. Explain to people how others have done similar things in the past to effect change, or
how great things happened elsewhere when they employed a similar strategy. You could even encourage your
supporters to involve their friends and family.
Hold people accountable. A big part of advocacy is accountability. Just because someone says they will do
something does not mean they will do it or do it the way you want. Hold people accountable until the change
you want is made in the way you want. You may have to compromise a little, but the battle isn’t over when you
get a “yes” from someone — it’s only over when change is made.
So, let’s recap:

ADVOCACY DO’S:
Understand the change you want.
Be genuine.
Be creative.
Invest for the long haul.
Build a coalition.
Use social pressure.
Hold people accountable.

ADVOCACY DON’TS:
Don’t take “no” for answer.
(Don’t take “yes” for an answer either!)
Don’t wait.
Don’t break the law.
Don’t give up!
Enjoy your advocacy work. You are making the world better by taking constructive action. You can check out
other advocacy resources here.

About the Author: Joe Fuld is the president of The Campaign Workshop; a Washington, DC-based political
advertising and consulting firm. He is the co-author of four eBooks on campaign and advocacy tactics.

Page 2 of 2
student handout: group planning
Name:

Goal setting is an important part of any business or academic activity. Athletes are famous for setting goals,
too. You set academic goals for yourself, and your teacher probably sets goals for his or her classes. When you
graduate high school, you may set a goal for grades in college. Businessmen and businesswomen set goals all
the time.
The right goals stretch you beyond your normal self and help you reach new heights.
TWO GOAL “POSTS”

1. The best goals have numbers! How many new carpools do you want? Look at your data and set a goal
that has numbers attached to it. Some schools have been able to get 95% of the kids riding the bus during
Wheels Up Week!
2. Goals should be written clearly, and agreed upon before starting the Wheels Up Campaign. Make sure your
goals are easy to understand and easy to explain to a student, parent, and teacher.
List your goals for this project:
1.

2.

3.

Now that you have your goals set, assign team roles for the work. Your teacher has already assigned groups. Now
it is time for your group to work together and pick jobs or roles.

Group Leader/Editor: This person leads discussions and is the only one who can ask a question of the teacher.
Time Keeper: He/she holds the stopwatch, keeps the group on task, and is responsible for calendar and due dates.
Spokesperson/Press Secretary/Webmaster: This person is responsible for the technical details of the final
product and would be ready to summarize the group’s progress and findings to the instructor and to other
groups.
Recorder/Secretary: This person takes notes whenever the group meets and keeps track of group data/sources/
etc. This person distributes these notes to the rest of the group highlighting sections and tasks relevant for each
group member’s parts of the project.
Encourager/Networker: He/she is in charge of communication within the group; monitors other team members;
praises and affirms good work.

Team Member Role Name

collaboration rubric for pbl
Below Expectations (1)
I Do My • I need reminders to help my
Part to group
Help the • My project work is not done
Group on time
• I usually ignore what other
people in my group try to tell
meI don’t listen well
I Help the • I need to do a better job of
Group working well with others
Every Day • I need to learn how to give
others helpful advice and
feedback
• I need to learn to offer help
when others need it
I Respect • I am somtimes unkind
Everyone • I may interrupt or say mean
All of the things when I disagree
Time • I need to do a better job
listening to others
For grades 6-8; Common Core and ELA Aligned
Approaching Expectations (2)
• I do some of my work, but
sometimes need to be reminded to
help my group finish our work
• I complete most project work on
time
• I sometimes listen to others
• I sometimes ignore what others tell
me
• I work well with others, but when
there is a problem I don’t help solve
it
• I try to give feedback and advice,
but it isn’t always helpful or kind
• I sometimes offer to help but
sometimes I get in the way of
someone else working hard
• I am usually kind to pepole in my
group
• I usually listen to other people, but I
don’t listen if I disagree with them
At Expectations (3) Exceeds
• I do project work without having
to be reminded
• I complete project work on time,
but I don’t show-off
• I listen to what others tell me in
order to improve my work
• I help the team solve problems
• I give helpful feedback to others
• I offer to help others, but only
hwen they need the help
• I am kind to other people in my
group.
• I always listen to others, even if I
disagree with them
• I always ask nicely to borrow
materials
student handout: campaign choice board
Your group should select at least three (3) activities per box. If you are an All Star Team, select five (5) from each
box. Superstar teams pick twenty (20) activities, total. Make sure you have AT LEAST one activity for each target
audience (in parentheses) in every box. If students are unfamiliar with their learning styles, find out how they
learn best at http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml
Highlight or underline activities that your group has decided to do.

Auditory • Set up a table at lunch and pass out stickers, Bus Rider Cards, or Carpool Cards.
• Write a short speech that you can deliver at lunch, or over the morning announcements.
Total number of
activities: • Visit classrooms and give a 5-minute presentation. Educate your peers about air quality,
pollution, human and environmental health, and clean commuting. Educating your peers
creates interest and support, which they in turn can share with their community.
• Survey students and faculty/staff about why they ride the bus, carpool, walk, bike, or ride
alone (or with their parents) to and from school.
• Make up a short song or rap about air quality and clean commuting. This can be performed
to an already established tune or beat, or you can create your own!
• Write and recite a poem about air quality and clean commuting.
• Attend a faculty meeting to share the results of the initial survey, explaining how poor air
quality impacts human health and the environment.
• Educate teachers about incentive systems. Teachers can earn money for carpooling! See
the Georgia Commute Options website for information.
• Attend a PTA meeting to share the results of the initial survey, explaining how poor air
quality impacts human health and the environment.
Visual • Design a flier for Wheels Up Week that is unique to your school. Maybe it has your school
name or logo that integrates a Georgia Commute Schools slogan like “Wheels Up.”
Total number of
• Create a poster or flyer and hang it up. Ask your teacher or parent to help you make
activities:
copies.
• Create a clean commuting poster competition for the art class or grade level. Hang the
top 3 winners up in the school.
• Write an article for the school newsletter and website.
• Write an article for the local newspaper and submit it to the publication.
• See if your principal will let you use the School Social Media Account on Twitter for the
week to tweet about clean commuting.
• Design a bookmark, magnet, coloring sheet, comic, or door hanger that can be given
out.
• Construct a “finish line” in a main hallway. When a student walks or bikes to school, let him
or her color a sneakers poster and post on the wall to track progress. This is an excellent
reminder of how far you still have to go in relation to your goal. (Sneaker poster template
can be downloaded from the Georgia Commute Schools Sneaker Design Contest link.
Every student who walks or bikes gets a a sneaker to decorate. Can you “race” all of the
way around your building?)
• Create posters that are unique for your favorite teachers. “Even English Teachers Know
That 1 Car is Less Than 2.”
• Get together with your sponsor teacher and write an email that will get sent out to the
entire staff and parents promoting clean commuting.
• Design a door hanger that can be hung from teachers’ doors.
• Organize a Door Decoration Contest for Teachers.
The best looking door wins a prize.

Page 1 of 3
student handout: campaign choice board
Kinesthetic/ • Write and perform a skit or song about the effects of poor air quality on the school TV
Tactile station, during lunch, or at a PTA meeting.
• Partner with a visual student. Help hang posters all around the school. Hang banners.
Total number of
Make sure that everyone knows it is Wheels Up Week.
activities:
• Post bus schedules, sidewalk/crosswalk maps, directions for carpool lines, or other
resources around the school or on the website.
• Pass out carpooling or bus rider stickers for participating students as they get off the bus
or out of the carpool line.
• Host a meet-and-greet for students and parents to meet potential carpool partners, bus
drivers, or walking schools bus buddies. Ask the team at Georgia Commute Schools how
to get a DOT map so people can know who potential carpool partners are. Make sure
to discuss ground rules for carpooling and back-up plans, along with bus and walk/bike
safety.
• Initiate a walking school bus in the neighborhoods next to your school.
• Encourage parents in the car rider to sign no-idling pledge cards and hang them up on
a wall in the school.
• If possible, set up an express lane for carpoolers.
• Hold a bus driver appreciation day. Have your peers write thank you notes or give
homemade goodies to their bus drivers. Encourage everyone to wear yellow to represent
your appreciation! Is it hot or cold? Why not bring some cold lemonade or hot chocolate
to the bus driver?
• Pass out carpool stickers for participating teachers.
• Organize a “Carpools are Cool” event. Offer coffee to drivers right after the carpools
drop off kids in the morning or teachers arrive together.
• Pass out rearview mirror hangtags for carpooling parents. Hand out carpooling information
fliers for all parents. (Email schools@GaCommuteOptions.com to request supplies.)

Want to be one of the best schools in Atlanta? Organize one or more of these School Wide Events to go along
with your Wheels Up Week. How can you make sure that Wheels Up Week at YOUR school is the most
fun ever?!
1. Turn it into a game or a competition! Hold a Clean Commute Challenge!
• Create a Clean Commute Hall of Fame: Have all clean commuting students write their names on the
symbols and hang them down the hallway to create a Clean Commute Hall of Fame. (Have carpool
buddies write their names on the same car symbol.)
• Create an All Star Selection Event on Friday: At week’s end, celebrate your results! Report the number
of clean commuters and clean commute modes during morning announcements.
2. Use the Punch Cards to track daily commute choices and create a raffle with them at the end of the week!
• Using the Punch Cards in this toolkit, have students and faculty/staff track their commutes every day.
You can even get classes in on the act by having them log their commutes as a group and report their
results. Try competing against the faculty/staff to see who has the biggest percent increase in clean
commuting! Announce the winners at the end of the week!
3. Give away prizes to the winners!

Page 2 of 3
student handout: campaign choice board
• School Privileges: Prizes could be Principal’s assistant for the day, first person in line for lunch, or
morning news anchor. What’s special at your school?
• School Events: Offer free tickets to school events (plays, athletic events) as prizes. This will get Clean
Commute Challenge winners supporting the school as well!
• School Fundraiser Items: Support school programs by purchasing fundraising items to give as
challenge prizes. Collaborate with your PTA — you may even be able to purchase items at wholesale
prices!
• Small Rewards: Offer rewards to students who clean commute to school such as stickers, pencils,
erasers, etc. Even the smallest token can be really special!
• Homemade Treat: Kids love treats — anytime! Fresh fruit. Cookies. Popsicles. Whatever strikes your
fancy and works for you and your PTA room parents.

Page 3 of 3
parent carpooling survey

Dear Parents,
I am excited to announce that our class and our school have decided to partner with Georgia Commute Schools,
a program of Georgia Department of Transportation that helps teachers, parents, and students find a better way
to school or work while saving money and the environment.
We are putting your children in the driver’s seat — giving them the chance to solve real world problems, improve
the air quality, and reduce traffic in their community. Are you willing to help your child and our school reduce
traffic and improve air quality?
Take the first step and take this survey online:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CarpoolingParents

Thanks! From the clean commute classroom of

____________________________________.

parent carpooling survey

Dear Parents,
I am excited to announce that our class and our school have decided to partner with Georgia Commute Schools,
a program of Georgia Department of Transportation that helps teachers, parents, and students find a better way
to school or work while saving money and the environment.
We are putting your children in the driver’s seat — giving them the chance to solve real world problems, improve
the air quality, and reduce traffic in their community. Are you willing to help your child and our school reduce
traffic and improve air quality?
Take the first step and take this survey online:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CarpoolingParents

Thanks! From the clean commute classroom of

____________________________________.
Math Extension: All Grades

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________
Measurement and Data MGSE3.MD.3 (Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set)

Directions: Graph how all of the students get to school. If you haven’t done your mode count, form a hypothesis
and graph your hypothesis. Fill in your function table first. Label your axis. Set a scale for your graph. Make a key
for the colors on the bar graph.

Function Table
X (type of transportation) Y (number of students - baseline) Y (number of students - follow-up)

Rode bus

Car rider (alone)
Car rider (carpool)
Walk or bike
Public transit

Key
Type Color
Baseline
Follow-Up

Page 2 of 2
 I can only get some of
the numbers to convert

Math Extension: 4th Grade to fractions ....

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

Numbers and Operations - Fractions MGSE4.NF.2 (Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering)

At Wheels Up Elementary, there are 5 4th grade classrooms. Each class has 24 students. At Wheels Up
Elementary, students get to school in one of five ways. In every class, some students walk, bike, ride the bus,
ride alone with a parent, or carpool with another family.

Ride Alone Carpool

Teacher Walk Bike Bus
with Parent
6 = 1/4 of the
Mr. Roberts 3= 2= 12 = 1=
class

1) Rewrite each group of students in Mr. Roberts’ class as a fraction. For example, you could say that 6 students
in Mr. Roberts’ class carpool to school or you could say that 1/4 of the class carpools to school.

Ride Alone Carpool

Teacher Walk Bike Bus
with Parent
Mr. Roberts 3 2 12 1 6
Ms. Johnson 1/4 1/8 1/12 1/6
2) Let’s look at Ms. Johnson’s class and how they get to school. 1/4 of the students walk, 1/8 of the students bike,
1/12 ride alone with a parent, and 1/6 carpool to school. What fraction of Ms. Johnson’s class rides the bus to
school? Show how you figured out the answer.

Ride Alone Carpool

Teacher Walk Bike Bus
with Parent
Mr. Roberts 3= 2= 12 = 1= 6=
Ms. Johnson 1/4 1/8 1/12 1/6
Ms. Allen 1/6 1/12 5/12 1/4 1/12
Ms. Dantzler 1/3 1/4 1/4 1/6 0/24
Ms. Thompson 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/8 1/8
3) Fill in your answers from #1 to show the fraction values for Mr. Roberts’ class. Fill in your answer from #2 to
show the fraction value for how much of Ms. Johnson’s class rides the bus to school.
One day, all of the school buses had a flat tire 5 miles away from the school. Rank the classes from the greatest
to the least, based on how many students would not have a ride home on that day.
Math Extension: 5th Grade
Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________
Fifth Grade: Geometry MGSE5.G.1 & MGSE5.G.2 (Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first
quadrant)

Every day at Wheels Up Elementary, students leave school using a dismissal schedule. 350 students
attend the school and must be dismissed at the end of the day. The table shows the dismissal sched-
ule of announcements over the loudspeaker.

Announcement Time # of students left in classrooms

Afternoon announcements 2:25 350
Walkers are dismissed 2:30 300
Bike Riders are dismissed 2:35 250
Carpools are dismissed 2:40 175
Car Riders (alone with family) are dismissed 2:45 150
Bus Riders are dismissed 2:50 0
1) Finish labeling the axis and plot the points on the coordinate plane.
Number of students left in classrooms

100

50

0
2:20 2:25

Time
Page 1 of 2
Math Extension: 5th Grade
(Answer on a separate sheet of paper)
2) At what time are the most number of students being dismissed at the same time?

3) Explain how you figured this out.

4) At what time are there more students that are out of classrooms than there students left in class-
rooms?

5) Explain how you figured this out.

6) On a very rainy day, the school decides not to dismiss walkers and bike riders until the rain stops.
The rain is supposed to stop at 3:00. How many students are going to be held in classrooms until
3:00?

7) Create a new graph to show how students are dismissed on this rainy day.
Number of students left in classrooms

100

50

2:20 2:25

Time
Page 2 of 2
student handout: Reflection Guide
Name: _________________________ Date: _________________

1. Who were the team members or classmates that you worked with to complete this project?

2. What is the Problem that you worked to solve?

3. Why is this Problem important for your school and the community?

4. What campaign activities did you choose to do? Why?

5. Did your campaign “work”? How do you know if it did or didn’t “work”? (Look back at your graph and think
about the slopes you calculated.)

6. What are 2-3 things that you learned about air, air quality, or carpooling at your school during the project?

Answer the following questions so that you can be a better team member next time:
7. What did you enjoy about the project?

8. What did you do well during the project?

9. What was difficult or not enjoyable about the project?

10. What could you do better during the next project?

Public Product - Instructions
Name:

Criteria For Success: Communicate the success of Wheels Up Week to the School Community through a public
service announcement, newspaper article, blog post, or a visual aid.

• Public Service Announcement: You will write the script for a public service announcement (PSA) that can
be used for radio, in classrooms or school announcements. Announcements should be between 1-3 minutes
when spoken aloud. That is between 100 and 300 words (two pages, typed double spaced). Turn in your PSA
in a few ways: typed, spoken aloud and recorded visually or audibly, or present to the class.
• Newspaper Article or Blog Post: You will write an article or post that can be used on a website, newsletter,
or media outlet. Articles should be 1-2 pages double spaced (250-500 words). Turn in your newspaper article
or blog post typed and printed to your teacher first. Teachers can submit to be eligible for recognition and
feedback from industry experts via email to schools@gacommuteoptions.com.
• Visual Aid, explained: Create a poster (or PowerPoint/Prezi) visual aid that communicates the success of
Wheels Up Week through images, graphs, and a written explanation. Turn in your Visual Aid on a poster
board or tri-fold board. Or, if created digitally, present to the class or email to the teacher.

3 2 1
Main Idea Main idea is clear and There is a message, but is not There is no main idea, or it
focused throughout consistent. Message is not clear is unclear.
video. or easy to understand.
Content Accurate, and supported May contain factual information Not accurate or reliable.
with facts. Textual but is not supported. Statements False.
evidence is cited. are not cited or supported by
facts.
Social Benefit All ideas apply to the Project applies to lives of the Project does not help the
(Helps the school community school community but the school community
School and it helps everyone problem and solution are not
Community) understand the problem clearly stated.
and the solution
Creativity and Engages the audience Includes interesting ways of Lacks any creativity or use
Originality with imaginative design presenting an main idea but of imagination.
elements that enhance without a lot of creativity or
the original idea and imagination.
message.

• Main Idea: Construct and communicate a clear message to their school community.

• Content: Report and discuss the success of Wheels Up Week in a fact-based, data-driven way.

• Social Benefit (Helps the School Community): Propose next steps for the community to continue to improve
air quality and reduce traffic through bus riding, carpooling, biking, and walking to school.

• Creativity and Originality: Find a unique way to tell your story.