Choose an EV

Core competencies

Communication

• Communicating

Thinking

• Critical and reflecting thinking

Personal and Social

• Social awareness and responsibility

Science 10, 11, 12

Big ideas

• Energy is conserved and its transformation can affect living things and the environment. (Science 10)
• Scientific understanding enables humans to respond and adapt to changes locally and globally. (Science for Citizens 11)
• Living sustainably supports the well-being of self, community and Earth. (Environmental Science 12)
• Human activities cause changes in the global climate system. (Environmental Science 12)

Content

• Impacts of energy transformations from technologies (Science 10)
• Actions and decisions affecting the environment (Science for Citizens 11)
• Beneficial scientific innovations (Science for Citizens 11)
• Personal choices and sustainable living (Environmental Science 12)

Curricular competencies 

Questioning and predicting

• Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal, local or global interest

Planning and conducting

• Collaboratively and individually plan, select and use appropriate investigation methods to collect reliable data

Evaluating

• Demonstrate an awareness of assumptions, question information given and identify bias in their own work and in primary and secondary sources

Communicating

• Communicate scientific ideas, information and suggested course of action for a specific purpose and audience

Assessments

• Assess students’ ability to listen, share ideas and stay on topic in paired or group work.
• Assess students’ ability to plan how to collect data and information, analyze and evaluate the information and choose an EV.   
• Assess students’ understanding of how EVs impact the environment in paired and class discussions.

Electric vehicles

Transportation, through the burning of fossil fuels, is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, governments are moving towards clean renewable energy sources for transportation. By 2040, all new light trucks and car sales will be zero-emission vehicles in Canada. Electric vehicles reduce carbon emissions, as well as maintenance due to fewer moving parts and fuel costs. In B.C., 97 per cent of our electricity is generated from a clean renewable energy source. Barriers to buying an electric vehicle include the initial cost and range, or distance you can travel, on a charge. Innovation and new technologies are continually improving battery storage and EVs are able to travel greater and greater distances. See BC Hydro and PlugInBC for more information.

Clean renewable energy sources

Choosing renewable energy sources helps reduce the impact of our energy use on the environment. In B.C., 97 per cent of electricity is generated from water, a clean and renewable source. Burning fossil fuels for transportation releases greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide into the environment that had previously been trapped underground. 

Evaluating online sources 

When evaluating online sources, students should think about:

• Is the information accurate? Is it fact or opinion?
• Who has written the information? Are they qualified? Are they being influenced to say specific things?
• Is the information biased? Is it trying to sell you something?
• Is it easy to find and understand the information?

Indigenous Peoples connections

“It is so important that we, as First Nations, show the rest of the world how mother earth is so precious to us all. Everyone has to work together to make change and it is going to take all of us to make change. Leaders and elders have to prepare young people so that positive change takes place.” - Chief George Planes, T’Sou-ke Nation

The concept of interconnectedness is fundamental to Indigenous Peoples' connection to the land and sense of responsibility to care for the earth for future generations. Transportation options that use renewable energy reduce our impact on climate change. Concepts of sustainability, consequences of our actions and responsibility to the land are woven throughout the First Peoples Principles of Learning.