Can you top Tesla?

A Physical Science Project for Grade 10

by

Angela Stott

http://news.com.com/2300-11386_3-6096355-4.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

A letter to you

Dear friend Can you think of any car better than the Tesla Roadster? I bet you can’t.

Hey- how about that: let’s have a bet about it. You convince me that any car is better than the Tesla Roadster, and I’ll buy you the car of your dreams – mahala… present. On the other hand, if during the process your research convinces you that the Roadster’s the way to go, give me a nice clear comparison between it and any good car, which I can use to convince other people with, and the Tesla is yours for free.  

 

A letter to you (continued)

Mind you, I want a clear, logical, systematic comparison.

E-mail a PowerPoint presentation to me with the findings of your research. At the least I want to see photos of the Tesla and at least one other car you compare it against, information about top speeds, acceleration rates, energy transfer efficiency, power, environmental impact, buying and running costs, and a summary of strengths and weaknesses, from which you motivate your choice of car.

Optional section of letter

Oh – and while you’re at it – I’m wanting to go to Cape Town on a leisurely site-seeing trip (from Pietermaritzburg, where I live, by the way), and I’d love to get someone else to do the hard work of planning an itinerary for me (you know: routes to take, sites to see, where I’ll need to refuel, travelling times, stay over places, and all the different costs). Maybe you can do this for the Tesla and one other car for comparison, so I can decide which car I’ll decide to do the trip on.

Optional section of letter

If you do this extra job for me, I’ll fit your car with Artificial Intelligence features, including the Active cruise control with stop and go, the Remote Park Assist and the Radio-based early warning system. So there’s a bonus for you if you want it. I think it would be a good idea for you to set equations in Excel, so it can do the calculations for you, and to use Mail Merge to generate a report for me.

End of letter to you

Looking forward to hearing from you soon (since I presume you’re not so idiotic as to brush off this offer! ha ha).

Yours,Rick Richmanrich@teslafan.co.za

PS: for your information: Roadster runs at about 5c/km, while a 10l/100km petrol guzzler costs about 50c/km!

Learning OutcomesLO1: Scientific Inquiry and Problem-solving Skills

• AS: Seek patterns and trends in the information collected and link it to existing scientific knowledge to help draw conclusions.

• AS: Communicate information and conclusions with clarity and precision.

What must you do?

1. Group work: Brainstorm what you know and what you need to know to answer Mr. Richman.

2. Choose a car to compare with the Tesla Roadster.

3. Research and record information about the Tesla Roadster and at least one other car. Save a photo of each.

What must you do?4. Optional: use Excel to graphically

compare the cars’ specifications.

5. Complete Report 1.

6. Learn about the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels an of using battery-powered or other electric vehicles.

7. Complete Report 2.

So what do you need to do?9. Use the presentation template to prepare your

PowerPoint presentation. You may make adjustments to the layout.

10. Use the self and peer assessments to revise your presentation.

11. Optional: Do the enrichment challenge (prepare an itinerary for Mr Richman).

12. Present your findings with your final PowerPoint presentation.

Assessment

1. Baseline assessment:– brainstorm issue

2. Formative assessments:– interim Reports 1 and 2 (optional Report A); Peer

and Self-assessments located at the end of each Report form.

– Optional Enrichment Task: Peer and Self-assessment

3. Final, summative assessment– PowerPoint Rubric (teacher)– Peer and Self-Assessment Checklist

Timeframes

Class time (finish for homework if necessary)

Suggestion if you finish early or for homework

Read letter, get overview of project, group brainstorm

1 hour

Choose a car, save a picture, and find information about it and the Tesla; Report 1

2 hours Plot graphs in Excel

Optional Report A

Timeframes

Class time (finish for homework if necessary)

Suggestion if you are quicker / for homework

Read about environmental impact: petrol and battery- powered vehicles; Report 2

2 hours Move on

Timeframes

Class time (finish for homework if necessary)

Suggestion if you are quicker / for homework

Prepare your presentation 3 hours Do extension activity (prepare itinerary)

Peer and Self-assessment of draft presentations; revise draft presentations

30 minutes

Resources

• Science content resources– refer to the mechanics section in your text

book; you would have been taught this work before the project

– useful links:• speed, velocity, acceleration, power, energy

efficiency• environmental impact: petrol- and battery- power

Resources

• Resources about the Tesla Roadster– Popular Mechanics October 2006, pp.46-49– useful web-link: www.teslamotors.com

• Resources about other cars– bring your own magazines– search the internet

Resources

Tips Sheets to build computer skills:

– Internet searching and saving pictures

– drawing graphs in Excel (optional)

– using equations in Excel (optional