1. Visit the parking lot of a public place, such as your university, a hotel, a shopping mall, yourworkplace, and your building. At the parking lot, count and record 10 cars and the make, model, andyear (for example, Honda Civic, 2008). If you do not know the exact year, make a reasonable guessabout the age. This raw data must be submitted with your report. Be sure to record the number foreach category if there are multiple cars. You can use the following Parking Lot Tally Sheet as a reference to record the data.
|
Make
|
Mode
|
Year
|
|
Honda
|
Civic
|
2008
|
|
VW
|
Golf
|
1990
|
|
Ford
|
Explorer
|
2004
|
2. Go to the US Department of Energy and US Environmental Protection Agency's Fuel Economy website at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Findacar.htm. Input each automobile (assume 15,000/miles per year) and record the combined estimated fuel consumption and annual CO2 emissions.
3. After completing this chart, combine all the data and calculate the parking lot sample mean for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
4. Using the data obtained in Step 2, use the two means to calculate the total amount per pollutant category and the fuel consumption, contributed by all the registered vehicles in your state. Note: Remember that you almost never have the exact data you need. You will have to make assumptions and/or extrapolations. Clearly identify what assumptions you made and briefly explain why you chose those assumptions.
5. Use this same data, but for the country. Using the Federal Highway Administration's web site(http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/quickfinddata/qfvehicles.cfm), find the total numberof cars registered in the United States. Using your two means, calculate the national total amount of gasoline consumed and the total amount of CO2 emitted on an annual basis.
Based on the data you gathered, answer the following questions:
1. What is the environmental significance of your findings? Were you surprised by any of the car comparisons in your data?
2. Recommend two new policies to reduce automobile fuel consumption and the resultant air pollution in your area.
Submit your response in a MS Word document of the following specifications:
- Font: Arial; Point 12
- Spacing: Double? Include an APA title page. Refer to the sample APA title page.
- Cite all sources used in APA format, including at least one in-text citation from each source and a reference page.
- Page length: 1-2 pages, excluding the APA title page and Reference page