+
Primary
University of Michigan

Automobile in American Life and Society: Unsafe at Any Speed

For Students 9th - 10th
Here is a brief excerpt from Ralph Nader's1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, decrying the auto industry's seeming unconcern with the design problems of the automobile and calling for holding the industry accountable.
+
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: The History of Automobiles: Comprehension Strategies

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This lesson targets the history of the automobile in three major phases of its development.
+
Graphic
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Smithsonian Automobile Collection

For Students 9th - 10th
See the wide range of gas-powered vehicles manufactured in America in the late 19th century. Click on each picture to read a detailed description of the vehicle, how it worked, and the history of its manufacture. From the Smithsonian...
+
Website
Other

Drowsy Driving and Automobile Crashes

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource explains the effects drowsiness has on operating a motor vehicle. Gives details on fatigue, risks, and it's biology.
+
Website
The Henry Ford

Henry Ford Museum: The 1896 Duryea: The First Production Automobile in America

For Students 9th - 10th
The Henry Ford Museum showcases the 1896 Duryea, one of America's first gasoline-powered automobiles.
+
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Themes: Auto Safety Pioneers

For Students 9th - 10th
Since the 1970s, Americans have witnessed an amazing number of safety improvements in automobiles and the driving environment. Seat belts, air bags, safer fuel tanks, the Jaws of Life, and driving while intoxicated (DWI) campaigns are...
+
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Auto Safety History

For Students 9th - 10th
America on the Move explores the role of transportation in American History highlighting its role as a vital part of our business, social, and cultural history. This section provides an overview of the history of automobile safety...
+
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Early Cars: Fact Sheet for Children

For Students 3rd - 8th
Encyclopedia entry presents fun facts about the history of the automobile.
+
Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Automobile Manufacturer Henry Ford

For Students 3rd - 8th
This Library of Congress timeline series discusses Henry Ford, whose automobiles and manufacturing process made the "horseless carriage" affordable to every American.
+
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: "Ridin' Along in My Automobile"

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students will research prices of used cars to discover how automobiles lose their value over time. Students will create a chart to record their information, use their chart to graph their data, and find measures of central tendency of...
+
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Motion: Speed of Automobiles

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this activity, students will determine the speed of a moving vehicle using a stopwatch and meter stick, then convert the measurement from meters/sec to miles/hr. After completing this activity, students should understand average...
+
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Automobile Choices and Alternative Fuels

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an activity in which students take the role of either a car seller or a car buyer to learn about transportation energy options. Car sellers are challenged to pitch to buyers about cars with a particular fuel type while car buyers...
+
Interactive
Other

Americans Well Informed on Automobile Retailing Economics: Auto Financing 101

For Students 9th - 10th
Information on financing a car purchase, including tips, a financing calculator, and a quiz.
+
Lesson Plan
The Henry Ford

Early 20th Century Migration: Transportation: Past, Present and Future [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A teacher's guide and unit plan that explores the migration of people from within and to the United States in the early 20th century up to the present day, many of them to work in the automobile factories in the northern US. Additional...
+
Activity
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: What Is an Emblem?

For Students 9th - 10th
This tour divides the Smithsonian's collection of 278 radiator emblems into different groupings to demonstrate how similar objects can be interpreted to emphasize certain themes and relationships. The exhibition uses the radiator emblems...
+
Unit Plan
Virginia Tech

Digital History Reader: Which Side Are You On? The Flint Sit Down Strike

For Students 9th - 10th
The first conflict between a corporation and labor union materialized in Flint, Michigan in the 1930's. Identify the tensions between General Motors and the United Automobile Workers during this time through Context, articles, images,...
+
eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Jazz Age 1919 1929: Prosperity and Popular Entertainment

For Students 11th - 12th
Examines the transformation of American culture and lifestyle through movies, sports and the automobile, particularly the Model T Ford.
+
Website
The Henry Ford

Henry Ford Museum: The Innovator and Ford Motor Company

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource briefly explains how, with the development of the Model T, the Ford Motor Company became the largest automobile manufacturer in the world during the early 20th century.
+
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Crossing the Country: Somewhere in Wyoming 1903

For Students 9th - 10th
Come along on the first successful cross-country automobile trip with H. Nelson Jackson, Sewall Crocker, and their dog Bud as they traveled in 1903 from California to New York in 63 days.
+
Interactive
Museum of Modern Art

Mo Ma: Different Roads: Automobiles for the Next Century

For Students 9th - 10th
Check out some of the future car designs from major manufacturers. Also learn about what goes in to powering cars among other bits of information.
+
Article
Other

Llnl:this Hybrid Vehicle Uses Hydrogen

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes hybrid vehicles and their contributions to increasing the efficiency of automobiles. Explains the challenges faced by the design team and shows a nice schematic. From a 1995 article.
+
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Americans Adopt the Auto

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition explores the role of transportation in American history focusing on the way the automobile went from being a plaything of the rich to a major factor in the American transportation landscape.
+
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Making Sense of "Failed" Car Technology

For Students 9th - 10th
America on the Move explores the role of transportation in American History highlighting its role as a vital part of our business, social, and cultural history. Learn about the auto industry's experiments, dead-ends, and temporary...
+
Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Maps Etc: Automobile Routes of the Great Lake Vicinity, 1920

For Students 9th - 10th
A map from the 1920 Automobile Club of Rochester showing automobile routes in the Great Lakes Region, around western Lake Ontario, and the Canadian portion of Lake St. Clair and southern Lake Huron. The map shows route numbers, mileages...

Other popular searches