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The Farmer’s Dilemma

Photo shows a red tractor with a 7-blade plow attachment working through a green field. In the middle of the attachment a red hose lays out in the field.
Learning Goals

Learning Goals:

  1. Understand the pros and cons for various alternative fuel systems.
  2. Understand the pros and cons for various conventional fuel systems.
  3. Provide insight to other students regarding their chosen fuel topic in a presentation format.
  4. Investigate the relationship between demand and production.
  5. List pros and cons regarding the operating environment.
Materials List

Handouts

Important Links

Next Generation Science Standards

Next Generation Science Standards

3-5 Engineering Design

  • 3-5-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified crietria for success and constraints on materials, time, or costs.
  • 3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
  • 3-5-ETS1-3: Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

M.S. Engineering Design

  • MS-ETS1-1: Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
  • MS-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
  • MS-ETS1-3: Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
  • MS-ETS1-4: Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

H.S. Engineering Design

  • HS-ETS1-1: Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
  • HS-ETS1-2: Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
  • HS-ETS1-3: Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

Lesson 7 of 7 / Time: 4-5 hours

Over the course of the previous six labs, the students are exposed to alternative power systems focusing on hydrogen and electricity. This last structure combines all the knowledge students armed themselves with into a comprehensive presentation regarding the future of farming in our area… specifically that of fuels the farm tractor will use to harvest crops. The intent is for the student to become knowledgeable about the pros and cons of various alternative and conventional fuels systems. The students will pair up to present one of several points of view regarding a fuel system whether it be alternative or conventional.

In the United States, hydroelectric power continues to be one of the oldest and largest sources of renewable energy, which uses the natural flow of moving water to generate electricity and with the new mandates up and coming regarding internal combustion engines using diesel and gasoline, hydroelectric powerplants will also produce hydrogen gas in bottle form with some of the electricity they produce. The push for this line of thinking comes from the climate talks in Glasgow featuring a non-binding call for all vehicles sold worldwide to be zero-emission by 2040. This includes farm tractors of all sorts. The European Union is considering a zero-emission mandate that would kick in five years earlier, in 2035. A recent poll found that more than 50% of U.S. voters support requiring all new cars to be electric within a decade. However, diesel engines continue improving and continues to play an important role in furthering the reduction of greenhouse gases and other atmospheric pollutants. In fact, Cummins, a Diesel engine manufacture, is gearing up one their designs to include hydrogen as the fuel source. The future of hydrogen may be here, according to some, as the best alternative fuel for the consumer and business alike. Where ever the future leads, where ever technologies are developed, there will be a high demand for engineers to design, test, and modify existing and new alternative fuel systems for the next several decades.

A Study of Alternative Fuels

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