Transportation:

What fascinates you about how we move? Humans have always needed to get around from place to place. Of course, people could depend on their own two feet, but walking limited the distance they could travel and how much they could carry. Consider the innovations that help us travel around and transport cargo. You could research transportation on land, in the water, and in the air. You could focus on the engineering and design of vehicles, or the effects of vehicles on the environment. Or, you could study different transportation methods used around the world, from bicycles and horse-drawn carts to mopeds and taxicabs. Consider how the ability to travel freely has changed society. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Academic Subjects/Standards you could explore in this category: Physical Science, Technology, Social Studies, Mathematics, Languages & Language Arts, Visual & Performing Arts.

Topic Example One: Horses in Transport

Horses have been part of human transport for thousands of years, but scholars do not know if horses were first used for riding or for pulling vehicles. Ancient horses were relatively small by modern standards, which leads some scholars to believe that humans were not be able to ride them easily and instead harnessed them for pulling vehicles. Other scholars argue that many small modern horses are strong enough to carry fully-grown adults. Scholars also do not know when horses were first domesticated by humans. Although wild horses are portrayed in cave paintings that date to 30,000 BC, it is believed that horses were only hunted at that time, and not yet used for transport. One of the earliest signs of horse domestication was found in Southern Ural tombs that date back to 2000 BC. Warriors were buried in the tombs along with chariots and entire teams of horses. Archeological evidence also shows horses being used to pull chariots in ancient Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China. As the wheel was further developed and refined, humans connected more vehicles to horses, such as carriages, wagons, horse-drawn boats, and trams. Today, the power of automobile engines is still measured in “horsepower.” How did humans domesticate horses for transport? What are some other ways that humans interact with horses? What other animals are or were used to help transport humans? How have domesticated animals changed human society?

Topic Example Two: Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Most vehicles today depend on gasoline for fuel. Gasoline is made from petroleum, which is a limited natural resource. Many scientists are trying to develop alternative energy sources. One of these alternatives is the hydrogen fuel cell. Hydrogen fuel is usually manufactured in a process called “electrolysis.” During this process, the hydrogen atoms in water are separated from the oxygen atoms, and then compressed into fuel cells. When the hydrogen is burned as fuel, it recombines with oxygen (creating water again), and releases energy. Proponents say that hydrogen fuel is better for the environment than gasoline, because its byproduct is water, not smog and pollutants. However, critics argue that hydrogen fuel is not efficient because it isn’t a primary energy source. Manufacturers must use energy from other sources to create hydrogen fuel through electrolysis; because manufacturers must use energy to make more energy, some of the efficiency is canceled out. What are other energy alternatives to petroleum and fossil fuels? What are their pros and cons? How is the burning of fossil fuels affecting our planet? How can scientists, government leaders, and industry make alternative energy more available?

Topic Example Three: Aerodynamics

How does an airplane stay in the air? It’s the same way that a bird glides through the air. It can look like magic, but it’s actually a science called aerodynamics (the study of air in motion and the motion of objects in air). The four aerodynamic forces that act upon an airplane in flight are weight, lift, drag, and thrust. These four forces are in constant balance while a plane is in the air. Weight is the same thing as gravity—it’s the force that pulls the plane towards the ground. To overcome weight, the plane creates lift by moving forward through the air, the wings generating the most lift. Drag is the same thing as air resistance—it’s the force that hinders the airplane from moving forward. To overcome drag, the plane uses its powerful engines to create thrust. With all these forces working together, even a big, heavy object like an airplane can fly through the air with ease. What design differences exist between passenger planes, cargo planes, and combat planes? What calculations do engineers use to build air-worthy planes? How do aerodynamics work to keep different types of flying objects in the air—kites, hot air balloons, helium blimps, and space shuttles?

Topic Example Four: The Silk Road

The Silk Road was the longest ground trade route in the ancient world, stretching from China to imperial Rome. For thousands of years, merchants from Europe, Asia, and Africa bartered and sold goods along the Silk Road. They rarely traveled the entire length of the road, instead doing business in the network of market towns that lined the route. The Silk Road was not an easy path to travel: it passed through high mountains, dense forests, and the dry Gobi Desert. The Silk Road was also a dangerous route because bandits would often attack and rob the traveling merchants. Only goods of high value made the risky journey worthwhile. Paper, glass, silk, jade, and tea were among the Chinese goods that traveled westward along the route. Gold, silver, new foods, and wool traveled eastward. But tangible goods were not the only things that traveled along the Silk Road—the extensive network also facilitated the transfer of new ideas, religions, and technologies. Today, a modern highway, Route 312, runs parallel to the ancient Silk Road. How did the Silk Road shape ancient society? What kinds of people and goods travel along Route 312 today? What routes have people in your region of the world traveled throughout history?

Citations

• “Horse.” The Free Dictionary. 4 Aug. 2004 <http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Horse>.
• “Domestication of the Horse”. The Free Dictionary. 4 Aug. 2004 <http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/ Domestication%20of%20the%20horse>.
• “Central and North Asia, 8000-2000 B.C.” Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 31 Aug. 2004 <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/nc/ht02nc.htm>.
• “About Hydrogen.” 4hydrogen.com. Environmental Media Northwest. 27 Jul. 2004 <http://4hydrogen.com/about.html>.
• “Fuel cell.” WordIQ Encyclopedia. 23 Aug. 2004 <http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Fuel_cell>.
• “How does an Airplane Fly?” Home page. Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum. 23 Aug. 2004 <http://www.aeromuseum.org/Education/Lessons/ HowPlaneFly/HowPlaneFly.html>.
• “Glossary.” Dare to Fly With Class. New Brusnwick Public School District. 31 Aug. 2004 <http://www.geocities.com/daretofly2001/glossary.html>.
• “Silk Road.” Brochure on Ancient China. Akers Elementary. 6 Aug. 2004 <http://www.central.k12.ca.us/akers/silk_road.html>.
• “On the Road in China: The New Silk Road.” Home page. 6 Aug. 2004. NPR. 6 Aug. 2004 <http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3822414>.
  

Helpful Hints:

For each category, we have provided several examples to get you thinking about the wide variety of topics on which you might develop a website. Remember, your website entry is only required to fit into one of the broad categories, such as Transportation.

You will notice that many of our examples include cross-cultural references or highlight international aspects of a particular topic. The criteria used to score ThinkQuest entries reward collaboration among student teams in different regions or countries, so we have provided examples that we hope will inspire you to think globally and collaboratively as you choose your topic area and develop your website.

Here is one way you might choose a topic with your team: