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Free Lesson Plans for Teachers
Alpha Stage





Forbes Magazine is running an article entitled, “Toyota Developing
Drunken Driving System.”

The article begins, “Toyota Motor Corp. is developing a fail-safe
system for cars that detects drunken drivers and automatically shuts
the vehicle down if sensors pick up signs of excessive alcohol
consumption, a news report said Wednesday.”
The article adds, “The system could also kick in if the sensors detect
abnormal steering, or if a special camera shows that the driver's pupils
are not in focus. The car is then slowed to a halt, the report said.”

Read the Article


Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

  • Ask your students if they ever do two different things at one
    time. What do they do? You might ask if they can pat their
    head and rub their tummy at the same time.

  • Can your students think of anything that is so important that
    you should not do something else as you are doing it? What?
  • You might want to make a list on the board.

  • Ask: If you made your own car what special parts would it
    have? Why?
  • You might ask students to draw a picture of the car or a
    neat part of the car. Consider asking students to work in
    pairs, so that kids who don't like drawing will have
    support from a classmate.

  • Ask your students if they’ve ever had a hard time staying
    awake when they wanted to. Why did they want to say awake?
    Was there anything they could do to keep themselves awake?
    What?
  • Consider having students develop skits in which they act
    out how they tried to keep themselves awake, or ideas
    that they think would work well.



Discussion-Starters for Older Children

  • Vocabulary Terms to Discuss: Automatically; Detection;
    “Stepped-Up,” and Sensor.

  • Ask your students why they think that somebody would drive
    drunk. If they could do one thing to prevent people from
    driving drunk, what would they do? Why?
  • Consider having students develop written proposals for
    how to prevent drinking and driving in groups of two or
    three. These proposals could explain how to have a
    good time intelligently.

  • Can your students think of any potential negative outcomes
    stemming from a car being unable to drive if the driver was
    drunk? What might they be? Do they think it’s a good idea to
    install the system discussed in this article, into cars? Why/why
    not?
  • You might consider holding a debate on this topic with
    your students.

  • Ponder: Forbes Magazine is a business journal. Why would a
    business journal run an article about cars? How might this
    information benefit a business person?
The Car Won't Run
January 2, 2007
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