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EPA CLEAN
SCHOOL BUS
Tomorrow's Buses for Today's Children
Electric School Bus
Activity Book
SCHOOL
TO;
epa.gov/cleanschoolbus
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA 420-B-23-027
December 2023
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EPA CLEAN
SCHOOL BUS
The Clean School Bus Electric School Bus Activity Book
was developed and written by:
Stacie Bickley, Ph.D., Office ofTransportation and Air Quality
Clayton Batko, Office ofTransportation and Air Quality
The assistance and expertise of EPA scientists and educators in the review
of the text is acknowledged with thanks.
To view and download these activities, please visit:
epa.aov/cleanschoolbus
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Tomorrow's Buses for
Today's Children
Welcome to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus
ProgramlThis is an exciting time for our country's thousands of school buses.
Our bus fleets are transitioning from traditional, older diesel buses that emit
pollution to new, clean, low-emission and zero-emission models. School buses
have always been the safest way to get children to and from school.The Clean
School Bus Program is making these buses even safer by reducing and even
eliminating the amount of exhaust released into the air. Protecting the health of
our children and communities is the top priority of the EPA. Cleaner school buses
lead to cleaner air, which keeps all of us healthier.
Join us in exploring the difference between older, diesel buses and new, cleaner
buses.This activity book focuses on electric school buses. Future activity books
will cover other alternative fuels. You will learn more about the health and
environmental benefits of electric school buses and their role in addressing
climate change and environmental justice. One day, you too may see or even ride
an electric school bus within your community!
To learn more about how your school district can participate in this program, visit
https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus.
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Clean School
Bus Vocabulary
Asthma: A health condition of the lungs that makes it hard to breathe.
Atmosphere:The layer of gas that surrounds the Earth and provides the air
that we breathe.
Community: A group of people living, playing, or working together in the
same area.
Electrical/power grid: The system that provides the electricity that we use in
our homes, schools, and other buildings.
Exhaust: Leftover material that comes out of the tailpipe of a vehicle when an
engine burns fuel.
Fossil fuels: A source of energy found deep in the ground that is used to
power vehicles, like buses. Diesel fuel and gasoline are types of fossil fuels.
Greenhouse gases: Gases in the Earth's atmosphere that trap heat.They act
like a blanket to keep our Earth warm and livable.Too many of these gases,
however, can cause the Earth to warm up more and faster than it should.
Health: A person's physical, mental, and social well-being.
Pollutant: Any substance that causes health problems for people and nature.
Vehicle: A structure that uses a motor or engine to move people or things
from one location to another location. School buses, cars, and even boats are
all types of vehicles.
Technology: A collection of tools, including machines, developed to achieve a
goal or solve a problem.
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Clean School Buses Are the
Future of StudentTransportatton
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More than 25 million American children
ride on a school bus every day. School
buses travel over 4 billion miles each year.
Traditional school buses run on fossil
fuels.The exhaust from these buses is
harmful to the environment.
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epa.gov/cleanschoolbus
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Meet the Electric
School Bus
Instructions: Locate and color the charger,
charge port, battery, and motor.
EPA CLEAN
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Electric school buses look
the same as regular
school buses.
They use batteries to
store energy rather than
getting energy from fuels
like diesel and gasoline.
They also don't
have tailpipes,
so they don't
release pollution!
(EMinilL
lasnnw
A device that stores
energy that can power
an electric motor.
Uses power from a battery
to move the wheels.
&EPA
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A Day in the Life of an
Electric School Bus
lnstructions:Trace the route of the electric school bus.
Step 1: Pick up all the students.
Step 2:Take the students to their school.
Step 3: Return the electric school bus to the bus depot to charge
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There are nearly 500,000
school buses in the
United States. Imagine
the environmental
and health benefits
if most of them were
zero-emission buses,
like an electric bus!
The average electric school bus can travel
100 miles or more when fully charged.
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Cruoscng for Words
Instructions: Find the hidden words and draw a circle around them.
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Did you know that an electric school bus
can be used to store energy?They can
return energy to the electrical grid or a
building, or even provide power during an
emergency.
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Clean Bus, Good Health,
Happy Planet
gjJ
Air is essential to life on our planet. We
breathe in air through our nose and mouth
and into our lungs. Our body needs clean air.
Air can become dirty with pollutants from
tailpipe exhaust.These pollutants can irritate
our lungs and lead to long-term health
problems like asthma.
Clean school buses
are better for the
planet and for our
health. Especially
electric school
buses that have
no emissions!
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Electric school buses keep the
air that students, drivers, and
community members breathe clean.
These buses also reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, a major cause of
climate change.
SCHOOL BUS
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MovngToward a Cleaner Planet
Instructions: Find eight differences between the two images below.
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This electric bus is so quiet! I can
speak with my friends using my
ndoor voice. I don't have to cover
my ears because of the loud noi
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Keeping the Wheel Turning
Instructions: Solve the brain teasers below.
I am yellow, transport children, and use batteries. What am I?
2. I have a lot of energy, but I do not move. I transfer my energy to buses and
cars using a cord. What am I?
3. I transfer air from our atmosphere to the body and you use me to breathe.
What am I?
4. You cannot see me. I keep our planet warm, which is essential for life.Too
much of me, however, causes our climate to change. What am I?
5. The motor of a new school bus runs on batteries. How many pollutants are
released when the bus is running?
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6- A bus driver starts her morning pickup route in the country, where she
makes five stops. Four students get on at each stop. On the way into town,
she makes another six stops, picking up seven students at each stop.
The bus driver does her final pickup near the elementary school. If 75
elementary students get off her bus, how many students got on her bus
during the final pickup?
An electric school bus battery takes eight hours to fully charge. If the battery
is charged halfway, how many hours does it need to charge all the way?
8. If one electric school bus can travel 100 miles when it is fully charged, how
many 30-mile routes can it complete?
9. A third grader takes about 20 breaths in a minute. A teacher takes about 14
breaths in a minute. How many more breaths does a third grader take an
hour in comparison to the teacher?
10 The distance around the Earth at the equator (its circumference) is 24,901
miles. School buses travel more than 4 billion (4,000,000,000) miles each
year. How many trips around the Earth's equator do buses take each year?
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Tickle Me Green Fill in the Blank
Instructions: Choose your own words to complete the story
below. Be as silly and creative as you would like.
Jayden's New School Bus
Jayden is ready to start his school day. Before heading to
the bus stop, he double checks to make sure his
homework is in his backpack.
(school subject) (color/pattern)
At the bus stop, Jayden says hi to his four friends. Jayden
i
• •
and his friends see the bus coming around the corner.
says , "I have never
(expression of excitement) (name of friend 1)
seen a bus before." "Neither have I!" says Jayden. "This
(color)
must be our new electric bus."
" ," says the bus driver. "Welcome aboard our new electric
(greeting)
school bus! Do you know what makes an electric bus different from a
diesel bus?" asks the bus driver. Everyone shakes their heads no. "This
bus is different because it uses batteries rather than diesel or gasoline,"
says the bus driver. "Rather than stopping at for
(name of gas station)
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fuel, we recharge our bus at a charging station." "Does that mean it's
faster than a regular bus?" asks "No," says the bus
(name of friend 2)
driver. "It's not faster, but it is much quieter."
"Is it true that some school buses can power a(n) ?"
(electronic device)
asks Jayden.The bus drive smiles and says, "You are correct that some
electric school buses can store energy.That energy can be returned to
the power grid or a building, or even provide power during an
emergency."
"The most important benefit of an electric school bus is that it is much
better for our planet because it does not emit pollution," says the bus
driver. "Does pollution cause ?" asks .
(illness) (name of friend 3)
"Pollution can irritate our lungs, which can make us cough or lead to
conditions such as asthma," explains the driver. "My grandpa sounds
like a/an when he coughs!" says Jayden. "Clean
(animal)
technology helps everyone breathe clean air," says the bus driver. "This
bus is so !" says
(expression of excitement) (name of friend 4) 19
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Charging Your Knowledge
Instructions: Read the following statements. Cross out the statements that are
FALSE and make them true.
1. An electric school bus is faster than a diesel school bus.
2. Electric school buses make less noise than diesel school buses.
3. Electric school buses are more expensive to maintain than diesel and
gasoline school buses.
4. Electric school buses can power your community in an emergency.
5. A typical school bus can transport up to 80 students. One bus carrying
all of these kids is better for the environment than everyone having
their parents drive them to school every day.
6- An electric school bus can't complete a 60-mile route when fully
charged.
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Old diesel buses release pollutants that can make us sick.
3. Kids breathe in more pollutants because they have a faster breathing
rate than adults.
9- Electric school buses improve local air quality.
10 The EPA's Clean School Bus Program provides funding to replace
existing school buses with low-emission and zero-emission models.
Our school district is
excited and proud to
use clean school bus
technology.
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EPA CLEAN
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Tomorrow's Buses for Today's Children
Visit epa.gov/cleanschoolbus to learn more.
Scan this QR
code to access a
printable copy of
this activity book
along with teacher
and parent guides.
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Office of Transportation and Air Quality
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