TinMachine
Well-known member
Just before the holidays (school break) I went to my daughter's 4th Grade class to help them build Gingerbread houses, since I as on vacation from work anyway. While there my daughter's teacher asked me if I in fact owned a Nissan Leaf. Apparently my daughter is telling everyone within ear shot that her daddy drives and 'electric car'.
When I responded that I did in fact drive a Leaf of course her next question was how far does it go. Since I picked up the Leaf in August I have learned to answer that question by saying as far as you want it to with occasional stops to recharge. I will then explain recharging and approximate range.
Well after a 5 minute conversation with the teacher she indicated that the class is learning about batteries and electricity in their current curriculum. She asked if I would be willing to bring the Leaf to the school and allow the class to see it and then to explain how it works to the kids and take questions.
We set a date for later that week and I drove down to the school and when I got to the class I was introduced and we spent a few minutes discussing batteries and how they work. I then lead 4-6 kids out to the parking lot to the Leaf and showed them the car and all the cool things and how it charges, etc. After all the kids had seen the Leaf and asked a few questions we all went back to the class and the teacher lead the class in asking questions about EVs and how they work and why we should learn more about them and what alternative fuels are. Some of the kids asked some pretty good questions and seemed to have a good grasp on the ecology and why fossil fuels are harming the ecology. They also seemed to understand that the transition to vehicles like the Leaf would be a good thing and that it may take years to fully develop.
I was a bitsurprisedd when the teacher asked the students who would buy a Leaf or a car like a Leaf when they get older, all hands went up, even the teacher's.
Before I left one of the kids asked the teacher if she was going to buy on and she replied that she was now seriously considering it based on what I had relayed in the class.
I figure if we teach children that by using their imaginations and being creative they can solve big problems in the future and avoid the "we've always done it that way" or "it'll never work" mentality.
Hopefully one of these kids will go home and talk up their parental units about EVs and what they learned and maybe spark some interest. Well if all else fails maybe I can get a job with Nissan selling Leafs to the parents of 8-9 year olds...LOL.
I thought this may be of interest to other EV owners who's children are learning about similar subjects in school and maybe the teacher would be interested in seeing the technology up close. It's not really about the Leaf per se, but about EVs and many of the kids in the class were very excited to get to see something different and learn about it.
As a side note my older daughter in middle school told her science teacher about my bringing the Leaf into school to show and now I think I may be getting a call from the 7th grade science teacher soon.
When I responded that I did in fact drive a Leaf of course her next question was how far does it go. Since I picked up the Leaf in August I have learned to answer that question by saying as far as you want it to with occasional stops to recharge. I will then explain recharging and approximate range.
Well after a 5 minute conversation with the teacher she indicated that the class is learning about batteries and electricity in their current curriculum. She asked if I would be willing to bring the Leaf to the school and allow the class to see it and then to explain how it works to the kids and take questions.
We set a date for later that week and I drove down to the school and when I got to the class I was introduced and we spent a few minutes discussing batteries and how they work. I then lead 4-6 kids out to the parking lot to the Leaf and showed them the car and all the cool things and how it charges, etc. After all the kids had seen the Leaf and asked a few questions we all went back to the class and the teacher lead the class in asking questions about EVs and how they work and why we should learn more about them and what alternative fuels are. Some of the kids asked some pretty good questions and seemed to have a good grasp on the ecology and why fossil fuels are harming the ecology. They also seemed to understand that the transition to vehicles like the Leaf would be a good thing and that it may take years to fully develop.
I was a bitsurprisedd when the teacher asked the students who would buy a Leaf or a car like a Leaf when they get older, all hands went up, even the teacher's.
Before I left one of the kids asked the teacher if she was going to buy on and she replied that she was now seriously considering it based on what I had relayed in the class.
I figure if we teach children that by using their imaginations and being creative they can solve big problems in the future and avoid the "we've always done it that way" or "it'll never work" mentality.
Hopefully one of these kids will go home and talk up their parental units about EVs and what they learned and maybe spark some interest. Well if all else fails maybe I can get a job with Nissan selling Leafs to the parents of 8-9 year olds...LOL.
I thought this may be of interest to other EV owners who's children are learning about similar subjects in school and maybe the teacher would be interested in seeing the technology up close. It's not really about the Leaf per se, but about EVs and many of the kids in the class were very excited to get to see something different and learn about it.
As a side note my older daughter in middle school told her science teacher about my bringing the Leaf into school to show and now I think I may be getting a call from the 7th grade science teacher soon.
