LPL

September 14-16

Vehicles that Vroom!

Early cars were called horseless carriages. The first car ever was built in 1769. It was not really a car but a tractor. It did not use gas and was powered with steam. It could travel only 4 kilometers per hour. Cars today can easily travel at speeds over 161 kilometers per hour and come in thousands of different models. The top three car companies in the world are General Motors, Ford, and Toyota. Most cars use gas or diesel engines. But one new type is the hybrid. Hybrids use both fuel engines and electric motors. They do not pollute the environment as much and they can travel many kilometers on very little gas.

September 21-23

To the Rescue!

If you found an unconscious person, what would you do? Most likely, you would run for a telephone, call 9-1-1, and wait for an ambulance to arrive. When a fire alarm goes on, a collision is reported near the town's busiest intersection, a pedestrian is down, emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances rush to the rescue. They play a critical role in transporting those in need of immediate medical attention.

September 28-30

Walk the talk

Even during the horse and buggy days, police officers had to be stationed full time directing traffic at busy intersections. The world’s first traffic light, a revolving lantern with red and green signals, was installed in London in 1868. Red meant "stop" and green meant "caution.” The ever-growing popularity of automobiles led a Detroit policeman to design red, amber, and green railroad lights with wire and electrical controls. The first 4-way three color traffic light was installed in 1920.Traditionally, incandescent and halogen bulbs were used. Now municipalities are increasingly retrofitting traffic signals with LED arrays that consume less power, have increased light output, and last significantly longer.

October 5-7

Planes over the planet

Insects, birds, and bats fly by moving wings up and down. The airplane was designed long ago by people who experimented with this concept. The first sketches were machines that would flap birdlike wings, but later people learned that machines with flapping wings are difficult to power and control. Any airplane moves forward by pushing air behind it, whether a propeller or a jet engine moves the air. The airplane has developed into a form of transportation that we now use frequently to travel all around the world. Military planes and and helicopters protect people, the cargo planes and crop dusters help us work, gliders and hot air balloons help us have fun and jet planes help us travel.

October 12-14

Toot-toothing Trains

Railroad, or railway, is a form of transportation most commonly consisting of steel rails, called tracks, on which freight cars, passenger cars, and other rolling stock are drawn by one locomotive or more. The steam-powered locomotive, which played a key role during the development and golden age of railroading, has been replaced by electric and diesel-electric locomotives. However, there are faster and more efficient types of  transportation, such as single self-propelled cars, cable-drawn railways, monorails and high-speed passenger service or bullet trains.

October 19-21

Smooth Sailing
Boats are floating means of transportation, usually unroofed and small, intended for use on streams, lakes, or near shore, and propelled by sail, oar, pole, paddle, or motor. Anyone using a light boat, such as a canoe, quickly learns that wind moves a boat, perhaps faster than one can paddle. A sail encourages wind to push the boat in a desired direction, using a large surface to capture more force. The combination of a rudder and multiple sails led to the great days of sailing ships, which lasted into the late 19th century. Ships used many specialized sails on several masts to achieve great speeds and maneuverability. Small sailboats use sails that swing to either side of the mast.