Cars, trucks, and buses use petroleum—which is a fossil fuel—to power them. Mrs. Cash has a class of 20 students. Half of her students get rides to school from their parents. The other half take the bus. If it takes the same amount of energy to transport three students to school by bus as it takes to transport one student by car, how could the amount of energy Mrs. Cash's students use be reduced the most?

Question

Cars, trucks, and buses use petroleum—which is a fossil fuel—to power them. Mrs. Cash has a class of 20 students. Half of her students get rides to school from their parents. The other half take the bus. If it takes the same amount of energy to transport three students to school by bus as it takes to transport one student by car, how could the amount of energy Mrs. Cash's students use be reduced the most?

They could all ask their parents to take longer routes to school.
They could all ride in different cars to school.
They could all ride the bus to school.
They could all choose to ride in cars that use more petroleum.

Answer 1

The most effective way to reduce the amount of energy Mrs. Cash's students use would be for all of them to ride the bus to school. Since it takes the same amount of energy to transport three students by bus as it does to transport one student by car, riding the bus would significantly reduce the amount of petroleum used.