Transforming Transportation Infrastructure

Sustainability Education Resources

America on the Move (Smithsonian National Museum of American History)

Topic/Subtopic:Transforming Transportation Infrastructure / Modes of Transportation

Content Type: Games

Topics Covered: These three educational games are designed to teach students about the history of American transportation systems and how they have evolved over time.

Target Audience: Grades K-5, 6-8

Save Our Earth! Alternate Uses for Common Trash (Pearson Education, Inc)

Topic/Subtopic: Transforming Transportation Infrastructure / Repurposing Materials

Content Type: Classroom Activity

Topics Covered: This classroom activity asks students to evaluate a list of debris items that have washed up on the ocean shore and then brainstorm alternative uses for each material. By understanding that old materials can be put to new uses, students learn to become more resourceful and less wasteful.

Target Audience: Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12

Teacher Resource Center: Lesson Ideas (New York Transit Museum)

Topic/Subtopic: Transforming Transportation Infrastructure / Modes of Transportation

Content Type: Curriculum

Topics Covered: The New York Transit Museum provides teachers with lesson plan ideas for teaching students about the history of transit and different modes of transportation. These lessons help teach students that access to transportation options benefits our communities and the environment.

Target Audience: Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12

Trash and Climate Change (U.S. E.P.A.)

Topic/Subtopic: Transforming Transportation Infrastructure / Reducing Waste

Content Type:Curriculum

Topics Covered: In this series of classroom activities, students learn that when we repurpose old products and materials so factories don’t have to make as many new ones. This helps to save energy and reduce waste.

Target Audience: Grades K-5, 6-8

Atlanta Beltline (Jennifer Brooks)

Topic/Subtopic: Transforming Transportation Infrastructure

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: The Atlanta Beltline is an abandoned industrial railway that encircles the city of Atlanta. Now it is being converted to a 22-mile long public park and trail system that connects 45 of the city’s neighborhoods.

Target Audience: Grades 6-8, 9-12

Reuse of Salvaged Materials (Brooklyn Bridge Park) & Brooklyn Bridge Park: Salvaged Wood (Brooklyn Bridge Park)

Topic/Subtopic: Transforming Transportation Infrastructure

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City is built on top of an old pier, and also reuses salvaged materials from the Roosevelt Island Bridge and old industrial warehouses to create new design elements within the park, including wooden benches and a granite amphitheater. These materials not only serve a functional purpose but also link the new park to the industrial history of the land.

Target Audience: Grades 6-8, 9-12

e2 – Grey to Green podcast (PBS)

Topic/Subtopic:Transforming Transportation Infrastructure

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: Construction and reconstruction of highways, bridges, and buildings results in a massive amount of wasted materials and energy. By reusing materials and applying them in new ways, development can become more energy efficient.

Target Audience: Grades 6-8, 9-12

e2 transport – Portland: A Sense of Place podcast (PBS)

Topic/Subtopic: Repurposing Transportation Infrastructure / Transit Oriented Development

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: Transit Oriented Development (TOD) uses transit centers to grow vibrant communities. By designing for mixed land use, population diversity, and pedestrian walkability, policymakers and planners can build more sustainable neighborhoods.

Target Audience:Grades 6-8, 9-12

The High Line Film, 2006 (Friends of the High Line)

Topic/Subtopic: Transforming Transportation Infrastructure

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: The High Line was once an elevated railway that ran through lower Manhattan. Now the abandoned tracks have been transformed into a vibrant urban park.

Target Audience: Grades 6-8, 9-12

Highway Underpass Park (Waterfront Toronto)

Topic/Subtopic: Transforming Transportation Infrastructure

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: The derelict, underused spaces beneath elevated highways often become abandoned voids and barriers between inner city neighborhoods. Toronto is planning to create an underpass park that includes a revitalized streetscape, farmers market, and public green space that works to bridge the communities on either side of the highway.

Target Audience: Grades 6-8, 9-12