Follow the Chain
1. Project the image carousel (see Follow the Chain in the Teach section).
2. Ask students to consider all the steps and people involved in getting people and products from point A to point B.
3. Give students 10 minutes to list all the steps they can think of to put a transportation network in place.
4. Put students in small groups to compare lists and revise theirs to be the most complete possible.
5. Ask for a volunteer from each group to share their list with the class.
6. Discuss how the system might be made more efficient.
Images used in the exercise
What parts do we need to make a transportation network? Where will we get the vehicles, fuel and parts?
What happens when something malfunctions or breaks? How do we prevent this from happening?
How many people will need to travel on this route? When should the vehicles leave? Which workers will we need?
How do we track every vehicle in real time, change signals and steer traffic around bad weather or delays?
How will we load and unload the vehicles? What checks need to be performed before the vehicle can start its route again?
How much energy is being used? What parts will need to be replaced soon? How can the system perform better?