Tires: science project, inflated tires, wagon wheel

Question
my son is doing a science project on tires , his question is , is there anything else tires can be made of besides rubber in order to help conserve our natural resources?  any help or info you might have on this  question would be very much appreciated.

Answer
Brandi,

The word "tires" is used to describe the portion of the wheel that contacts the road surface.  In the wagon wheel days, this was a piece of steel wrapped around the wheel.  Nowadays we use rubber and inflate it in order to provide a cushioning effect.  So anything that can hold air can potentially be used.

Plus there are some interesting non-inflated tires.  Google "Lunar Rover".  They used a mechanical tire.  Perhaps that could be the basis of a science project.