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Provided by: MIT Climate Action Through Education |Published on: January 28, 2025
Activity - Classroom
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Synopsis
In this activity, students will compare flying and driving based on the emissions per person of a trip to determine the better mode of transportation for the climate.
Students will use division and their knowledge of contrails to determine the best travel option for the climate.
This is a quick activity that can be built into a preexisting math or science lesson.
The included background materials give valuable context for the activity.
Prerequisites
Students should understand the impact of emissions on climate change and the environment.
The broken link content to the aircraft emissions can be accessed here.
Differentiation & Implementation
To extend this activity, teachers can use the Comparing Travel Emissions: Math Lesson to compare emissions from walking, biking, driving, bus, train, and flying.
Students can plan a trip, selecting the most eco-friendly mode of travel for getting to their destination and planning an itinerary based on public transportation.
After listening to and reading the background materials, students can evaluate their city's transportation infrastructure and propose changes to better facilitate public transport.
Scientist Notes
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Related Teaching Resources
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