Can Flying Ever Be Climate Friendly?

Positives

• The audio is engaging with fun sound effects and dialogue.
• Students will be able to activate their critical thinking skills while assessing the challenges and potential solutions to sustainable flying.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should already be familiar with climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and the carbon cycle.
• The main content ends at 23 minutes and an advertisement plays at the end of the podcast starting at 26 minutes, 23 seconds.

Differentiation

• In social studies classes, discuss or write about the disparity between the emissions of the "Global North" and the "Global South" and the implications for justice and equity issues.
  
• Advanced students can act as a climate disinformation reporter, like the host of the episode, and create their own podcast or article about a climate change question or misconception.
• Science or STEM students can choose a solution they find particularly compelling and research it further, presenting their findings to the class or a small group.
• Cross-curricular connections can be made with civics classes by considering the role of government in regulating the environmental impacts of the aviation industry.
• Economics classes can discuss the economic factors that affect the feasibility of alternative fuels and the potential impact of government subsidies.
• Other resources about the climate impacts of flying include this detailed article for high-level students, this longer video by Vox, and this short video by ClimateScience.