Climate Education and Sustainability

Mathematical insight is key to understanding the world around us and our impact on it

A good maths education is vital to begin solving some the problems our world faces

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Overview

Mathematical insight is key to understanding the world around us and our impact on it. A good maths education is vital to begin solving some the problems our world faces.

Following the publication of the Department for Education’s recent Curriculum and Assessment Review, schools and colleges are increasingly including climate and sustainability within their development plans and looking for ways to engage students with those issues. Through MEI’s work supporting schools and colleges, we’ve been able to create free, high-quality resources for teachers to use in the classroom that do just that.

If you want to help solve many of the big problems facing the world, including climate change, you can really help if you start with a good understanding of maths. The science and engineering needed cannot progress without it. I know this from my own experience of working on climate modelling for many years. Now, as Chair of MEI, I am pleased that MEI is helping to provide climate change maths problems for students to work on.

Professor Vicky Pope, Chair of MEI

Resources

Here are a range of resources that use climate and sustainability as a context for mathematical learning.

The Big Earth Data Project

A suite of hands-on activities to engage and inspire students to look at current environmental challenges faced today, funded by the UK Space Agency.
The Big Earth Data Project
Maths and Climate Change Resources

A suite of climate change focused maths resources for both Core Maths and Key Stage 3 students.
Maths and Climate Change
Where Maths Meets the World of Work Videos

A collection of videos produced by AMSP that highlight the role of mathematics in various careers, including several focused on climate and sustainability.
Where Maths Meets the World of Work
Your food’s carbon footprint

This AMSP-published Desmos activity aims to show how important maths is in understanding and communicating global issues.
Your food’s carbon footprint
Visualising the Climate Crisis

These resources, published by the AMSP, highlight the environmental impact of fast fashion with a focus on the annual purchase of a Christmas jumper.
Visualising the Climate Crisis