Flying vs. Driving

Activity - Classroom

Grades6, 7, 8Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by MIT Climate Action Through Education

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What it is

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.

Teaching tips

Positives

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.

From the scientist review

This engaging math lesson tasks students with comparing climate emissions between modes of transport. Several sources, including one from EPA, are linked and provide background for students to formulate their calculations. The only issue is a broken link to the source for aircraft carbon emissions, but the needed value is included in the worksheet. This resource is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 6, 7, 8
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics
Other types: Articles/Websites, Worksheets, Podcasts
Format: PDF
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: MIT Climate Action Through Education
Authors: Amy Block
Published: January 28, 2025
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · MS-ESS3-5. + 5 more

Core

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-ESS3-5.Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
MS-ESS3-C.2.Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise. (MS-ESS3-3), (MS-ESS3-4)

Maine Climate Education Hub

Mathematics

6.RP.A.2Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b ≠ 0 and use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship.
6.RP.A.3Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems (e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations).
8.F.B.4Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Determine the rate of change and initial value of the function from a description of a relationship or from two (x, y) values, including reading these from a table or from a graph. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models, and in terms of its graph or a table of values.

Science and Engineering

MS-ETS1-3Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

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Teaching tips

From the scientist review

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