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Is It Wrong to Fly?

Provided by: Vox |Published on: April 27, 2021

Videos Grades 6-8, 9-12

Synopsis

This video from Vox examines the ethical considerations of flying, the "flight shaming" movement, and recent innovations in electric plane technology that may enable future alternatives.
Using a flight emissions calculator and carbon footprint calculations, the hosts of Vox discover how each of our individual actions has an impact on climate change.

Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering

Authors: Vox

Region: Global

Languages: English

Positives

This video provides an in-depth analysis of the ethics of flying and how individual choices impact the climate.
The hosts make a somewhat abstract concept easy to understand by helping viewers visualize the connection between the number of flights the hosts are taking and how much Arctic sea ice is melting as a result.

Prerequisites

Viewers should have basic knowledge of how fossil fuels are contributing to climate change.

Differentiation & Implementation

Although this video is long and better adapted for high school audiences, middle school audiences can gain a better understanding of how personal choices have direct impacts on climate change by watching the video up until 9:44. After that point, the video shifts to Greta Thunberg's trip to the United States and a test flight in a small electric aircraft.
Math classes can watch this video and then calculate their own carbon footprint by using the links provided in the video description.
Students can identify concrete ways to take action against climate change and work to inform the public about what they learned.
Students can explore this online platform about people quitting flying, this fact sheet about how aviation impacts the climate, and this fact sheet on the aviation industry's greenwashing of electric flight.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format

All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.