Using mathematical and technological skills to teach third graders about carbon footprint

Abstract

To foster students’ meaningful learning of science, we designed and implemented a unit for five third-grade students that allowed them to understand Carbon Footprint (CF) in a public school in North Texas. The unit lasted seven weeks, where students identified the effects of distance traveled and packaging on the CF of certain consumable products. Each week, the students had one lesson for 50 min, and throughout the unit, we followed the 5E model. The unit culminated through a performance assessment where students designed and presented a poster to educate their peers about carbon footprint. The unit’s main objective was for students to identify how packaging and distance traveled affected the CF of certain food products using technology such as Microsoft Excel and Google Earth. At the end of the unit, students provided scientific arguments about the CF of food products they consumed.