Blog #6: Math and Science Cross Curricular Lesson

Hey everyone,

Math and Science are two subjects that are tightly related, and connections between the two can easily be made to enhance the learning within these two topics.

Science has many branches, there can be connections to biology, chemistry, physics, environmental science, astronomy, etc.

I am going to focus on the cross-curricular connection that can be made between math and environmental science.

In this activity, students will be asked to identify an environmental challenge. This can be globally or locally, but they will have to find research about the issue online. I would recommend booking a computer lab for this activity to ensure all students have access to technology.

Students will have to explain context, cause, effect, and other relevant information about the environmental challenge. They can use the internet to include research and conclusions.

This will cover the expectation B3.1 from the Grade 11 University/College Preparation Environmental Science course (SVN3M).

B3.1 identify some major contemporary environmental challenges (e.g., global warming, acid precipitation), and explain their causes (e.g., deforestation, carbon and sulfur emissions) and effects (e.g., desertification, the creation of environmental refugees, the destruction of aquatic and terrestrial habitats) - p. 155 from SVN3M

Students will also have to research data from secondary sources online and model their research using spreadsheets, graphs, etc. to demonstrate the changes to the issue over time. 

This will cover the expectation D1.2 from the Grade 11 Foundations for College Mathematics course (MBF3C)

1.2 collect one-variable data from secondary sources (e.g., Internet databases), and organize and store the data using a variety of tools (e.g., spreadsheets, dynamic statistical software) - p. 74 from MBF3C

I would recommend creating a worksheet or a graphic organizer that students can fill out while completing their research and creating their spreadsheets, or data models.

I found some examples of other environmental science - math lessons. Here you can look through to see if there are any that interest you!

Science Buddies - Eleventh Grade, Environmental Science Lesson Plans

Teachers Pay Teachers - Environmental math worksheets