Environmental Education and Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum

The aims of the mathematics curriculum include helping to develop in students the skills, concepts, understandings, and attitudes that will enable them to cope confidently with the mathematics of daily life. The mathematics curriculum also aims to help students to develop a variety of approaches to solving problems involving mathematics and to develop the ability to think and reason logically. Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1992) contains a range of achievement objectives that provide opportunities for integrating the aims, key concepts, and key dimensions of environmental education with mathematics programmes.

The following section, organised by strands, identifies strands and achievement objectives in Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum and suggests some associated study topics that could be used to meet the aims of environmental education and explore its concepts and dimensions. Potentially, any mathematical activity could be based on issues related to the environment. For this reason, the section presents examples drawn from the broad expression of the achievement aims for each strand. (This is the online version of the table on pages 39 and 40 of Guidelines for Environmental Education in New Zealand Schools.)

The mathematical process skills of Problem Solving, Developing Logic and Reasoning, and Communicating Mathematical Ideas all contribute to Aim 4, which is to develop the "skills involved in identifying, investigating, and problem solving associated with environmental issues". The application and communication of these ideas can also contribute to Aim 5, which is to develop "a sense of responsibility through participation and action as individuals, or members of groups, whānau, or iwi, in addressing environmental issues".

Mathematics provides opportunities for exploring the key dimensions of environmental education. Learning in mathematics can be undertaken through education in the environment, such as when students produce a quantitative report on an environmental theme. For example, they might research the amount of water commonly used by households and then calculate the savings made by fixing a dripping tap, showering rather than bathing, or placing a brick in the cistern. Education about the environment can be pursued through a range of learning experiences, such as a study of the ways in which pesticides affect the density of the earthworm population in a square metre of soil. Education for the environment will occur when students act on their learning in ways that maintain and improve the quality of the environment, such as when they use their mathematical skills to advance an environmental cause.

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