Maths for Planet Earth: Climate Based Questions for students and teachers

A team of students and academics at the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, and Department of Physics, University of Oxford, developed the Maths for Planet Earth questions. They work on climate and energy issues and are passionate about inspiring young people to join the fight against climate change.

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The world needs brainy mathematicians to help tackle climate change.

The aim of these questions is to integrate climate change into the school curriculum beyond the usual suspects of geography and environmental science.

These questions closely follow example problems from GCSE and A level past exams and were developed using existing exam questions. The maths skills tested in the question remained unchanged, but the context of the question was adapted to a climate change theme.

A Climate Aware Citizen
A Level
A Climate Aware Citizen
A person decides in 2020 that they want to completely eradicate their carbon footprint in 20 months. Following this decision, they begin to use
ICE Incineration
A Level
Ice Incineration
A country’s government wants to reduce the number of cars using internal combustion engines by encouraging the purchase of electric vehicles. The total number
A Solar Sine Curve
A Level
A Solar Sine Curve
You are given the equation [fleft( x right) = 5costheta – 8sintheta] a) Express f(x) in the form (Rcos{(theta + alpha})) where (R >
A New Renewable
A Level
A New Renewable
A scientist wishes to develop a new way of generating renewable energy. They decide to use a large magnet on a large spring, oscillating
Net-Zero Buses
A Level
Net-Zero Buses
15 cities, each of varying sizes, decide to have carbon-neutral public transport systems. When the cities are arranged in size order from smallest to
EV Increase
A Level
EV Increase
A country decides to subsidise the purchase of electric vehicles, causing more people to buy them. Initially, the country used an equivalent of 56
A Nuclear Disaster
A Level
A Nuclear Disaster
Chernobyl is the site of a nuclear disaster that happened in 1986. Due to the slow decay of radioactive elements, the site is still
Warming Up A Solar Cell
A Level
Warming up a Solar Cell
The temperature T˚C of a solar cell during a 24 hour period is modelled as  [T = 20 – kleft( 15 – frac{5t}{4} right)^{2}
solar panelling a house
GCSE
Solar Panelling a House
A homeowner wishes to cover their roof with solar panels. Their roof can be modelled as a prism with volume 24m3 The height of
an offshore wind farm
GCSE
An Offshore Wind Farm
Below is a diagram of 3 offshore wind turbines, A, B and C, in a wind farm, as seen from above. Given that the
a changing transport system
GCSE
A Changing Transport System
Cars and transport, and the gases and particulates that they emit from their exhausts have a serious effect on the environment and on human

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