The first thing that made me stop was when Moshe Renert was talking about large numbers, and how its hard for students to even imagine or picture it in their heads. This is also true for very small numbers, it's hard to relate small/large numbers to things in every day life. For subjects such as science, its important that when teaching the magnitude of these small or large numbers that we relate them to real life examples. For example, we can relate the amount of bacteria in a mouth to the population of the world.
Another thing that made me stop and think is when Renert says, "Like most other information about the environment, the statement relies on mathematical reasoning and numbers. Making sense of it requires some sophistication in proportional reasoning." Basic proportional reasoning is something that everybody understands, "the more I buy the more I pay". But to apply it to a larger scale is something that can be an effective tool to get students to start thinking about global issues. People tend to be more engaged when the topics are related to their personal everyday lives.
As teachers, it's important for us to incorporate topics climate/pollution in the curriculum whenever possible. This will help engage students in their own learning of math/science and consider their own carbon footprint. For topics such as proportional/exponential growth we can talk about examples of how methane or CO2 affects the Earth. Our obligation is to educate youth, and at this moment climate crisis is a major issue for the upcoming generation. We have to do our best to spread awareness of this real problem, and to equip students with at least a basic understanding of what they can do to help.
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