Is It Wrong to Fly?

Videos

Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by Vox

Open Resource

What it is

This video from Vox examines the ethical considerations of flying, the "flight shaming" movement, and recent innovations in electric plane technology that may enable future alternatives.
Using a flight emissions calculator and carbon footprint calculations, the hosts of Vox discover how each of our individual actions has an impact on climate change.

Teaching tips

Positives

This video provides an in-depth analysis of the ethics of flying and how individual choices impact the climate.
The hosts make a somewhat abstract concept easy to understand by helping viewers visualize the connection between the number of flights the hosts are taking and how much Arctic sea ice is melting as a result.

Prerequisites

Viewers should have basic knowledge of how fossil fuels are contributing to climate change.

Differentiation & Implementation

Although this video is long and better adapted for high school audiences, middle school audiences can gain a better understanding of how personal choices have direct impacts on climate change by watching the video up until 9:44. After that point, the video shifts to Greta Thunberg's trip to the United States and a test flight in a small electric aircraft.
Math classes can watch this video and then calculate their own carbon footprint by using the links provided in the video description.
Students can identify concrete ways to take action against climate change and work to inform the public about what they learned.
Students can explore this online platform about people quitting flying, this fact sheet about how aviation impacts the climate, and this fact sheet on the aviation industry's greenwashing of electric flight.

From the scientist review

It is true that air travel is one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions. This video from Vox explores the data behind this and asks if it is wrong to fly. This resource is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering
Format: YouTube Video
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: Vox
Authors: Vox
Published: April 27, 2021
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · D4.7.6-8 + 7 more

Core

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards

D4.7.6-8Assess their individual and collective capacities to take action to address local, regional, and global problems, taking into account a range of possible levers of power, strategies, and potential outcomes.
D2.Civ.14.9-12Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-ESS3-3.Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
MS-ESS3-4.Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
MS-ESS3-D.Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities. (MS-ESS3-5)

Wisconsin Climate Education Hub

English Language Arts

SL.8.2Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.

Science

HS-ESS3-4.Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
HS-ETS1-3.Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

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