A new way of showing how maths is used in the real world to help create a sustainable future.

Stefan Gates meets people using maths to find innovative solutions to the ecological challenges of our age. From local food to food waste, recycling to rainwater harvesting, biofuels to biodiversity, this series highlights how maths is crucial to managing our environment.

This compilation of short films is appropriate for Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 with clear links to the maths curriculum at each stage. It progresses from stories that address local issues to national and then global themes.

In this episode, targeted at primary school-aged students, viewers learn about time, distance, number patterns and operations as Stefan visits a farm in Devon that uses maths to calculate the most environmentally friendly way of delivering organic food boxes. He visits a vast recycling plant to explore how 2-D and 3-D shapes are used to sort and reuse rubbish, and visits a school that uses recycled objects in many different ways. At a brand new hospital in London, he learns about measuring and controlling temperature, and visits a school that uses data collection, tables and charts to run an energy-saving campaign.

Stefan also visits a huge hi-tech greenhouse in Kent to learn how much rain can be collected from a roof using ideas of conservation of volume and calculating area. He explores alternatives to car use by pedalling a rickshaw across Bristol, and constructs simple equations to calculate the carbon cost of a new cycle way. He also visits a unique grocery in Manchester and learns how to reduce food waste by turning facts and figures into fractions and percentages. Show less