It's hard to envision what 39 billion plastic bottles look like. Brita claims that the US uses that number of plastic bottles each year! If that's not enough to get your attention, figure out how many times 39 billion water bottles can wrap around the earth—it's almost unbelievable!

Concepts

length, ratios, circumference, circles

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

math

Show More Show Less

Instructional Ideas

• Use as an activity on Earth Day
• Incorporate scientific notation while making calculations

Classroom Considerations

• Requires a conceptual understanding of the circumference of a sphere

Pros

• Gives you the option to download resources for use offline
• Identifies a real-life issue while practicing math concepts

Cons

• None

Common Core

7.G.B.4