The Math and Science of Junk Mail Project

A Problem Based Learning Activity for Environmental Issues

May 10, 2009 David R. Wetzel

An investigation into the cost of junk mail on society and the environment caused by the junk mail delivered to homes on a daily basis over a given period of time.

Junk mail arrives in mail boxes everyday and is thrown in trash cans or alternatively in recycle bins. This mail is a nuisance and comes in the form of unwanted advertising. Junk mail is an excellent resource for math and science classes to study a problem people face every day. Instead of throwing unsolicited advertisements away, put this unwanted mail to work in the classroom.

This project is designed to make connections through real-world applications of math and science. Students use math to calculate the amount of unwanted mail received and science to determine the amount of environmental impact on the environment caused by this mail. The following are some statistics about junk mail offered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency :

• More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail.
• State and local governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to collect and dispose of junk mail that does not get recycled.
• 28 billion gallons of water are wasted to produce and recycle junk mail each year.
• 44 percent of all such mail goes into landfills unopened.

Junk Mail Problem Based Learning Project

The first step of the project is to allow students to develop a class definition for what constitutes unwanted mail. Allowing students to develop the definition sets the stage for the project and assists in the elimination of any misconceptions students may have regarding this type of mail.

This type of problem based learning project meets requirements for math case studies, science case studies, and science process skills.

Materials: scale, calculators, USA wall map, large storage bin, and colored map pins.

Project Procedures

The following guidelines are provided and can be adapted to meet specific situations.

Period of project: Two Weeks

Data Collection Every school day:

1. Students collect data for each piece of junk mail received in a data table or spreadsheet program individually, in groups, or as a whole class.
2. Data is recorded for each piece of mail such as weight and category of mail. Categories include catalog, advertisement, solicitation, and others based on type received.
3. Record the zip code each piece of mail. This is used to calculate the distance each piece of mail traveled from sender to receiver. Google maps or a mapping program is good for collecting this data.
4. Students place a pin in the wall map to indicate the sender’s location. Use a different color to represent multiple senders from one zip code, i.e., a red pin equals 10 senders and a green pin equals 20 senders.

Data Analysis (Eight School Days):

After the junk mail collection period is over, students spend next two days analyzing data to calculate the:

• weight of all mail received.
• cost to mail at $7.04 per pound (U.S. Postal Rates, May 2009).
• total miles traveled to reach their homes (based on zip code to zip code).
• total cost to transport at 0.55 cents per mile (Internal Revenue Standard Business Mileage Rates, 2009).
• total carbon foot print in pounds of carbon dumped into the air using 10.86 pounds of carbon emission for every pound of mail.

Questions to Ask Students

1. How much junk mail will the class collect in a month? In a Year?
2. What is the expected cost of the mail the class collects for a month? For a Year?
3. How much does it cost to transport the unwanted mail in a month? In a Year?
4. How much carbon will be emitted into the air per month? In a Year?

Making Connections in Math and Science with Junk Mail

This problem based learning project helps students make connections in and between science and math as they calculate the carbon footprint and monetary costs of unsolicited mail. Extensions of this project are the carbon foot for the entire school and school district. This project is also ideal as foundation for a cross curricular thematic unit.

When the project is completed, all mail collected during the project must be taken to the nearest post office for recycling as mixed paper. All post office locations participate in the PO BOX Lobby Recycling program started by the U.S. Post Office for collecting this type of mail.

The copyright of the article The Math and Science of Junk Mail Project in Curricula/Lesson Plans is owned by David R. Wetzel. Permission to republish The Math and Science of Junk Mail Project in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Unwanted Junk Mail

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