Grade level: 5th – 6th grades
Skills: Fraction
Related environmental issues: Climate Change
Every year, an annual meeting of all nations, called COP, is held to talk about climate change. In November 2015, the COP meeting was held in Paris, France, and it reached a landmark agreement on climate to keep a global average temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. The agreement is called Paris Agreement. To make the Paris Agreement officially valid, at least 55 nations needed to ratify (accept) the agreement.
- By November 2016, 116 nations agreed with the agreement. Do you think did the Paris Agreement enter into force?
- How many more countries ratified the agreement than the threshold of 55 nations required for bringing the Agreement into force.
- In total, there are 196 nations in the world. What fraction of the nations did not ratify the agreement? Write the fraction in simplest form.
Sources: United Nations
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Answer keys
- yes (116>55)
- 61 (116-55=61)
- 20/ 49 (196 – 116 = 80; 80/196 =20/ 49 )