To celebrate the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) taking place in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021, Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre are inviting schools from the Edinburgh City Region (Edinburgh, Lothians, Borders and Fife) to take part in COP26 Project Science.

This project is for Second Level pupils and their teachers, and is based around the Big Balloon Blow-Up, one of their Project Science investigations. The project aims to increase pupil and teacher confidence in using the scientific method, increase understanding of the scientific method and how it is used by local scientists, improve data handling skills, and increase awareness of contemporary research and its links to combatting climate change.

30 schools will receive a COP26-themed Big Balloon Blow Up reusable toolkit which has a value of £100, free of charge, which includes everything required for all of your Second Level pupils to carry out the practical investigation. The kits will remain with your school as a resource that we hope will support more hands-on science activity in future. We suggest that World Environment Day (5 June) would be a useful focus for repeat activity in future years.

In addition to the physical toolkit, participating schools will also receive links to following downloadable resources:

• Pupil worksheet for each learner to follow and document their investigation
• Teaching Guide to provide support and information for teachers using the kit. Includes information on the scientific method, how to support pupils to ask and answer their own scientific questions, links to other relevant research about climate change happening at the University of Edinburgh, health and safety considerations, and terms and conditions of use.
• Class Presentation to support pupils and teachers to use the investigation pack and explore COP26 themes linked to real-life research in Scotland.
• Real-Life Research Case Study to be used to talk about the real-world research addressing the contribution of livestock to greenhouse gases.

 

This is a great opportunity to partner with the University of Edinburgh and support Learning for Sustainability in your school. To find out more about this project and to apply, please visit the website the closing date for application is Friday 24 September at 5pm.