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Talking about Climate
The famous five set off to solve climate change
Following the Climate Action sing along and a Model UN on Climate Change in September 2019, 5 Year 11 Geographers and Miss Lillington (Associate Assistant Head and Geography teacher) headed to the Museum of Natural History Museum in Oxford for a day of lectures and workshops linked to climate change on Tuesday 8th October 2019.
Conscious of our carbon footprint, we arrived in Oxford following two train journeys and we walked through the city to arrive at the museum. As the only Secondary School taking part in 'Let's Talk about Climate', our 5 Geographers stepped up to the challenge of A Level Geography content and looked at the what, where, why, how and solutions of Climate Change.
The lectures on Anthropocentric Climate Change, the impacts of climate change and the role of ecosystems in tackling climate change were interspersed with a range of workshops. The first workshop focused on measuring our carbon footprint. The planet is in crisis - from climate change to the pollution in our oceans and devastation of our forests. It's up to all of us to fix it. Take your first step with the environmental footprint calculator below to see how YOU compare to the UK and global average. The calculator also provides tips on more sustainable lifestyles and the impact of thinking globally and acting locally.
Year 11s also had the opportunity to use VR to find out about the process of fossilisation by actually going inside the rocks! The second workshop gave the pupils the opportunity to put themselves into the shoes of the decision makers by practising some climate modelling scenarios. Exploring the options linked to transport and fuel consumption it became clear that lifestyle changes recommended by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) can have social, economic and environmental implications.
The famous five may not have cracked climate change but the day was a great opportunity for the pupils to reflect on their work on climate change and also to consider the action they can take to make a difference. The chance to put forward solutions to experts within the field was fantastic and hopefully the pupils feel confident about the step up to A Level next year.
Participant Samantha commented: 'It was a really fun experience as we discovered our carbon footprint and it opened my eyes to a more sustainable way of living. I loved the workshops!'
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