Fresh Air – Fresh Thinking: Volunteers Needed
To support a project for Primary and Secondary School Students: September 2021 to June 2022
We are launching a major new science, technology and computing project for primary and secondary schools.
We are looking for volunteers (STEM Ambassadors) who will help us by working as a champion to support student teams with the following:
- Collect weather and air quality information (equipment will be supplied).
- Interpret, publish and share data in real-time with other schools – opportunity for coding and web development.
- Undertake a survey of student, staff or parent perceptions of air pollution.
- Design and carry out a scientific investigation into clean air, nitrous oxides or particulate matter. Or you can discuss your own idea with your CSES School Champion to develop your own unique study.
Do you have a few hours a month to support this exciting project?
CSES has a long record of supporting STEM in schools with talks, competitions, hands on workshops and awarding bursaries to support STE(A)M activities. We now have funding to support the first of our major annual projects in partnership with our primary and secondary schools.
Sustainability, climate change and environmental issues such as pollution – especially those related to human activities – are now global issues. In this project, we intend to provide selected schools with equipment that will enable students to investigate aspects of the air we breathe. Increasing exposure to pollutants including methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter are not only of concern in climate change but have been implicated in a range of health issues and in both adults and children including lung function, asthma and even reducing memory function.
The aim of this project is to encourage curiosity and creativity, develop research skills and teamwork, and increase young people’s awareness of how STEM can not only help address the issue but also an awareness of how it might also contribute to the problem!
CSES will provide basic equipment to monitor both climate and aspects of air pollution, using Raspberry Pi. FULL INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE PROVIDED!
This is where you come in: each partner school will also have a dedicated CSES STE(A)M champion who will help design and execute the student-led project and, where possible, facilitate access to university and commercial STEM resources. Initially, the CSES champion will supply regular support and encouragement via Microsoft Teams but, as social distancing allows, face-to-face support may be possible.
If appropriate, student teams will be encouraged to submit their projects for an appropriate CREST award, but for less confident students the champions will have access to a wealth of relevant background information and hands-on activities that can be adapted and modified to develop rewarding projects.
We are now looking for some keen volunteers / STEM Ambassadors who will help us realise this project by working as a champion to support the students in the participating schools across Essex.
Do you have a few hours a month to support this exciting project?
Please contact our Vice President for Education, Professor David Humber, for further information (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).