Year 12 Environmental Science Take On Climate Science at Ecolinc

Our Year 12 Environmental Science students recently spent a day at Ecolinc Science Centre in Bacchus Marsh, getting hands-on with the science behind climate change.

The highlight of the day was working with ice-core data. Ice sheets build up in layers over thousands of years, trapping tiny bubbles of ancient air as they form. By studying these layers, scientists can measure how much CO2 was in our atmosphere long before records began and compare it to today. Our students got to explore this proxy data for themselves, turning something usually read about in textbooks into a hands-on investigation.

The rest of the day was just as engaging. Students used thermal cameras to see how CO2 traps heat, ran experiments to explore what rising CO2 is doing to our oceans, and even tested whether seaweed could help pull carbon back out of the water, a genuine, current area of climate research.

It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to step outside the classroom and put real scientific skills into practice, while deepening their understanding of one of the biggest issues of our time. A great example of the kind of authentic, curriculum-linked learning we love to see our students engaging in.