Creating a Sustainable Life on Earth Project Chemical Sciences (CASLOE-CS)

CASLOE-CS is a chemical sciences sector careers education project that uses the environmental challenges humanity faces and young peoples’ interest in addressing them through their future careers, as a metaphor through which they can be introduced to work that is been done in the chemical sciences sector to address these challenges. Through taking part in CASLOE-CS, young people will find out about the different career and progression pathways into the chemical sciences, such as green energy, materials, environmental and food science, agriculture, and engineering, that will enable them to address these challenges through their future careers.

The CASLOE-CS project involves learners taking part in a series of workshops and webinars with a professional and/or an academic from the chemical sciences sector who are working to address environmental challenges. They will then work in teams to research one environmental challenge and create a presentation about:

·         The challenge they have identified to research

·         The impact of the challenge

·         How the challenge they have identified is currently being addressed

·         The companies, organisations or individuals who are working on addressing this challenge

·         The progression opportunities that are available to them which could enable them to address the environmental challenges we face

·         The technology systems that are being developed to address this challenge

·         Any innovative solutions the learners themselves could suggest to address this challenge

 Comments from learners who took part in the CASLOE-CS project:

I enjoyed everything about the project especially working as a team to put our display about Fast Fashion together.

The project made me feel I was a chemist working on new materials – that was great.

I loved learning about how you can make clothing out of mushroom and orange peel.

This project really made me think about what I want to do in the future.

I really enjoyed thinking about how people would try to solve problems in the environment through chemistry especially waste materials.

I really enjoyed this project because of the things I learnt.

I enjoyed this project. It was so different to what we usually do in class.

I really enjoyed doing the webinar with everybody.

I was good being able to express that there can be a change in the environment.

I liked creating our own design of clothing using sustainable materials.

I enjoyed having zoom meetings with different people and getting to listen to what they do as a job or a career.

I really liked exploring the virtual expo and finding out about people working to help the environment.

Written feedback in response to the following prompts
What, if any, lasting impact will this project have?

The pupils were very enthusiastic about the project and we now need to plan how we share this with the rest of the Eco Teams in other year groups. We are hoping to
produce a PP to share with them and use in the future as one of our projects for the Eco Council.
Some of our children have already spoke about future careers in the area of chemical sciences, and many others continue to discuss areas relevant to their interests, e.g.
sustainable fashion.
From the teachers’ feedback it is clear that 4FC met the targets of having a lasting impact on the learners and an increasing the number of learners who are aware of
and are considering a career in the chemical sciences sector.

 Any other comments?

The children have really enjoyed meeting all the visitors and it has really improved their understanding of the different careers that are available.
The after-school club at one high school was cancelled before the EALSOE project was completed so learners didn’t complete the project. The teacher and learners from the
other high school did not complete the evaluation.

Developing our learners to realise their potential is always a priority for me as Headteacher of Ysgol Bryn Gwalia.  The CASLOE CS project gave the children a very
real and purposeful opportunity to become changemakers in their own right, seeing them so passionate and engaged about the world of fast fashion and chemical sciences was
inspiring. 

The project captured every part of the Four Purposes as well as developing their integral skills along the way, especially careers and the world of work, chemical sciences, and fashion.  It tapped into every Area of Learning and helped produce work of a very high standard culminating in the children creating their own sustainable clothing and a fashion show for Parents. It has led to the School Ambassadors wanting to set up a clothes recycling service for the school and some very persuasive letters to the Prime minister. 

Developing this further with Mark would give us the opportunity to create a school of changemakers; children who see their potential and consider the world as part of their
future and embrace their possibilities to make a difference.

The project created an interest in chemical sciences with my learners through looking at how people are creating and using more sustainable materials that I or other teachers
could follow up on in the future?
 

The pupils were very enthusiastic about the project, and we now need to plan how we share this with the rest of the Eco Teams in other year groups. We are hoping to produce a PP to share with them and use in the future as one of our projects for the Eco Council. It has also been insightful for staff and we have been researching sustainable fashion

Some of our children have already spoken about future careers in the area of chemical sciences, and many others continue to discuss areas relevant to their interests, e.g. sustainable fashion, local wind farms