Year 9 project offers environmental optimism for the future
Print Edition
One of the topics of conversation we ceaselessly hear while living in Shanghai is the issue of pollution. Since I have been working here as a teacher I have been involved in countless conversations; not just about the air but also about the water, the soil and the food chain.
The air may be less of an issue here at Harrow because of our industry-leading air filtration system, regarded as amongst the best in the city. But should we be as worried about the other things? I have friends here who rarely buy the local meat or fruit and vegetables. Are we all worrying too much? I don’t know. But in the spirit of generating a healthy skepticism, the Year 9 students at Harrow have been conducting their own research with a “cleaner environment project.”
As a science teacher with 30 years of experience, nothing makes me happier in the classroom than the questions of “why?”, “how?” and “what if?” Surely it’s our principal responsibility as science teachers to encourage this inquisitive attitude. I doubt I would hear many science teachers dispute this, although many, including myself, might occasionally moan about the syllabus constraints that don’t allow enough time for this kind of teaching. Year 9 therefore provides us with a huge opportunity to do some serious independent investigating. The lower years have hopefully equipped them with the necessary skills and the pressure of the IGCSE exams are some way off! It’s a good time for a little scientific digging.
The pupils decided to investigate the big issues, the ones we need to worry about: heavy metal pollution in the soil (“don’t eat the fruit!”), nitrates in the water (“don’t brush your teeth with it!”), low level ozone (“why aren’t you wearing a mask?”), methane (“you know where that comes from, don’t you?”) and acid rain (“I never go out in the rain without a safety helmet!”). Although I admit I have never actually heard anyone say the last one, we all recognize the others. The Year 9 pupils wanted to find out for themselves.
So, what did they find out? Firstly, they learned it is very difficult to replicate environmental conditions in a school laboratory. This is one of the reasons we still have lots of doubt and scepticism today about the findings in these areas of research. They were disappointed by this, but it has seriously developed their design skills. If at first you don’t succeed, and all that. They’ll do better next time. Secondly, they learned that pea seedlings grow much faster in a methane-rich environment. Its circular logic I accept, but is there a link here to that unmentionable dietary property of the pulses? I’ll leave you to ruminate over that over your Christmas dinner and say no more. But thirdly, and most importantly in my opinion, they developed optimism. Their research let them see there have been catastrophes and many success stories. One student discovered a project in Brazil where money is being made using plants to extract valuable heavy metals from heavily contaminated soils. And more than that, many of the success stories they found came from here in China, from the efforts to clean up Taihu Lake to the “trees and flower project” in Tangshan.
I think the pupils finished their cleaner environment project with a renewed faith that science has the answers to the pollution problem and that many of these answers will come from China.
“Necessity is the mother of invention” as my dear old mother always used to say. As I look out of the window on some days I can see the necessity clearly enough, if you’ll pardon the pun, but I also know the invention isn’t far behind. And these inventions will come from the scientists of tomorrow, the ones sitting in our classrooms today. It’s a great responsibility to have as a science teacher but also an enormous privilege. So, cheer up! “Tis the season to be jolly” after all.
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