Teach-Secondary-Issue-14.5

The power of PROGRESS Kit Betts-Masters tells us why the profession should be teaching students about the possibilities of a more optimistic technological and environmental future... C limate change? Again? ” Up goes the familiar response from the students, as they enter the classroom and spot the starter slide. “ We’ve done this already! We get it – boomers used up the Earth’s resources, filled the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and nowwe’re all doomed. ” (I think we can forgive them for that last expression of opinion). Climate change appears in each of the three science specifications at GCSE, and for good reason. It’s undoubtedly the biggest challenge presently facing humanity. This current generation of young people feel both the responsibility to take action to halt it, and resentment at previous generations for having caused it, while in their eyes, taking next to no action to actually fix things. And yes, some leaders are still running on ‘clean coal’ or ‘ Economy now, environment later ’ slogans – but those policies will usually leave office when they do. Outdatedmessaging Climate crops up in every corner of GCSE science, across physics, chemistry and biology, but I think our teaching is a little outdated. We can all chant “ Remember to turn off the lights! ” – yet today’s LEDs use a fraction of the power of those old filament bulbs. Our students have heard the same gloomy headlines throughout their lives; our energy habits are fuelling global warming, habitats are shrinking, sea levels are rising, ice caps are melting and gigatonnes of CO 2 threaten an unstoppable runaway crisis. At the same time, however, there is so much good news – especially here in the UK. Despite our tech use exploding over the last 20 years, coinciding with a growth in our population, overall energy demand has actually fallen, since our gadgets, appliances and manufacturing processes are now far more efficient than they used to be. GREENHOUSE GASES AND GLOBALWARMING Electricity generation remains responsible for much of the CO 2 that’s causing global warming, but show your students the flipside – that 92% of new power added worldwide last year was renewable. In the UK, just 30% of our generation in 2024 came from burning gas. Source: IRENARenewable Capacity Statistics, 2024 EVALUATING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS Show your class an eerie 1970s photo of a lifeless lake, and discuss with them the impact of acid rain – then show them a picture of the same lake today. Point out how UK SO 2 emissions have fallen > 90% since scientists began pushing for anti- pollution laws in the 1970s. Source: Defra Air Pollutant Inventory, 2023 METHANE MATTERS It’s an irrefutable truth that cows fart, thus producing methane – another greenhouse gas. So teach your students about feed additives such as 3-NOP, which has been shown to cut livestock methane emissions by as much as 30% to 35% in dairy trials. Source: EFSAAuthorisation Decision, 2022 LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENTS One of my favourite football shirts is made from ocean- bound plastic. Let students compare and score real garments using a simple LCA sheet. Have them check out Adidas’ partnership with Parley to create trainers and sportswear, which has been running since 2015. HUMANS,WASTE AND POLLUTION Explain how less than 10% of PET plastic is recycled worldwide, which presents massive issues for both land and marine habitats. Then introduce your students to the PET- eating enzyme that can turn old bottles back into pristine plastic, prompting them to see how chemistry can present ways of ‘looping’ materials, instead of simply landfilling them. Source: Carbios, 2023 52 teachwire.net/secondary