National Science Week: carbon capture and storage teaching resources launched
The Global CCS Institute has launched educational resources created by CSIRO to help teachers and school students learn about carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Launched during National Science Week, the resources will be delivered by CSIRO’s CarbonKids; a program used in over 230 schools providing education resources on climate change, sustainability and energy technology.
Global CCS Institute CEO Brad Page welcomed the opportunity to raise the awareness of a technology that will play an important part in Australia’s future energy mix.
“The Institute is committed to improving understanding of CCS and its potential to make a significant contribution to reducing global CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
“We are pleased to be partnering with CSIRO to launch these resources and confirm our support of the CarbonKids initiative,” said Page.
“It is particularly fitting to be launching the resources during this National Science Week as the theme for schools this year is ‘Energy Evolution’.”
CCS has been included as part of the CarbonKids education resources kit given the technology’s potential to play a key role in Australia, and the world’s future energy mix, as highlighted by the International Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Perspectives 2012 report.
The resources were reviewed by science and education experts, trialled in classrooms across Australia and internationally and form part of CarbonKids’ low-emission technology series.
Using the latest science and research from around the world, the inquiry-based learning resources were developed following a global review of what was currently available for schools and teachers.
CSIRO Director of Advanced Coal Technology John Carras said that providing the latest science to the Australian public was a priority for CSIRO.
“CSIRO plays an important role in advancing global knowledge and solving real world problems. But we also need to communicate this understanding to the Australian public as well.
“Developing the education resources on CCS and including them within the CSIRO’s CarbonKids program helps make this information available to students and teachers.” said Carras.
The CCS education resources are free and available online: www.globalccsinstitute.com/campaign/2012/06/carbon-kids
Media enquiries:
Global CCS Institute: Gareth Lloyd, +61 (0)488 268140, media@globalccsinstitute.com
CSIRO: Kirsten Lea, +61 (0)457 563 684, kirsten.lea@csiro.au
Notes
About the Global CCS Institute
The Global CCS Institute accelerates the adoption of carbon capture and storage (CCS), a key solution in mitigating climate change and providing energy security.
The Institute advocates for CCS as one of the options required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions being released into the atmosphere, both from power generation and industrial sources. It shares information from its international Membership, while building capacity to ensure that CCS can become a widely-used technology as quickly as possible.
The Institute brings together projects, policy-makers and researchers to overcome challenges facing CCS. From there, it creates channels through which to learn from each other, ensuring a smooth and rapid roll-out of this important technology.
For more information, visit www.globalccsinstitute.com
About CSIRO’s CarbonKids
Using the best available science and an inquiry-based education approach, CSIRO’s CarbonKids provides teaching units and activities for primary and secondary school students around Australia on a range of topics on the environment, energy, climate change and technology, for example biodiversity, agriculture, plants and carbon chemistry.
The teaching units and activities are continuously being developed in line with today’s topics and new science. The CCS module forms part of the low-emission technology series, together with modules on renewable energy and energy.
For more information, visit www.csiro.au/carbonkids
Teacher Testimonials
The CCS education resources and the testimonials of a number of the teachers who have trialled the resources are available to download from the Global CCS Institute’s website: www.globalccsinstitute.com
“The problem we have at the moment is many students aren’t going on with their science studies because they can’t see the relevance in it. This type of program introduces them to something that is part of the live world, something they can see every day in the media, in the news and something they can have a say in, they can make an impact.”
John Simpson, Hernandez Middle School,Austin, Texas
“I learnt so much from this Unit. The actual Unit has got fantastic background information, so I didn’t feel overwhelmed by it all.”
Susan Mayo, Narrabeen Lakes Public School, NSW
“The additional bonus of the CarbonKids program is that major components are linked to the Australian curriculum and that in itself provides an exceptional resource for our current school learning environment.”
Margaret Hughes, Forrest Primary, ACT
“The first time we trialled the CCS Unit with the kids it was actually more of a learning experience for me than it was for the children – up until that time I had no idea what carbon capture and storage was. It was a great learning journey together.”
Michael Grove, St Anne’s Primary School, WA
“The more relevant you can make learning for the children the better! That’s often been a criticism of education, that teachers aren’t keeping abreast and keeping up with technologies.”
Fiona Cole, Gympie East State School, QLD
“We chose to be a CarbonKids school because our vision is all about today’s and tomorrow’s citizens, so we thought that it would be ideal to get the kids learning about science and technology and carbon emissions and low carbon technologies.”
Trent Shaw, Kin Kin State School, QLD
