Great Science Share for Schools encourages Greater Manchester children to help tackle the climate emergency through climate action.

The Great Science Share for Schools (GSSfS) is a national campaign to elevate the prominence of science in the classroom.

Now in its seventh year, the campaign has seen exponential growth with over 303,000 primary and secondary school pupils signed up to participate this year. Thousands of schools and STEM organisations across the UK and internationally, shared science investigations on 14 June. The University of Manchester welcomed primary and secondary pupils to their newly-opened Engineering Building for this celebratory event where pupils demonstrated and discussed their scientific questions and evidence with hundreds of guests.

This year’s theme is Climate Action – a pertinent theme that captures the interest and curiosity of us all. The pupils have spent weeks gathering data, analysing, and drawing conclusions about a wide range of questions, including:

• What is the best green energy source to power our school?
• Does location affect the amount of air pollution?
• How well do natural insulators protect against colder climates?

The event was attended by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Donna Ludford alongside other local business, and education professionals. The guests were encouraged to listen and question the pupils about their findings as part of this inclusive and non-competitive event.

Dr Lynne Bianchi, Campaign Director, said: “We are honoured to have the support of so many STEM organisations, industry and educational partners. Without their support the campaign would not have continued to reach so many children, especially those in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation. I thank each one for their ongoing support and encourage each to consider how to strengthen their partnership with GSSfS in the future.”

In commemoration of their involvement in this year’s Great Science Share for Schools, the University has partnered with City of Trees to gift every school attending their own tree. The opportunity to plant a tree in their school grounds or gift their tree to another Greater Manchester School will be a lasting legacy of their involvement in the Great Science Share for Schools campaign.

Steph Hepworth, Campaign Manager, Great Science Share for Schools, said: “We are confident the children’s experience today, in sharing their own scientific questions and investigations, alongside the gift of a tree, will encourage them to continue thinking about science and climate action in years to come. Their participation will set them on course to be future scientists and engineers contributing to solutions that mitigate the impacts of the climate emergency or contribute to a more sustainable way of living.”

The event also hosted ‘Sybil the Whale’, an enormous lantern puppet created for the Littleborough Arts Festival Lantern Parade. Sybil is a life-size blue whale calf created to share narratives around Climate Change and encourage us all to imagine the consequences of sea level rise across the globe.

The GSSfS is unique in its approach to raising the profile of science enquiry in a wide range of schools and educational settings. Teachers explain how the campaign that stimulates more time for science in school, enables pupils to consider issues around Climate Change whilst taking the positive step to improve the sustainability of their school environment, through initiatives like this year’s tree planting.

SEERIH (Science & Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub) are preparing for the final month of this year’s Great Science Share for Schools. An annual campaign to inspire young people to share their scientific questions with new audiences.

This award-winning campaign invites 5-14-year-olds to be curious and ask questions, working scientifically to find the answers, before sharing their results. The campaign aims to raise the profile of science in schools and communities, and encourages young people to be inspired into science and engineering. Last year, over 211,000 young people took part nationally.

Engaging activities and lessons are shared with teachers and educators to inspire them to ask, investigate and share scientific questions that young people are curious about. This year’s campaign theme is Climate Action and links to the issues discussed in the global COP26 conference in November 2021, leading up to the campaign celebration on 14 June 2022.

• Find out more and how to get involved.