Charters School in Sunningdale    School was recently awarded a Partnership Grant from the Royal Academy to support an international project called ‘Life in a Warming Climate’, which the school is working on in partnership with Imperial College.

The ground-breaking initiative examines the impact of temperature changes on freshwater systems, and the school’s students are tasked with measuring and recording data from a series of ponds located at nearby Silwood Park. The two metre ponds, which are known as Mesocosms, are filled and seeded to encourage pond life. Some ponds are then heated and the students record and examine the resulting data. A Sixth Form student has designed and built a tripod to straddle the ponds, so that a visual record of the ponds can be photographed over time.

Six schools were shortlisted to exhibit at the Royal Society’s Summer Exhibition in July, and shortly before Christmas Charters was informed that it is the only school to be chosen to attend the week-long festival, celebrating the cutting edge of UK science.

 

Mrs Kate Hill, who is Director of STEM at Charters School said, “I am so pleased that the hard work and dedication of our students has been rewarded. The opportunity to meet leaders in the world of Science is incredibly inspiring for our students and their involvement in this project will in turn inspire younger students in the school.”