Treating our one planet well at Maker Club
Wednesday 8th May 2019
The importance of looking after our planet is becoming an increasingly hot topic. The stats are simple: we’re currently using the resources of four planets. But we only have one.
We believe that if everyone does their bit, everyone will notice the difference. Even small changes will teach good habits to future generations and make our world a cleaner, more sustainable place.
To celebrate Earth Day, Maker Club Juniors explored the risks associated with environmental pollution. We set our sights close to home, using Oxford as the host of a catastrophic oil spill. Children learned how to detect negative changes in the ecosystem by taking pH measurements, explored the exponential effects of pollution on our ecosystem by thinking about the relationships between different organisms and engineered different methods of tackling an oil spill. Cleaning up damage is hard and physical work, making us all that little bit more committed to taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen in the first place!
In our club, children cared for faux fur rabbits, using mascara wands to clean them of oil. So that we can do our bit to help those animals who are harmed in their environments, we are sending our used and wands to the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge, a non-profit organisation based in North Carolina, USA. The charity has been asking people to clean their used mascara wands and send them on to them; they make perfect hairbrushes for tiny animals! Like us, the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge enjoy engaging the public in environmental matters and we’re excited for our impact to be felt all those miles away!
By our Maker Clubs leader, Jennifer Barker Jones, STEM Projects Officer
Coming up next for Maker Club Juniors we’re joining in with Oxford Green Week on Saturday 8th June and making recycled bird feeders with sustainable food garlands! Book here.
For ages 9-11.
