Skip to content

A Question of Climate

Through a series of lab-based activities and demonstrations, students will investigate the chemical reactions behind the carbon cycle.

Who is it for: Key stage 3
Duration: 90 minutes
Make an enquiry
Life's climate challenge workshop covers the climate cycle with students. Image shows a parched Earth landscape with dehydrated soil and tree.

Can science help solve the climate crisis?

What is the carbon cycle and how is human activity changing it? What impact is this having on our climate and our oceans. And how might science offer some solutions? 

Through a series of lab-based activities and demonstrations students will investigate the chemical reactions behind the carbon cycle. They will discover how human activity is changing the movement of carbon through the cycle and the impact this is having on the atmosphere and the oceans. At the end of the workshop students will see a dramatic presentation of real satellite data displayed on our magnificent digital Science On A Sphere and learn how scientists are using this data to study the causes and impact of climate change.

 

Curriculum links

Key stage 3
Biology
  • Properties & changes of materials
  • Working scientifically

By the end of the workshops students will have discovered:

Recycling icon.

How carbon is constantly cycling around the world - moving from gaseous, solid, and liquid phases - through processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, and combustion.

Planet earth icon.

How the balance of the carbon cycle has been disturbed by human activities leading to a build-up of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Wave icon.

How this build-up of atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing the oceans to become more acidic, and what impact this may have upon biodiversity and the climate.

Satellite icon.

How satellites are being used to study the impact of human activity on the climate and the oceans. 

School trip prices

We allow a ratio of 1 adult to every 5 children for most groups. Additional adults over this ratio will be charged. In the case of SEN groups, we may offer further free adult support on request – please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Visiting from 25 June to end of the Summer term? The government is cutting VAT for organisations like ours over the summer and we’re passing the saving onto schools. This applies to all trips that include a science centre visit  (and excludes workshops only).  If you visit during this period, science centre visits are £6.08, and centre/workshop visits are £11.05. If you have already booked during this period, we will be in touch about refunds.

Bookings are now open for the new academic year, and our prices have been reviewed. If  you’d like to book for September onwards, please get in touch for a quote.

Teachers and adult helpers go FREE!
Workshop only
£5.95 per pupil
Workshop and science centre visit
£11.95 per pupil

What other teachers say...

‘Great workshop – interactive and well explained. The timings worked well.’

Appleby Grammar School

‘The lab session was really interactive and well explained at each step. It was accessible for all students.’

Appleby Grammar School