Geoscience Pathways Project
Student Experience
A few students choose to pursue environmental science degrees purely based on their experiences in EES.
I enjoyed doing my external because I was able to investigate something that I had minimal knowledge on prior to doing the assignment. With this I have learnt how the earth spheres interact with each other throughout my issue. This subject has enabled me to learn more information on climate change and Earths sustainable future and how there is hope in the future for the earth.
Some facts may haunt you, others will fascinate you, and some may even give you hope. You also do not have to do year 11 to do well in this subject.
I think it was a good topic to do especially since there is now a need to help climate change especially for upcoming generations. It was also a good topic to do because there is no exam :)
Of the 8 students who completed the feedback form at the end of the year, 7 of them said they felt better about Climate Change in general and of those 6 of them said they felt significantly better than they did at the start of the year.
EES Activities
Coming soon
Teacher Experience
Year 11 it is taught as EES with a focus on plate tectonics and natural disasters, sustainability of metals and also the hydrosphere. In this semester we do a mini extended study where we collect rainfall data from BOM to see the effect of El Nino/La Nina if they have been declared, and I have started to embed lots of the individual actions for sustainability in this course. In first semester it is run under the Cross-Disciplinary Subject banner with a focus on climate change from a range of different perspectives, not just scientific but also with individual empowerment as a focus.
This is the 4th year we have run Year 12 EES and the 5th year we have run it in Year 11. Our class numbers tend to fluctuate but have been solid, for example last year we had about 66 year 12 students and 14 of them chose EES. It was 16 at the beginning of the year but a few dropped out along the way.
The thing I am looking forward to the most is having the chance to really dive into renewables, because they are a huge part of a more sustainable future and you don’t get that chance in any other subject. I also find it really valuable having the chance to educate students about the necessity of resource extraction and that there is no one magic solution that will immediately make our world sustainable.