Climate Detectives

Climate Detectives school project launches on 17 September

Primary & Post Primary Level

The European Space Agency (ESA) invites teachers and students between the ages of 8 and 15 to team up and join the Climate Detectives school project, commencing 14 September 2021 and running throughout the school year.

Teams of students, supported by their teacher, are called to make a difference by identifying a climate problem, investigating it using Earth Observation (EO) data that is freely available from satellites and/or data collected at ground level, and then proposing a way to help reduce the problem. Students will learn about climate on Earth as a complex and changing system and the importance of respecting our environment.

At key phases of the project, scientists in the field of Earth observation and climate will support the teams. They will give feedback on the investigation plan and will take part in an online ‘ask the scientist’ event. At the end, all participating teams will share their research findings on the project sharing platform with others taking part across the world.

The project is split into three phases:

Phase 1: Identify a climate problem (dates to be confirmed)
Teams will get feedback from scientists in December

Phase 2: Investigate the climate problem (dates to be confirmed)
An “Ask the scientist” webinar will take place in February

Phase 3: Share results and make a difference (dates to be confirmed)

We can all make a difference! Based on the results of their investigations, students should decide on the actions they want to take – as individuals and as citizens – to help reduce the problem.

By the end of the project (May 2022), teams who shared their projects will receive final written feedback provided by scientists. All teams will receive a certificate of participation by email in June 2022.

Join us on Tuesday 7th September at 7pm for a Teacher Information Workshop on how to participate in the Climate Detectives Project. Register here

For more information including project overview, How to enter, Who can participate and project requirements and constraints please have a look at the Climate Detective Guidelines Climate Detectives Guidelines

For more information about how students will develop scientific skills and suggestions for how to use it in the classroom as well as curriculum links please see the Teacher Guide below. Climate Detectives Teacher Guide with Irish curriculum links

You can find ESA classroom resources (primary and secondary) which support the Climate Detectives project here

Submissions from Irish schools will be taken through the ESA Climate Detectives Website.
Please register your team details and submit your entry there.

Once registered your details will be passed to the ESERO Ireland office.

If you have any queries please email climatedetectives@sfi.ie