IB Environmental students sampling the environment

This week the students of IB Environmental Systems and Societies were outside measuring various abiotic factors around the environment of the school. Abiotic factors are the non-living components of a habitat and affect the biotic (living) components. Abiotic factors that they were beginning to measure were light intensity and the temperature of both soil and water. 

This activity was also significant in that the students were learning how to use the new data loggers and sensors that the Science department had purchased this year in order to meet the requirements of the IB science subjects. These data loggers with the addition of numerous sensors and probes can be used in all of the Science subjects both inside and outside of the lab. We plan to also make use of them in both ESO and primary Science to get the students used to collecting data by this means.

When all the data is collected, students then have the choice of viewing it as a table or a graph and then sending it to a computer via wifi to be saved and analysed at a later date. Exciting times!