Practical Action Special Leaders Award for STEM - Inspired by Sustainability?

Practical Action’s Special Leaders Award for STEM is an individual award open to Primary (5-11), Secondary (11-16) and Advanced (17-19) levels.
Deadline 30th June 2010
 

Inspired by Sustainability?

This is an individual award open to students who would like to interview people working in any area related to the development of technologies, products or services which reduce impact on the environment.

There are three levels:
Primary (5-11), Secondary (11-16) and Advanced (16-19).

When entering Practical Action’s Special Leaders Award, please note that the criteria differ slightly for each level. Practical Action would like to read interviews that include the following:
Primary (5-11):  How does the person you interview try to improve or protect the environment?
Secondary (11-16): How does the person you interview include two or more of Practical Action’s Six R’s in their work?
Advanced (17-19):  How does the person you interview include three or more of Practical Action’s Six R’s in their work?

We’ve developed Six R’s to give you some ideas of things to think about before choosing who to interview.
RE think: Who designs or develops things in a way that considers the potential impact on people and the environment?
RE fuse: Who decides not to use a material or buy a product if it’s bad for people and the environment?
RE duce: Who tries to cut down the amount of material and energy they use?
RE use: Who uses a product or part of it to make something new?
RE cycle:  Who reprocesses a material or product to make something else?
RE pair: When a product breaks down or doesn’t work – who tries to fix it and so prevent it being scrapped?

Practical Action is a development charity that has exciting projects focusing on sustainable technologies in Africa, Asia and South America. Get inspired by going to http://www.practicalaction.org.uk/our-work/ourwork where you’ll find engineering and technology projects that improve people’s lives, whilst caring for the environment.

We realise that it would be too tricky for you to interview any of Practical Action’s staff who work overseas – but we believe that reducing impact on the environment is equally important here in the UK.
The person you interview could be from any area of design, science, technology or engineering. You could try:
•    Local water authorities
•    Energy companies
•    Waste recycling businesses
•    Local design / engineering businesses (specialising in areas such as transport, textiles, alternative energy, energy conservation etc).
•    Researchers, designers or lecturers at local colleges.
For inspirational companies in the UK go to http://practicalaction.org/education/sustainable_design_technology

The chosen interviews:
Three students, one from each level, will be chosen from all the submitted interviews and a selection of interviews will be published on Practical Action’s Education website.

The Primary (5-11) winner will receive a fabulous solar powered media player
The Secondary (11-16) winner will receive a fabulous solar powered media player.
The Advanced (16-19) winner will receive a fabulous solar powered media player and an opportunity to spend a day working with a sustainable product designer .

Deadline: Schools should register with This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it in the first instance. The deadline for interviews and Leaders Award applications (via email only) is 30th June 2010.  Late entries will not be accepted. All applications will be acknowledged. Chosen writers will be notified and student names and schools will be published on the website in September 2010. Full terms and conditions apply.