Y7 South Downs Sustainability Centre Trip 2023

Year 7 headed to the Sustainability Centre on the South Downs on Tuesday to learn about energy usage and ways that we can live more sustainably. The trip began with a tour of the site to find out about building methods used at the Centre: building using repurposed materials or wood grown on site. They found out about the air-source heating in one of the buildings and the bore holes dug to provide ground source heat to another building. They learnt about creating composting toilets and using clay and straw as a building material, for example to make a pizza oven.

They then went back inside to learn about the pros and cons of different types of energy production and built their own electric circuits including components such as solar panels. They found out about the energy usage of different common household appliances, comparing their estimates to a recorded value. They had turns on a bicycle connected to generate electricity, powering a racing game, to see which team could generate more electricity.

After lunch, they walked up Salt Hill, from where you could see across to the Isle of Wight, and tested wind speed at a proposed wind turbine site and then found out about all the conditions that need to be passed in order for the site to be approved and why it was ultimately declined. A really interesting day, giving the children a lot to think about for the future.