Public school students in SP take project to COP28 – 12/02/2023 – Environment

With few resources, students from a public school in São Carlos, in the interior of São Paulo, improvised tools and borrowed materials to build a project to combat climate change with microalgae, organisms capable of reducing the greenhouse effect.

The initiative resulted in students from Escola Estadual Professor Sebastião de Oliveira Rocha being selected in a UNESCO campaign that takes schools to COP28 (UN climate conference) in Dubai.

“This type of initiative is already widely carried out in universities around the world. Our innovation was to bring high-quality research to public schools”, says Gustavo Batista, 17, a 3rd grade high school student who coordinates the team.

The project was developed by students from one of the school’s youth clubs, which, as it is full-time, has groups dedicated to different areas of knowledge, including arts and sciences.

According to Milene de Oliveira, chemistry teacher at the school and advisor to the club that is at COP28, the students saw the need to do a project related to climate change. They themselves looked for possibilities to be adopted by the group, until they found microalgae.

These organisms are capable of reducing carbon dioxide, responsible for increasing the greenhouse effect that raises the planet’s air temperature. According to Milene, the capacity of microalgae to absorb carbon is greater than that of growing trees.

The students cultivated algae in aquariums, using artificial lights to generate photosynthesis, a process that reduces carbon in the air. The algae were being “fed” with a type of fertilizer.

The materials used to build the system, such as aquarium pumps and plastic pipes, are simple. Even the first prototype of artificial light was handcrafted by teacher Milene’s father.

According to her, the highlight of the project was the proactivity of the students. “I worked together with the group, but most of what we did was brought to me by them, with such a leading role they have.”

The students sought partnerships with other institutions to make the research viable. They obtained, for example, samples of microalgae from UFSCar (Federal University of São Carlos). Part of the aquariums was donated by the Chemistry Institute of USP in São Carlos.

Scientists from partner institutions also provided guidance on the technical part of the project and one of them, USP professor Tadeu Malheiros, suggested registering the initiative at the COP. According to Gustavo Batista, student and group coordinator, the school was one of those selected among 300 applications from all over the world.

The team looked for ways to make the trip to Dubai viable after approval by UNESCO. In the end, they obtained funding from Finep (Financier of Studies and Projects), from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

In preparation for the talk at COP28, they received a full scholarship to take intensive English classes for a month at a private language course in São Carlos (SP). In addition to UNESCO activities, a presentation is planned at the Brazilian pavilion and at the USP hub.

“This preparation has been very difficult, because our reality is different. But we always did it with great determination and believing that everything would work out. The secret was our persistence”, says student Gustavo Batista.

The school built the pedagogical project with action plans for environmental education, according to director Lucinei Tavoni. She says that, this year, she was inspired by the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, to talk about the need to be “sustainable” with students, a term used in Marina’s first speech as head of the department.

“We need to form a new generation of people aware of how we need the environment to survive. We incorporated this and developed several actions in this regard at school throughout this year, even strengthening science clubs”, he states.

The school has other initiatives in this area, including a biodigester that uses waste discarded from lunch to produce biogas. Last year, this project won Solve For Tomorrow, a Samsung award that recognizes outstanding initiatives in public schools.

For Malheiros, an engineering professor at USP who leads the team that supported students in the study of microalgae, cooperation between colleges and universities is an important factor in promoting social impact and encouraging young people to pursue a career in science.

He coordinates a postgraduate course aimed at basic education teachers on teaching environmental sciences. Through this program, USP researchers also collaborate with schools to develop practical and educational activities.

“If we continue producing studies that end up in our libraries and no one uses them, it’s very bad. These dialogues allow us to develop applied research that goes into real life. In this case, into educational products”, he says.