KING’S Ely’s Year 13 Geography students visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on March 7th.
The group took part in two curriculum sessions, the first of which was on Globalisation. This involved them considering the positives and negatives that globalisation poses for all stakeholders involved, with a focus on produce used globally that originates from the world’s rainforests.
Students then faced an unusual scavenger hunt to find three rainforest raw materials within the Palm House and using these, design a sustainable, fair trade, global product that met a ‘triple bottom line’ of People, Planet, Profit. A great deal of thought and innovation went into the creation of the products with some extremely interesting and surprisingly marketable results!
After lunch, the students worked on their second session on Water and Carbon Cycles. This was introduced with a team building recap on both cycles followed by discussion on human interruptions and impacts. Back in the Palm House, students worked to identify and geolocate plant species emulating the work carried out by the RSPB on their Harapan Rainforest Reserve. They considered the impacts of growing rainforest species commercially and the effects this has on the water and carbon cycles.
Teacher of Geography at King’s Ely Senior, Helen Melville, said: “A thoroughly enjoyable and educational day was had by all, the highlight for some being the discovery of the rare Jade Vine in the orchid house! Many thanks to Mrs Keen for accompanying us and for your interest and enthusiasm in the visit.”