By Nelson Robby
Physics Teacher

Annie Dye
Cambridge Coordinator
St. George’s School

Senior students at St. George’s School in Bogotá, Colombia, have continued taking on the challenge of researching Societal Benefit Areas and creating posters to highlight satellite images and research for a project called “Earth Observation: Science From Another Perspective.”

Senior students at St. George’s School in Bogotá, Colombia, have continued taking on the challenge of researching Societal Benefit Areas and creating posters to highlight satellite images and research for a project called “Earth Observation: Science From Another Perspective.” This year there were 82 students working in 12 teams researching ecosystems, water and biodiversity.
Catalina Correal, one of the high-school-aged students who researched the diminishing of the Aral Sea, said, “It was an eye-opening experience for me. Learning about the destruction of an entire ecosystem was really shocking and made our group much more aware of caring for the environment and using our resources intelligently.”
Correal added that using the satellite images to be able to visualize the change over the past 15 years made a big impact on her.
Another student, Daniela Murcia, commented about leading the team for her Garbage Patch poster. “I was learning how to manage a project, with its many components, and a team of people as well. It was not always easy because we were doing other school assignments at the same time, but we learned to all be part of the work, or if I had to, I learned to make decisions by myself for the team.”
The students stated that the project also will remain in their minds during future studies and work — that they must consider the environmental and social impact of their decisions.

Three of the posters have been selected to be published here. Earthzine enjoys promoting the use of Earth observation technology and resources with high schools around the world to facilitate similar student research projects.
Hunger to the Ocean: The Decline of Phytoplankton
The decline of phytoplankton relates to a most important consequence to the North Pacific ecosystem: A significant reduction of phytoplankton implies the decline of all other species in the ecosystem and their possible extinction, caused by changes in the carbon cycle and food web.
Gone with the Ice: The Svalbardian Polar Bears’ Ultimatum
This investigation encompasses the impact of a warming Arctic on the life of the Svalbardian polar bear. Evidenced are the coerced alterations to the migratory, nutritional and reproductive habits of the species, brought on by global warming’s melting ice caps that endanger the bears’ population.
A Martyr for the Conservation of Hydrological Resources
The desiccation of the Aral Sea is considered one of the greatest episodes of desertification of freshwater resources. This example serves scientists to illustrate, understand and develop thorough mitigation plans that could be advantageous when reacting to a similar environmental catastrophe as a consequence of global warming or the misdirection of hydrological resources.
Read the Spanish version here