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" Working towards the equitable, efficient and sustainable use of water, land and other environmental resources of the Queensland Murray Darling Basin "

Earth Smart Science Program

What is the Earth Smart Science program?

The Earth Smart Science (ESS) program will help schools to become more sustainable. The program is an election commitment of the Queensland Government to expand the number of environmentally sustainable schools in the State from 60 to 1000 by 2012. This also includes Education Queensland’s declaration of 2010 as the Year of Environmental Sustainability.  

What does it mean for schools?

• All state primary schools in Queensland will be required to participate in the ESS program by 2012.
• ESS will focus on a whole-of-school approach to environmental sustainability.
• Curriculum links will focus on Science and Maths.
• Schools will be supported to develop, implement and monitor School Environmental Management Plans (SEMPs) to reduce their ecological footprint. 

How can your school be involved?

• The ESS program will be implemented through the Queensland Environmentally Sustainable School Initiative (QESSI) regional hubs.
• The Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QMDC) and Amaroo Environmental Education Centre (EEC) will each be supporting 15 schools annually in the Darling Downs and South West Queensland.
• Schools will receive support in the form of training for staff, resources and visits from QESSI hub staff.
• Contact Renee (4637 6270 / reneef@qmdc.org.au) if you are interested.

Benefits of the program

There are a range of educational, social, environmental and economic benefits associated with becoming a sustainable school. Some of these include:

• numerous opportunities to engage students in Science, Maths and cross-curricula learning activities, in an authentic context
• cost savings in the following areas: waste disposal, cleaning, excess water or energy bills, dependent on the focus chosen
• the promotion of student responsibility, leadership, collaboration and team work, and

• partnerships with external organisations and school community.

Online resources for ESS schools

To listen to recordings of workshops delivered to ESS participants please go to the links below. All sessions have the password Science.

• Introduction to the Earth Smart Science program - What is ESS, useful resources
• Sustainability in the classroom - Links to numeracy and securing funding and support
• The Learning Place - Using a Virtual Classroom to teach about Sustainability
• User manual for Queensland Sustainable Schools website - Detailed step-by-step guide to building your SEMP using the online SEMP builder tool.
• SEMP overview A3
• Queensland Sustainable Schools website - Register your school to access the SEMP builder, resource measurement tools and other information.

More information

Please direct questions to the Earth Smart Science facilitators.

Renee Fletcher - Toowoomba, Ph: 4637 6270, E: reneef@qmdc.org.au

Lee Reushle - Amaroo Environmental Education Centre - Toowoomba, Ph: 4696 7140, E: admin@amarooeec.eq.edu.au