Be aware that there are a few awareness days coming up that could help you to highlight the importance of studying science to students. They are:
International Day of Forests - 21st March 2025
World Water Day - 22nd March 2025
World Meteorological Day - 23rd March 2025
World Tuberculosis Day - 24th March 2025
Of course STEM Community has links to useful resources to help celebrate these days (here https://community.stem.org.uk/browse/featuredresources - simply scroll down to March)
To save you a bit of time and leg work, I've highlighted a few useful resources here:
International Day of Forests - 21st March 2025
Forests are life-givers — and teaching students about them has never been more important. They feed, heal, and sustain billions of people, providing everything from nuts and fruits to wild meat and medicine. Over 2 billion people still rely on wood for cooking, showing how deeply forests are tied to daily survival. But that’s just the start. Forests quietly support farming by housing pollinators, keeping soil healthy, and protecting crops — making them essential to global food production. In many parts of the world, forests are the only safety net when disaster strikes, offering food and income when harvests fail or conflicts erupt. They even provide clean water to more than 85% of the world’s major cities. For rural families, forests can make up 20% of their income, helping put nutritious food on the table. Without forests, both people and the planet suffer — which is why students need to understand their value. By learning about forests, young people can see how these incredible ecosystems are vital to fighting hunger, poverty, and climate change — and why protecting them means protecting our future.
The first easy win is a short video to highlight the importance of forests – easily slotted in to a lesson on the day, or perhaps share with your registration group. https://youtu.be/lDb7DYR8lrA
I hadn’t really appreciated that forests cover a third of land area – find this and other facts on this infographic https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/f1334066-42af-408d-8dfe-56ac7846d75f
The STEM e-resouce collection https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection/521804/international-day-forests-21st-marchhas a wealth of resources linked to this theme. I really like the Veritasium video about how trees can suck water up to over 100m height. It is probably best used with A-level students who have learned about xylem tissue, or are studying physics https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/424975/most-amazing-thing-about-trees
Here is a Catalyst article about forests, carbon storage and climate - why not use AI to generate some reading comprehension questions to go with this https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/27607/forests-carbon-and-climate
There’s an excellent SAPS resource highlighted - a vitamin C investigation (using DCPIP) and plant science researcher career resource. You’d need to speak to your technician to organise the practical element, but it might make a good activity for a STEM club. Remember to include in your scheme of work when you think it fits best https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/448062/investigating-anti-cancer-properties-plants
Estimating biomass is a great activity that you can use, which reinforces the use of maths in science, and helps students to understand estimation versus measurement. Perhaps you could extend this to looking at the trees on your own school site and how much biomass they store, perhaps linking in to your schools Climate Action Plan. https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/536434/estimating-biomass
If you’re not familiar with the BiFOR resources then do have a look – there are some amazing ones. https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection/530255/birmingham-institute-forest-research-bifor-resources?page=1
Finally share this with your Geography department for their KS3 SoW and hopefully get some staff room brownie points https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/36670/exploring-rainforests