Science Extension is a New South Wales Year 12 subject designed for high school students with an interest in scientific research. The course lays a foundation for students planning to pursue further study in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) courses offered at the tertiary level, providing them with insights into how science is practised within the research community. It complements the traditional science subjects by focussing on the philosophy and practice of scientific research and allows students to carry out a research project as part of their Higher School Certificate (HSC) with guidance from academics.

UNSW Sydney has been engaging with the subject with the aim of showcasing the university to potential undergraduate students. The university’s SciX@UNSW program connects school students studying Science Extension with UNSW researchers to work on research projects that allow students to follow their own line of inquiry. The university has research projects offered by every school in the Faculty of Science. UNSW’s Climate Change Research Centre has taken the opportunity to highlight topical aspects of climate science to the students by providing projects on “Forecasting Future Climate” and “Marine Heatwaves: a global threat to oceans”. PhD students, in collaboration with leading academics, have produced a set of resources to support school students to investigate these topics. These are being used in NSW as part of the SciX@UNSW program but align with the Australian Curriculum and could be used by high school students in other jurisdictions.

We will discuss the merits of the SciX@UNSW program framework and the individual research projects in helping high school students to better understand climate science.