Aspiring young scientists and technologists displayed their talent as they competed in a competition to produce projects aimed at cutting their schools’ carbon footprint.

Students from the Langley Academy and Slough & Eton CE Business & Enterprise College took part in the competition sponsored by the Prince of Wales. Aimed at students in year eight and nine, the competition encourages students to consider studying science, technology, engineering and maths.

The teams designed and built models and then presented their plans to a team of assessors, including veteran TV mathematician Johnny Ball.

Langley Academy students investigated how their school could improve their recycling by analysing the pros and cons of three different recycling projects. The team favoured designing and manufacturing plastic bottle collection bins which would be made using a 3D printing machine.

The focus for students from Slough & Eton CE Business & Enterprise College was on reducing energy wastage. In order to try and make their school hall more efficient, the competitors investigated on a range of options and eventually settled on several changes. These included a false ceiling, plastic windows, rigid foam insulation and underfloor heating.

One of the assessors, Slough Councillor Dexter Smith, was impressed by the efforts of the teams. He said: “All the students really bought in to the idea of being able to make a real, practical difference to both reducing energy wastage and increasing recycling in their schools.

“This is exactly the attitude we need if we are to change behaviour – and save money.”