PLC Armidale, The Armidale School (TAS), Duval High School, Armidale High School and PLC Sydney are involved in the SMART Tree project, in which students measure and analyse sap flow to investigate how trees respond to their environment.

At PLC Armidale, a sensor was placed on a ribbon gum that was selected because it was healthy, well-positioned in the school and was the same species as the TAS tree, which would allow the students to compare the behaviour of the same species of tree growing in different locations.

PLC Armidale special projects co-ordinator David Moffitt said the sensor was placed shortly before Christmas and some interesting information had already emerged.

The data has indicated the tree shuts itself down and stops breathing to conserve water in anticipation of a hot day, even before the temperature has started to rise.

Mr Moffitt said the sort of information the students were collecting could ultimately feed into policy-making on such issues as climate change, natural resource management and drought management.

The sensors have been loaned by monitoring equipment company ICT International.

The project has also tapped into the schools’ access to the National Broadband Network, with students sharing their data through blogs and videos online.

Mr Moffitt said there was also potential for live camera streams.

New England MP Tony Windsor visited the school yesterday to see the project first-hand.

“Conducting this research offers significant education opportunities for local students that span several areas of the school curriculum, including biology, computing, physics and geography,” Mr Windsor said.

“The process of analysing the results also encourages students to engage with big-picture concepts such as climate change and natural resource management.”

Mr Moffitt said the school was looking at keeping the sensor on the tree for three to five years and as time progressed, would get a better idea of the questions their research could answer and how the project could be integrated into the curriculum.

He said they were privileged to be involved in the project, because such research was usually the domain of universities.