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A seven-and-a-half minute animated film made by students at a Plymouth school - being used internationally to highlight the acidification of the world's seas - has received a high profile award.

The film, called The Other CO2 Problem, has been made by students at Ridgeway School in Plympton.

And the film recently won the Royal Society of Chemistry Bill Bryson Prize for Science Communication.

The film says CO2 is turning the seas toxic

The pupils were asked to make the film by Plymouth Marine Laboratory's Dr Carol Turley, a leading authority on ocean acidification.

She approached the school after its earlier film about the plight of the sea won a European-wide competition organised by Euroceans, a European Union marine science initiative.

The colourful film was shown to more than 100 scientists and policy makers at the International Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen in March 2009 and in June 2009 the film was shown at the First Annual Meeting of the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA) in Plymouth.

It was also shown as part of a presentation by Dr Turley at the Royal Institute in London and is being translated into a number of languages so it can be shown at other international scientific gatherings.

Dr Turley, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, intends to send it to influential figures around the world - including the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Some 16 students aged 11-15 were involved in making the film and another 70 composed and performed the music.

Funny images - but with a serious message

Ridgeway is a specialist science school and teacher Karen Findlay says the students had to learn all about the acidification of the oceans in order to get the message across in the film.

"Dr Turley came to do a lecture to 200 to 300 students about ocean acidification and then the chosen students went to the Marine Aquarium for further research.

"They looked at the creatures which are affected by the problems, such as the octopus, and then came back and devised their characters from the creatures."

The marine characters were made out of Plasticine and a single camera on a tripod was used to film the scenes.

"The students came up with the storyline and the characters," said Karen. "And we spent four days at Marjons, where we used their facilities to do the filming using stop frame animation.

"Dr Turley is using the film to show policymakers, and she's telling them: 'This is the kids speaking - it's their futures', and it's done in a user-friendly, entertaining way to get the message over."

Scientists believe ocean acidification is being caused by CO2 emissions. The seas are absorbing the carbon dioxide, which is making them more acidic. This, in turn, is threatening marine life, which they fear could have disastrous consequences.