Our approach to learning involves the following notions:

• Discovery/investigative, child-centred approach

• Open-ended questions

• Response is not as important as the processes involved in reaching that response

• Team-work

• Problem solving

• Researching

• Stimulating, engaging and fun activities, involving challenges requiring student initiative.

• In keeping with multiple intelligences and constructivism pedagogies ______________________________________________________________________________________ Essential Learning links 5 curriculum organisers provide the framework for selecting significant content for student learning.:

Thinking

Communicating

Personal Futures

Social Responsibility

World futures

The concept of Futures is both a theme in the Essential Learnings and a critical perspective for learners and their families. Futures is about developing perspectives to critically reflect upon and contribute to creating preferred futures, including: including:

• understanding connections, continuity and change in past, present and future contexts

• understanding the critical connection between natural and social environments

• challenging assumptions about the past, present and future

• critically examining diverse world views, ways of living, ways of working, relationships and values

• creating new knowledge from insights of the past, understandings of the present and foresights of the future and applying this in building future scenarios.

Australian Curriculum Framework links:

Science

Science knowledge and understanding focuses on building a deep understanding of the overarching conceptual ideas of science, including concepts of energy. Learners build on their curiosity, think about contemporary challenges and issues, and come to understand how science relates to community and environment.

Science at work focuses on design and investigation – to generate, validate and critique evidence, to analyse and interpret ideas, and to communicate their findings and ideas to others.

Design and Technology

Investigating and designing engages the learner’s imagination, creativity and innovation in thinking laterally about possibilities, exploring ideas, materials and processes, and designing.

Making (or producing) involves experiential, practical and applied knowledge as well as theoretical understanding when creating a product.

Analysing and evaluating focuses on assessing the product in relation to functionality and efficiency, and environmental, social and economic factors. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Content ideas to help develop a unit of work:

Theme/Unit of work

Sustainable, renewable energy (linked to Education for Sustainability, Sustainable Schools), solar thermal energy, solar hot water system, passive, thermosyphon,

Plan

The following is one possible approach: Start with the attention grab – get the children to construct a simple HWS, then guide them into working out how it works and challenging them to think about ways of increasing the efficiency of their units. This can lead to scientific experiments that the children take on with little input necessary from the teacher. All the way its about renewable, sustainable energy. This unit fits in well with SmartBuyer’s more substantial Solar House project.

Introductory activity

Children work in groups of 2 or 3 to construct the water heating systems. Measure the temperature of the water at the bottom, and at the top of the water tank throughout a day. Make a data table (and graph the results). Work out how the hot water system works.

Next: Challenge students to gain maximum efficiency – the following are ways that children may think of by themselves:

1. Trap as much solar radiation as possible

• face directly toward sun

• painting the cardboard base and internal pipes of the thermal panel flat black in colour

etc etc

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