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Are we living sustainably?

This unit of eight lessons poses the question ‘Are we living sustainably?’ Students use prompts to draw on their prior knowledge to explain what they already know about sustainability. They then investigate why water is precious, explore how water is used around their school and at home. Students then research ways that ...

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Water use activity

In this indoor or outdoor activity, students (working in small groups or as a class) listen to a story about how two people use water every day. They add water to two jugs (one for each character) which correspond to an amount read in the story. It is a great way to show how much water is used for everyday activities and ...

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School water use audit (Year 4)

In this activity, students identify the water use areas in the school and the water use items found in those areas. On the ‘Water walk’, students also identify any leaking water use items. They assess how water savings can be made in each of these areas.

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Ramps and rollers

This activity invites students to explore the phenomena of rolling objects down a ramp and investigate the question, 'What happens to a roller when you change the ramp by making it steeper?' Students experiment by rolling balls or cylinders down a ramp, and observe how the ramp's steepness affects how far their roller rolls ...

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Bottle Racer

This activity invites students to engineer a bottle racer: a plastic water bottle propelled by energy stored in a wound-up rubber band. The activity includes a list of tools and materials required, assembly instructions, what to do and notice, an explanation for the underlying science of what students observe and suggestions ...

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Going nuclear

In this unit students are guided to complete a short investigation into the considerations of siting a nuclear power station and then submitting a brief report and reflection.

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Sound waves

In this unit students explore energy transfer through different mediums using wave and particle models.

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Physical world – design and production investigation

In this investigative task, students explore how light energy sources are used for shadow theatre design and how forces are used to create movement in shadow puppets for entertainment and storytelling. Students investigate how forces and light energy create changes by students making, testing and presenting a model shadow ...

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Material world – Stage 2

In this lesson sequence, students investigate how different properties of materials affect their suitability for products. They will develop their knowledge and understanding of the properties and performance of a variety of materials through observation and manipulation. They have the opportunity to design and make an ...

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Park Ranger Problem Solving: An ‘Addition & Subtraction’ Rich Task for Years 3–4 - Calculate

The aim of this task is to provide a rich, contextual activity through which students can begin to explore the addition and subtraction of one- and two-digit of numbers in everyday contexts.

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Pendulums

This activity invites students to explore the phenomena of pendulums and investigate the question, 'What happens to the swing speed of your pendulum when you change one of the variables?' Students test one variable at a time to figure-out the effect of length, weight, and release point on how long it takes the pendulum ...

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Flower Dissection

This activity invites students to dissect a flower to explore the form and function of plant reproductive structures. The activity includes a list of tools and materials required, assembly instructions, what to do and notice, an explanation for the underlying science of what students observe and suggestions for further activities.

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Inverse-square law

This activity invites students to explore why the world gets dark so fast outside the circle of the campfire. Using simple equipment, students can investigate the inverse square relationship for light spreading out over an area. The activity includes a list of tools and materials required, assembly instructions, what to ...

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Convection Currents

This activity invites students to explore convection currents in water. Warmer water rising through cooler water bends light, allowing students to project its motion onto a screen and observe the flow. The activity includes a list of tools and materials required, what to do and notice, an explanation for the underlying ...

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Engineering is futures-focused and multidisciplinary

In this lesson, students explore the multidisciplinary nature of contemporary engineering, and how engineering is pivotal to solving future challenges such as climate change, renewable energy and food security.

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Visualising climate change | The GiST

In this STEM lesson students explore local temperature and rainfall datasets over time and represent trends in innovative ways.

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Sustainable water sources

In this lesson, students research alternative water sources such as desalination, recycled water, stormwater, rainwater and greywater. They use this information to design a water and energy saving solution to a water supply problem.

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Water-Bottle Membranophone

This activity invites students to make a membranophone, an instrument that produces sound from a vibrating stretched membrane. The activity includes a list of tools and materials required, assembly instructions, what to do and notice, an explanation for the underlying science of what students observe and suggestions for ...

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Mapping the ocean floor

This activity builds understanding of sonar technique and applications through processing and plotting data to discover a seafloor feature and by bouncing balls on different surfaces and analysing rebound, relating this to ground hardness then extend understanding to 'backscatter' in bathymetry surveys. It is suitable for ...

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Future transport – air taxis

In this lesson, students learn about advanced air mobility, and explore the infrastructure requirements to adapt cities and towns for eVTOLs.