Spring into Sustainability

Students are immersed in the beautiful surrounds of Nattai National Park to gain an understanding and appreciation for the natural environment. This is followed by a structured discussion in our unique classroom to determine some of the sustainability issues we are currently facing along with potential solutions and personal impact opportunities.

Lunch

Students have recess before activities and a lunch break between session 1 and session 2.

Students experiment with heat and solar energy by cooking a ‘Smore’ in a solar oven before breaking into small groups to design and build a wind turbine. They conduct fair tests to determine the most efficient blade design in converting wind energy into electrical energy.

Cost

$8 per student

Learning intentions

• We are learning to observe and appreciate the natural environment
• We are learning about sustainable practices
• We are learning to identify renewable and non-renewable energy sources
• We are learning how to conduct a fair test

Key syllabus outcomes and content

ST2-SCI-01 uses information to investigate the solar system and the effects of energy on living, physical and geological systems

Living things depend on energy and materials to survive

• Describe how the needs of living things are provided by the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere

Heat energy can be transferred

• Pose questions and conduct fair tests to compare how different materials absorb or reflect heat energy
• Describe how the properties of materials and transfer of heat energy impact everyday life

ST2-PQU-01 poses questions to create fair tests that investigate the effects of energy on living things and physical systems

ST2-DDT-01 uses a design process to create products to address user needs or opportunities

• Build, test and evaluate a designed model

Tier 2 and Tier 3 Vocabulary:

environment, sustainability, renewable, non-renewable, recycle, absorb reflect, dependent, independent, controlled variable, pollution