Background information

Energy is the lifeblood of our modern life. It gives us light and keeps our food fresh, it powers our industry, it fuels our cars and charges our iPhones. Our energy is produced by burning fossil fuels and this has a range of environmental, social and economic impacts; one of the most significant being the emission of greenhouse gases. A solution is a transition to clean energy sources. The brilliant thing is that we have huge amounts of free, renewable and clean supplies of natural energies like the wind, sun and oceans. Another solution is to reduce the amount of energy we use on a day-to-day basis.

About Earth Hour: Earth Hour is a WWF-Australia initiative, and is the world’s largest community-driven climate change campaign. At the centre of Earth Hour is switching off lights to show a commitment to taking action. Thousands of educators use Earth Hour’s education program to enrich their curriculum and provide pathways for young people to create change in their world.

Download the Earth Hour starter kit for your service: Earth Hour for Schools

Concepts and definitions:

Energy: Scientists describe energy as the ability of a body or system to do work. Energy is all around us and is constantly changing. When you feel the warmth of the sun on your back you're enjoying the heat energy from the sun. When you cook over a campfire you're using heat energy converted from the stored energy in the wood you're burning. There is energy in the food that we eat. This energy comes from plants who use the energy from the sun. Then there is the energy we use for making electricity. In most parts of Australia, electricity comes from the heat produced when burning coal.
Electricity: Electricity is a form of energy. We use this energy in almost every aspect of our lives: heating and cooling, cooking, lighting, charging phones and computers, watching TV and listening to music, even for charging (some of) our cars. In Australia, we get most of our electricity from burning coal. To convert coal to electricity it needs to be dug out of the ground and then burned, a process which releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases contribute to global warming and climate change. Using less electricity and finding alternative and greener sources of electricity – such as wind or solar – is essential to addressing climate change.

New words for children to learn:

Electricity
Energy

Activity: Learning about light

Ages - 0 to 2: Light up the room

Preparation: Prepare for the session by dimming a room (drawing the curtains, shutting the blinds). Give children some torches, encouraging them to direct the light around the room (ask children NOT to shine it in other people's faces).

If you have a wind-up solar torch allow each child to have a turn at winding up the torch and seeing the light produced.

Encourage children to ‘play’ with the light, making shadows and seeing how the light changes the appearance of items in the room. Does the ceiling look different with the light on it? Do the walls look different with the light on them? What happens when there is no light? Is it dark? Does the light help you see better when it is dark?

Encourage children to experiment with hiding the light or shining it through different objects, such as paper or fabric.

Show children how to turn the torches off and on and encourage them to have a go. What happens in the room when all the torches are turned off?

Provocations:

I wonder if anyone can see any special light?
I wonder what colour light is? Can you touch it?
I wonder if the light has a noise? Can you hear anything coming from the torch?
I wonder where the light comes from?
I wonder what is inside the torch? (E.g. light bulb, batteries.)
I wonder what makes the torch light up?
I wonder if it will ever run out?
I wonder where the light in this room comes from?
I wonder if we need to worry about this light source running out?

Possible lines of development:

Safety – why you shouldn’t play with power plugs and switches.
Batteries – what other things use batteries?
Shadows – inside and outside.
Hot and cold – other items in the room that feel warm or cold.
Turning off the lights when you leave the room – you don’t need them on when you’re not there; save the light for when you need it.

Ages - 2 to 3: Light and dark

Preparation: Prepare for the session by dimming a room (drawing the curtains, shutting the blinds). Give children some torches, encouraging them to direct the light around the room (ask children NOT to shine it in other people's faces).

Use a torch or a lamp to introduce the topic of light. Talk to children about how we can turn the light on and off and why it’s good to turn the light on and off. For example: at night when it’s dark it’s good to turn a light on so that we can see. We don’t need light in the day when the sun is out, and at night when we go to sleep we don’t need many lights on.

If you have a wind-up solar torch allow each child to have a turn at winding up the torch and seeing the light produced.

Give children the torches to look at and play with. Encourage children to investigate some or all of the following:

How light makes the room look different (e.g. you can see colours and details with a light).
Touch the light and talk about how it feels (e.g. is it warm or cold?)
Experiment with turning the lights on one at a time and seeing how the room gets brighter when more lights are on.
Hide a light under a jumper or pillow and see if a bit of light sneaks out.
Shine the torchlight through other things, like paper and fabric, and see how this changes the strength of the light (some things will let a lot of light through, others won’t let any light through).

Provocations:

I wonder what light is?
I wonder where light comes from?
I wonder what happens when there is no light?
I wonder what happens when there is too much light?
I wonder how many different types of light there are?
I wonder what it would be like to live with no light?
I wonder if we need light for anything other than for seeing? (E.g. warmth – without light the world would be very cold.)
I wonder why it is important to turn off the lights when we don’t need them?

Possible lines of development:

Safety – being safe with electricity.
Animals that can see in the dark.
Hot and cold – other items in the room that feel warm or cold.
How things in the room look when torchlight is shined on or through them (e.g. paper, fabric).
Turning off the lights when you leave the room – you don’t need them on when you’re not there; save the light for when you need it.

Ages - 3 to 5: Feel the energy

Preparation: Print out the Energy Flashcards. Cut out each flashcard and glue the image to the corresponding questions/prompts.

Prepare for the session by dimming a room (drawing the curtains, shutting the blinds). Give children some torches, encouraging them to direct the light around the room (ask children NOT to shine it in other people's faces).

Use a torch or a lamp to introduce the topic of light. Talk to children about how we can turn the light on and off and why it’s good to turn the light on and off. For example: at night when it’s dark it’s good to turn a light on so that we can see. We don’t need light in the day when the sun is out, and at night when we go to sleep we don’t need many lights on.

Ask children how many different types of light are there. For example sunlight, torchlight, moonlight, ceiling light, firelight or candlelight, lightning. Use the Energy Flashcards to prompt discussion.

Talk to children about which types of light are natural and which ones aren’t natural (natural light occurs naturally in nature, artificial lights are those that humans have made). Which lights can we turn off? Can we turn off the natural lights?

Talk to children about turning off lights when we don’t need them – keeping the lights on when we don’t need them uses electricity. Saving electricity is one way to help keep our environment happy and healthy.

If you have a wind-up solar torch allow each child to have a turn at winding up the torch and seeing the light produced. You could also let the battery run down and take the torch outside and leave it in the sun to charge. This will allow children to see how we can use energy from the sun's rays.

Provocations:

I wonder what light is?
I wonder where light comes from?
I wonder what happens when there is no light?
I wonder what happens when there is too much light?
I wonder how many different types of light there are?
I wonder what it would be like to live with no light?
I wonder if we need light for anything other than for seeing? (E.g. warmth – without light the world would be very cold.)
I wonder why it is important to turn off the lights when we don’t need them?

Possible lines of development:

The North and South Poles with dark winters and light summers.
Safety – being safe with electricity.
Safety – being safe with fire.
How a light/lamp works.
How a torch works.
Other things that use batteries or electricity.
Why nature needs sunlight (to give plants energy to grow, so that animals that eat plants can live, and so that animals that eat other animals can live).
The sun – what it is and where it is.
Other possible lines of development are included on the Energy Flashcards.

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenge and persisting when difficulty arises
Well being	Being involved

Embedding into daily practice

Switch it off: practice a switch-off regime, encouraging children to monitor the switching off of lights and appliances when not in use.
Encourage educators, children and parents to dress for the weather to avoid the need for artificial heating and cooling.

Earth Hour - Light

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