Background information:

Learning goals: The aim of this activity is to provide children with an opportunity to explore the topic of energy by looking at light. Children respond to ideas and suggestions from educators around the topics of light, and use play to investigate and explore new ideas. Older children will begin to develop an understanding of the relationship between the use of energy by humans and the health of our environment by participating in rich and meaningful inquiry based activities, while younger children undertake group investigations and explore their own interests as they relate to the topic of energy.

Content 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 wind, sun and oceans. Another solution is to reduce the amount of energy we use on a day to day basis.

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 that used the energy from the sun. And 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, for charging phones and computers, for 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

What to do:

Preparation:

Print out the Energy Flashcards.
Cut out each flashcard and glue the image to the corresponding questions/prompts. Dim 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 peoples’ faces).

Step 1.

Use a torch or a lamp to introduce the topic of light. Talk to children about how we can turn 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.

Step 2.

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?

Step 3.

Talk to children about turning off the 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 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.
Dress for the weather. Encourage educators, children and parents to dress for the weather to avoid the need for artificial heating and cooling.

Sharing:

Share what you are doing for Enviroweek in a room newsletter, photographs and children’s artwork.

Enviroweek Sparky

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Activity guides and printables

Activity Details

Curriculum Mapping

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In this activity