Background information

Content information for educators: Reducing energy use can make a significant contribution to reducing your environmental footprint, and the cost of running your centre or home. There are lots of ways children can be involved and feel empowered to make a difference. It’s great to change light bulbs to more efficient ones such as LEDs, or buy appliances that are energy efficient, but when you also use them efficiently you maximise their benefit.

Modelling behaviours (such as turning lights off when you go outside or using natural light rather than turning lights on, hanging out the washing on the clothes line and dressing appropriately for the weather) will encourage children to do the same. It is important, particularly with younger children, to narrate your behaviour so that they understand what you are doing and why.

You can provide opportunities for children to save energy by having energy monitors, tracking your energy use (or generation if you are lucky enough to have solar panels) or challenge them to investigate what uses electricity and how much. They can then identify ways of using less, either by doing something different (e.g. changing the temperature on the thermostat) or turning something off when they are not using it (e.g. lights, computers, etc.)

Information for Parents: Reducing energy use can make a significant contribution to reducing your environmental footprint and save you money! There are lots of ways your children can be involved and feel empowered to make a difference. It’s great to change light bulbs to more efficient ones such as LEDs or Compact Fluorescents, or buy appliances that are energy efficient, but when you also use them efficiently you maximise their benefit.

Modelling behaviours (such as turning lights off when you go outside or using natural light rather than turning lights on, hanging out the washing on the clothes line and dressing appropriately for the weather) will encourage children to do the same. It is important, particularly with younger children, to narrate your behaviour so that they understand what you are doing and why.

Take on an energy challenge and reduce the amount of electricity you are using each month: turn your appliances off at the wall rather than leaving them on standby, limit screen time and play outside together instead, have a candlelight dinner, or camp out in the backyard and cook and keep warm by a campfire. Put some stickers on your light switches as a reminder to turn lights off when you leave the room and encourage your child to take on the role of “Energy Star” (who gets to remind everyone else to switch off!)

“The world is changed by your example, not your opinion” - Paulo Coelho

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 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, charging phones and computers, watching TV and listening to music, and 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:

Energy
Electricity

Activity: Learning about light

Age group - 0 to 2 - Light up the room

What to do:

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 – what other things in the room feel warm and cold?
Turning off the lights when we leave the room – we don’t need it on when we’re not there, save the light for when we need it.

Age group - 2 to 3 - Light and dark

What to do:

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.
Hiding a light under a jumper or pillow and seeing if a bit of light sneaks out.
Shining the torchlight through other things, like paper and fabric, and seeing 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 a torchlight is shined on or through them (e.g. paper, fabric.)
Turning off the lights when we leave the room – we don’t need it on when we’re not there, save the light for when we need it.

Age group - 3 to 5 - Feel the energy

What to do:

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 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 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 challenges 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.
Energy efficiency. Consider energy efficiency in relevant policies and procedures (purchasing of new appliances, laundry, etc.).
Report energy savings. Let families know about the savings you are making and encourage energy efficiency at home through information on noticeboards, newsletters, social media, sharing experiences, lending out power mates, etc.

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