Teaching Sequence

10 minutes	Part A: Thinking about electrical appliances and gadgets
25 minutes	Part B: Designing and conducting an interview
25 minutes	Part B: Class discussion
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Thinking about electrical appliances and gadgets

Step 1. Begin this activity by asking students to think about all the electrical appliances and gadgets that we have now. Ask students to work participate in a 'Think Pair Share' thinking routine around the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How many of them were around when you were a little kid?
How many do you think will still be around when you are older?
How many do you use everyday?
What would you use instead of these appliances if these appliances didn’t exist?
What new appliances and gadgets do you think will be available in the future?

When complete, ask groups to share their answers with the rest of the class.

Explain to students that while there might be some people out in the world who could correctly predict what sorts of gadgets and appliances will be used in the future, we don’t need to look very far to find out what has happened in the past.

Part 2: Designing and conducting an interview

Step 1. In the next part of this activity, students will devise and carry out an interview with an older person to find out what sorts of appliances and gadgets were used in the past and what was used instead of all the gadgets and appliances we now use.

The first step is for students to design a questionnaire or interview. Ask students to think about what it is that they want to know and what sorts of questions they could ask to get this information. We have created a very simple checklist questionnaire (below and on the Student Worksheet) that students can use or can use to base their own interview around. Students can be far more elaborate than what we have been. However, students should get teacher's approval for their interview and questions before they conduct their interview.

Electrical appliance	Was it in their home?	If it wasn't, what did they use instead?
Air conditioner
Toaster
Kettle
Television
Microwave
Hairdryer
Washing machine
Computer/Tablet
Radio/Stereo
Electric blanket
Fridge
Iron
Vacuum cleaner
Dishwasher
Clothes dryer
Heater
Hot water heater
Lights
Mozzie zapper
Games console
Phone

Step 2. Once students have completed their interview, ask them to share their results with the class through a class discussion. Consider some of the following questions to help conclude the discussion:

What was the most surprising thing about conducting this interview?
Were there any other questions that you wanted to ask once you’d sat down with your interviewee that were not on the list?
Do you think life would have been harder without all the gadgets and appliances that we now have?

Reflection

Invite students to complete the following reflection questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How well did you manage the interview?
What would you change about your interview if you were to do it again?
What other questions would you ask if you were to do it again?
Did you enjoy the interview process? Why or why not?
What was the most interesting thing you found out from your interview?
What other things would it be interesting to interview an older person about?

Differentiated Learning

Extension: Invite students to interview more than one person, or to interview people of different backgrounds and cultures and to compare the answers in a multimedia presentation or report.

Homework Task - Energy Then and Now

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