Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

30 minutes	Part A: Reading and analysing Amy's Balancing Act
80 minutes	Part B: An energy fable
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Reading and analysing Amy's Balancing Act

Step 1.

Before you begin, tell students you're about to read a fable.

Do students know how a fable differs from a regular story? A fable is a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral.

Do students know what a moral is? A moral is a lesson that we can get from a story, usually about right and wrong behaviours.

So, this fable is not just a fun story. It is going to have a message about something. Ask students to see if they can figure out what this fable is trying to teach them as you read through it.

Step 2.

It's important to prime students with the understanding that this book is an analogy about energy production, specifically renewable energy so that students aren't guessing at the message and so you can spend more energy digging deeper into the meaning.

Step 3.

Read Amy's Balancing Act. Read until the end of the story, "And the mail is always on time" - we don't need to go into the 'unpacking the fable' section just yet.

You can find a physical copy of the book here.

You can also access the book for educational purposes here, using the password SchoolAccess.

Step 4.

Discuss:

What did the 'mail' represent, and why did the people/farmers like Juniper need it delivered, no matter the weather? The mail represented energy. The people need energy (electricity) supplied to their homes, even when there's a big storm happening. That's why Amy was under so much pressure to deliver.
What did each of the animals represent in this story? Sol the goanna was solar energy. Gail the albatross was wind turbines or wind power. Snowy was named after the iconic hydroelectricity system in the Australian Snowy Mountains. Clyde the Clydesdale might be most challenging, representing old fossil fuels.
Juniper complained about something in the way Clyde was delivering the mail. What was it? How is this analogous to the problem inherent with using fossil fuels to produce energy? Clyde kicked up a lot of dust when he was delivering the mail, and his hooves also tear up the earth. "‘We need our post,’ explained farmer Juniper, ‘but we also need clean air and healthy soil.'" This is an analogy for the way fossil fuels produce a lot of pollution which harms our environment, even when we rely on fossil fuels to produce energy for us. This problem was not present when the other animals started delivering the mail, however.
What was the real message of this book? What did the author want you to do or know at the end? According to the author, the book is about the energy transition from coal to clean energy technologies. It shows how this is essentially a challenge of letting go of the old and learning to work with a diverse team with individual strengths and weaknesses. There will be challenges, as demonstrated by Sol's inability to work when the sun goes down, and the storm, but this is why Amy creates a diverse team who can support one another's weaknesses.
What was the conflict of this story? There were three. It's important to see the story on top of the story.
- Clyde was getting old and getting up a lot of dust. Soon he wouldn't be able to deliver the mail, in the same way that fossil fuels cause a lot of pollution and are a finite resource that won't be able to service our energy needs forever.
- Then Sol was unable to work when the sun went down, because without a sun, solar panels can't generate energy. This was solved by Gail (wind turbines) taking some of the load.
- When the storm hit, neither of them were able to work. However, Snowy was able to store some electricity, just like a battery, and redistribute it later on.

Step 5.

We're now going to look more closely at the text structure.

As a class, discuss:

Who (what audience) is this text aimed at? Justify your answer. Younger children. The colourful pictures and the simple language make it easy for children to read. The message on its basic level is also easy to understand - Amy needs help from all kinds of different animals to deliver the mail.
Why do you think the author chose this text structure to deliver a message about renewable energy? The structure appeals to an audience that wouldn't normally be interested in, or understand, the types of texts that are usually about renewable energy, because these information texts are often very dry and full of difficult to understand statistics. This is good because it gets an important message about climate change in front of young audiences.
Evaluate the effectiveness of this text in delivering that message. Do you think the audience really understood the message about renewable energy? You could argue that young kids might not get the 'real' message behind the fable, as it is a bit more complex. But they might still enjoy the story, and that makes it a good way to start talking about these issues with young kids in an approachable way.

Part B: An energy fable

Step 1.

For this task, students are going to create their own fable just like Amy's Balancing Act, based on a climate change challenge or energy issue.

Before beginning, as a class, brainstorm what some of these messages could be. For example:

You might like to explore nuclear power, and the benefits and challenges of going down such a path for our power supply needs.
Many people have strong (and sometimes misguided) views about solar power. Could you write a story about how the weaknesses of solar panels can be overcome with batteries for storage?
Single-use plastics are useful in some situations, such as food storage or medical practice. But we probably overuse them, not only harming the planet in their production and sending them to landfill, but soon this precious resource will be all used up. Is there an analogy for this relationship somewhere in the animal kingdom?

Step 2.

Give students a copy of Cool's Everything you need to know about energy factsheet.

Independently, students research a topic that interests them. They can learn more by conducting their own independent research.

Step 3.

Students write a short picture book fable about their chosen topic. Like all good pieces of fiction, there should be a conflict that gets resolved.

Student reflection

Students might like to share their fable with the class.

Students should write a short paragraph on the purpose behind presenting their message in this way, and the benefits and challenges they see with using this text structure.

Teacher reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn’t work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Amy's Balancing Act - Books on climate change for parents

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