Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes

Tune In: Introducing pipes

15 minutes

Find Out: Make a plan for your pipe

25 minutes

Take Action: Pipe creations

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune in: Introducing pipes

Step 2. Now explain to students that there is a focus in Australia on shifting from a linear to a circular economy. What does this mean? When we talk about the economy, we are talking about the ways that a community or country (like Australia) makes things, offers services, and divides the services and stuff up between people, usually using money. The ways that we have done this in the past have seen us use resources to make things, and then when we're done with those things, we throw away the broken parts or the parts we no longer need. This is called a linear economy; when the system works along a line (see the image below - also available here as a presentation):

In this image, we see the 'Take-Make-Dispose' concept in which a resource (raw material) is converted and made into a final product that can be used by consumers and then disposed of.

In a circular economy, we are looking for ways to waste less stuff and use fewer raw materials and move the system to a circle. This means we look at the waste materials that would normally be disposed of to see how these could be used in new products (see image below - also available here as a presentation):

The circular economy aims to use resources better by rethinking how we talk and use waste. In many cases, this requires serious creativity, and the role of product design becomes really important. One of the key elements in this way of thinking and design is to try to make materials last as long as possible. In this way, there is an emphasis on shifting how we extract, make, use, and repurpose material in our products to ensure they are used efficiently and kept in circulation as long as possible.

What about recycling? How does this relate to recycling? Well, essentially, this is a way of recycling, except that the recycling begins at the end – it’s the 'get rid' stage of a product's lifecycle. In a properly built circular economy, we should focus on avoiding the recycling stage for as long as possible. While recycling is a necessary part of designing sustainable products, we need to ensure that products and materials are designed from the outset to be reused, repaired, and remanufactured (close loop). It’s the consequences of decisions made at the design stage that determine around 80% of environmental impacts.

Note: For further information on the linear and circular economy, you could watch this video.

Extend: Students requiring extension could find out about sustainability and the characteristics of plastic pipe systems here: PIPA - Our Sustainability Story, or find out more about a circular economy here: PIPA - Circular Economy.

Step 3. Take a few minutes to discuss with students how they think plastic pipes can be part of the circular economy. What could happen with plastic pipes at the following stages:

Design and make (how do we need to design pipes so they fit with a circular economy model?)
Use (how can we use pipes to ensure they fit with a circular economy model?)
Reuse and repair (how can we reuse or repair pipes?)
Recover and recycle (what needs to happen with pipes at this stage so they fit with a circular economy model?)
Raw materials (where do raw materials fit with pipes in a circular economy model?)

Once complete, explain to students that pipes are a serious business. But they can also be fun. In this lesson, students will have the chance to get creative with pipes!

Find out: Make a plan for your pipe

Step 1. Invite students to gather around the pieces of pipe you have collected and to handle the pipes to get a sense of how they feel, roll, balance and sound. Beware of the weapon potential of the pipes but encourage students to play with the pipe and test them in various ways.

Students can start thinking about how they might like to use these pipe parts creatively, for example:

as a musical instrument
as the basis for a sculpture
to create a lizard shelter or another habitat feature
planter pots for strawberries or succulents
any other ideas students might have?

Depending on how much pipe you have available for students to work with or on the confidence of students, students could work independently or in groups. If they are working independently, you could encourage students to think about how their individual designs could work in partnership with the designs of other students; can they complement each other's work?

In addition, depending on what students decide to do with their pipes, they may need to undertake some further research. For example, if students want to create a lizard shelter, they may need to find out what requirements a lizard has for a shelter and where the best location for a shelter might be.

Step 2. Students start planning their designs. They will need to do some rough sketching or modelling to help them define what they hope to create and list any other materials they might need.

They should then create a detailed sketch or technical drawing of their final design, including any other materials they anticipate needing and where these might be used.

They can also think about how they might decorate their designs.

In their drawings or sketches, they must also include how this creation could be disposed of once it’s no longer needed. For example:

Which parts can be recycled?
What should happen with the parts that can’t be recycled? Can they be reused for something else?
What steps need to be taken to dismantle the parts of the creation in order to ensure little or no materials used in the creation end up in landfill?

If time permits, students could also create a prototype of their design using paper or cardboard.

Step 3. Students can share their designs with others in their class and incorporate feedback for improvement.

Take action: Pipe creations!

Step 1. Students can create their final works based on their drawings or prototypes.

Explain to students that it can be hard being a designer who has to create new products from materials that aren’t always fit for purpose and they shouldn’t be too hard on themselves if things don’t go exactly as planned. If this is the case, don’t give up but see if you can make it work in other ways, perhaps by tweaking the design or incorporating more materials.

Step 2. Once students are happy with their designs, they need to write an artist's statement that explains the following:

why they chose this design
what they hope this design achieves (e.g. to make people smile or to give lizards a shady spot to rest)
information about the materials used in this design and how they can be reused, recovered or recycled when the design is no longer wanted or needed
information about plastic pipes and how they play a role in the circular economy (students can include information from this website: PIPA - Circular Economy)

Step 3. An important part of real-world learning, such as in this project, is the opportunity for students to present their learning in a public arena. This could mean:

hosting an exhibition where the process and final creations are displayed as posters; or
creating a newsletter about students’ creations and distributing them to parents and community members; or
producing and screening a two-minute film that documents students’ creations.

Reflection

Students can work independently to think about the work they created and answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How successful were you in bringing your design to life? How did it fit into the stages of a circular economy?
What would you do differently next time?
What was the best part of working on this design, and why?
What was the most challenging part and why?
What are you most proud of?

Differentiation

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool Australia, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning preferences. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways - if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this. In lessons that feature group work or learning stations, we trust that teachers will use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students in accordance to positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes in length, we trust that teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

Getting Creative with Pipes

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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