I immersed the children in texts and stories about sustainability. I got out batteries, wires and lightbulbs to explore circuits and asked the children if they knew other ways to make energy. Together we found texts about Solar power and wind power.
Children have designed and built models of Sustainable Cities using Minecraft and Eden. Now that they Olympics are on, some of them are designing Sustainable Stadiums using the same Apps. There have been lots of "WOW!" noises heard when the kids plug the iPads into the screen so we can get a tour.
There were a group of children hooked on the idea of Sustainable Housing. They have built models out of all sorts of things. One child decided to include a human powered pulley system for a lift in her house, another couple decided to have a go at making mudbricks, which they researched themselves and others built several models of houses out of different materials until they found one that worked.
This same group of children organised their own excursions to Reverse Garbage and a farm that somebody's relatives lived on. One girl built a model of her farm where she hooked up the drinking water for the animals' troughs to a huge water tank and used the manure for fertiliser on the garden. Another student wanted to make the idea of picking up rubbish fun and invented a bird rubbish collector.
These kids are only 8-10 years of age!
Not all of the children could finish their models, but they could all explain and justify the choices they have made so I know that they are very clear about what they have learned and in some cases, where they want to head next. They have collaborated and negotiated their way around acquiring materials with minimal cost. They have gone and accessed libraries, consulted experts, organised excursions, created, constructed and modified designs and interpreted information from websites. Along the way they have been able to use the language of Maths and Science to process what they have learned. They have found out about circuits and electrons. They are aware of why we need to look at our lifestyles and our homes. How rich is that?
We chose a few projects to enter in the Science Talent Search and some parents came up with the idea of looking for a category to enter the children's work in for the Whittlesea Show later on this year. One of the best pieces of feedback I got was from a parent who was telling us how they got out a torch one night to show how the eaves on a house work. They had a great Learning Conversation with their child about how the Sun is lower in the sky during Winter and higher in Summer. He was amazed at the understanding his child had of the world around them and their curiosity about it. "Projects make fantastic learning." Not only has it been great for the children's learning at school, it has been great for being able to build partnerships with parents as well.
The children are still interested in Sustainability. There is a boy who has his heart set on building a solar powered robot, some children who want to advise the principal on how we can design the next stage of the building program and a few more speculating about whether we should investigate getting solar panels on the roof. A groups of kids are keen to recycle our scrap paper by making new paper and addressing the issue of reducing waste.
This could be going for quite a while yet!
Some examples of the work the kids have done is seen here.
