Unit 15: Calculating Results
‘How much is this stuff?’ activity guide
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Unit 15: Calculating Results
‘How much is this stuff?’ activity guide Estimated duration: 10 minutes Aim • •
To help conceptualise the amount of energy, water etc. they have saved Have a greater appreciation of the value of the savings produced
Outcome By the end of the activity, students will be able to: • Use measurement and the metric system to calculate units of length, mass and volume. • Describe savings measurements using everyday examples
Resources • • • •
The group savings results from the ‘calculating results’ activity Results from ‘If all Victorians’ activity Ruler Tape measure (if you do not have a tape measure handy use a piece of string with knots tied at lengths measured by the ruler)
Activity Description This activity uses visual and/or local examples to help students understand the quantities that were calculated in their savings results. Large numbers can sometimes become meaningless as there is no way to conceptualise the amount being talked about. Using some of the examples below, it is possible to make some calculations on the board to demonstrate what those results are equivalent too. Ideally you would also use examples that are locally relevant to the class – for example if the school has water tanks, work out how big they are and then work out how many tanks worth of water have been saved. You may like to either research some of these local examples before the class, or to get the students to research these, in class or as a homework project. The scale is important so you may need to have some examples for small savings and some for larger savings. Of course there are two sets of results you can look at and it is worth doing both. These are: 1) the personal level i.e. the group results and 2) the results ‘If all Victorians (did this)’. Personal Results For smaller results such as greenhouse gases saved by unplugging/turning off you mobile phone charger you may need to measure this in black balloons. A black balloon is approximately 50 grams of greenhouse gases. Or turning off the tap while
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brushing teeth you might want to equate the litres saved to say 2 litre Coke bottles or 1 litre milk cartons. Larger results such as water saved from reduced shower times maybe best related to back yard swimming pools, milk tankers, fuel tankers, baths or water tanks (especially if you have one in your school yard). A full bath is about 150 litres, a backyard swimming pool is about 42,000 litres, and an Olympic pool is about 2,500,000 litres. A fuel tanker is about 30,000 litres. Another useful way is local features such as a lake, pond or public swimming pool in town. By finding out the amount of water in this you can calculate the group’s results in these types of units. A ruler or tape measure will assist to demonstrated the dimensions of a backyard pool as will having “black balloons” handy. This way the students can begin to visualise the amounts of materials being discussed and then calculate volumes in “classrooms of water” or “swimming pools”, for example. For larger greenhouse gas savings, you might want how compare them with car use. The average car emits 4.3 tonnes (4,300 kg) of greenhouse gases per year. 2. State results This is far more difficult to conceptualise due to the large numbers involved. However you might use things such as x million litres saved is y times the amount of water used in our community per year or use the “number of times this would fill a local lake or dam”.
Student Roles and Responsibilities Participate in agreed tasks Contribute to class discussions Complete activities and worksheets Work cooperatively with others Participate in survey and collect data Seek teacher assistance and support when needed
Level of Teacher Support Facilitate discussion Organise materials and equipment Introduce tasks and activities Provide encouragement and assistance when requested Provide advice on how to research and identify sources of information Teach or reinforce numerical and statistical skills and understanding
Assessment To use this learning activity as an assessment task, collect evidence such as: Student research notes and report Copies of student materials and worksheets Teacher checklist for class discussions
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