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Prepared by: Murray McMillan

Position: Classroom teacher

Date submitted: 17th December 2010

Total solar electricity generated this year
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During the past 12 months 2262 kWh of electricity was generated by our
school·s solar panels.

During the past 12 months we saved 0.441 tonnes of carbon dioxide by

generating electricity from the solar panels c

This year the data collected from our school·s solar panels supported a
number of different learning experiences. In term 3 the junior and
middle school home groups used the data to support their statistical
enquiries. Data collected over the space of a week was used to teach
the students how to create a bar graph. As part of our ¶Sun Smart
programme· in term 4, the amount of electricity generated by our
solar panels throughout the day was used to illustrate the hours of the
day when students need to take precautions to protect themselves
from the harmful effects of the sun.

Above is an example of a worksheet that used by the junior school to help them
determine what the weather was like on a particular day of the week.
 Students or staff involved in Schoolgen
This year one of our major accomplishments related to the Schoolgen
programme was establishing a Schoolgen lead team. The group
consisted of gifted and talented students ranging from year 4 to year
8.

The 2010 Clifton Terrace Model School Schoolgen lead team

At the beginning of the year the Schoolgen lead team was fortunate to
work alongside Maggie Twaddle. Maggie provided the group with a
greater insight about solar panels and the types of environmental
projects they could explore as a group throughout the year. The group
decided to call themselves the ¶Electro Kids· and after much
deliberation decided that their major project for the year was to
create a display outlining ¶energy saving tips· that the school and the
school·s community could benefit from. The project was code named
¶Operation Sunbeam·, and to complete the project The Electro Kids
met every Tuesday afternoon throughout term 3. Firstly, the lead
team identified those electrical appliances that were used regularly
throughout the school. Once this was completed a selection of the lead
team used the internet to research various energy saving tips that
related to the appliances. These tips were then re-written to
accommodate the particular needs of the project. It was decided that
the display would be placed on the school·s fence and thus other
members of the group set about creating a visual display for the
energy saving tips. Each member of the lead team was responsible for
a different aspect of the project. These responsibilities included
researching information, designing, creating graphics, and painting
the display.
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Above is an example of the action plan created by the Electro
Kids as part of their term 3 project ¶Operation Sunbeam·.
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Above is the plan created by the Schoolgen lead team for their visual
display about ¶Energy Saving Tips·.

Above is the final visual display created by the Schoolgen lead team
that was placed on the school·s fence.
 Educational Highlights
In 2010 a selection of the Schoolgen learning resources were employed
to support the students· investigation of how to use electricity safely,
ways to reduce electricity usage, types of renewable energy sources,
and carbon emissions. The Schoolgen teaching resources that
supported these studies included Solar Energy: ¶Schoolgen Data, What
Does It Tell Us· (Levels 1-2), ¶Decision Making ² Reducing Greenhouse
Gas Emissions· (Levels 5-6). Energy Efficiency: ¶How Can We Use Less
Electricity In Our Classroom?· (Levels 1-2), ¶Understanding Carbon·
and ¶Calculate And Reduce Your Carbon Footprint· (Levels 5-6).

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A wall display created by the junior school in response to the Teacher-
Led Activity ¶How Can We Use Less Electricity In Our Classroom?·
Throughout term 3 the middle and senior school completed a major
study that examined the impact of carbon emissions on the
environment and the various methods the students could employ to
reduce that impact. A selection of the Schoolgen teacher resources
that related to this topic were used to create various learning
experiences. However, because there was little or no teaching
resources pitched at level 2 concerning carbon emissions, those
resources created for levels 5 -6 were modified to suit the learning
needs of our year 3 and 4 students. Furthermore, it was felt that the
activities that were suggested to support the learning intentions at
levels 3 and 4 were insufficient at building upon the learning
experiences. More activities were required to allow the students the
opportunity to gain knowledge of the various concepts explored.

Above is the lesson plan used in the middle school home group in week 3 of
term 3.
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Above is the weekly lesson plan used in the middle school when they used the
Schoolgen data collected in the weather journal for their statistical
investigation.

To support our mathematics unit on statistics in term 3 the junior and

middle school home groups used the Schoolgen teaching resource
¶Schoolgen Data, What Does It Tell Us?· The students collected data
using the weather journal and used the results to learn how to create
a bar graph. The students also interpreted the data from the solar
panels to determine how the weather influences the amount of
electricity our solar panels can generate during the day.c

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Above is the lesson plan used in the senior school home group in week 8 and
9 of term 3.

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Above is a lesson plan that examined the various ways carbon emissions
could be reduced by using renewable energy. It was created by a teacher
trainee and was used in the middle school home group.

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 Above is a Record of Learning (ROL) response created by a year 4 student in
reply to the Teacher-Led Activity ¶How Can We Use Less Electricity In Our
Classroom?·c

Upon completing the unit on carbon emissions the students in the

middle and senior home groups had become more aware of the various
environmental and energy issues related to carbon emissions. Students
were able to identify actions they could take to minimise or reduce
their carbon footprint. In addition, they were also able to identify the
positive and negative effects of taking actions to reduce their carbon
footprint.

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 Communication Highlights
This year we continued to keep our community informed about our
school·s solar panels through our weekly newsletter ¶Events·.
Information shared with the community included the amount of
carbon dioxide we saved by generating electricity from the solar
panels and the total kWh of electricity generated over a specific
amount of time.

Above is an example of one of the regular solar panel updates that appeared in our
school newsletter throughout the year.
This year one of the key initiatives for our involvement in the
Schoolgen programme included updating our school website to provide
information regarding our commitment to the programme and our
solar panels. Information highlighting these two aspects is now an
established feature of our school website which is regularly updated.

Schoolgen lead team members Constance Striling and Annie Dancer making a
presentation at a school assembly.

Weekly assemblies oragnised by the students at our school provided

the members of the Schoolgen lead team the opportunity to make
regular presentations. Presentations often included a quiz that
contained questions related to solar power. Special mention was also
made when our solar panels were generating the highest amount of
electricity during some morning periods.
 Key milestones and reflections

Maggie Twaddle and the ¶Electro Kids· during one of Maggie·s visits in 2010

The key highlight for Clifton Terrace Model School in 2010 was
creating our Schoolgen lead team. The formation of the team allowed
a group of gifted and talented students to gain a greater awareness of
renewable energy and environmental issues. Furthermore, using this
heightened knowledge the students were able to contribute to the
school·s community by informing them about ¶energy saving tips·
through the visual display they created.
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¶Sun Facts· wall display created by Jenny Austin junior school teacher

For 2011 our school·s intended focus will be to develop sustainability

initiatives throughout the school. This will mean aligning our
commitments to the Schoolgen programme and the Enviro Schools
programme to achieve those goals.

We have recently signed a sister-school agreement with a primary

school in Mexico. Part of strengthening that relationship will involve
sharing some of our key initiatives and learning experiences related
to environmental issues.

In 2011 we will have a large number of new students enrolling at our

school. Therefore, time will be needed to develop programmes and up
skill those new students about our school·s solar panels and being
energy efficient.

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