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Making the case

© NSW DET 2007

Making the case for changeEach day we use energy in our homes, schools, offices and in the community. Increasingly we understand the impact our use of energy has on resources and climate our use of energy has.

Exploring energyWhat do we know and need to know about energy and sustainability? How and where will we find out what we need to know? What does it mean to use energy in a sustainable way?

Tune into the Magic of Energy with quizzes on renewable and non-renewable energy and sources. Spark an interest in energy by viewing some

Data on the school's energy use helps identify issues and solutions.

With permission NSW Department of Education and Communities

Learning journal

Teacher notes

NSW Syllabus links

Australian Curriculum

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© NSW DET 2007

Defining the scope

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Defining the scope for action

Schools and the community can change systems and equipment to save energy. There are a variety of actions and behaviours that teachers and students can adopt to reduce energy use.

Generating ideas and exploring options for actionHow have others in schools and the community made improvements in the area of energy use? What are the different types of action we can take to bring about the change we want? How will we know if the changes we make have been

A lux metre measures the brightness of light and helps school manage lighting.

Alexander Pfeiffenberger | CC BY 2.0

© NSW DET 2007

successful in using energy more sustainably?

Read Case Studies of how other schools have approached some energy and sustainability issues in their schools and the solutions they developed. In particular read the Wakehurst Public School story (in the primary section).

Your ideas will need to have evidence on which to base your thinking.

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Resources and constraintsWho might be available to help us? What time is available for the project? What finances are available for the project? What might limit our actions?

List your team,

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those in the school that will help, and provide advice.

Do you have a budget or have you worked out any costs? Create a spread-sheet, including actions with corresponding costs and resources needed.

Think of any issue that may arise that could affect your plan.

Create a mind map to describe different aspects of your project, your information or knowledge needs and the people or locations that can provide support.

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Selecting ideas for actionConsidering our resources and constraints, what type of actions best meet the criteria for energy reduction or energy efficiency in our school?

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Review some more Case Studies to identify if there are any additional ideas to add to your plans to improve their effectiveness.

What are the different ways we could make improvements?

How have others made improvements in this area?

Can we come up with a great idea?

What will we do?

Making decisions is an important part of planning and implementing a project. Prioritising or ranking ideas can help your group to make decisions. But differences of opinion do occur and you need to be able to discuss this. Use the Talk it out – 7 Days Game in your group, choose an ‘avatar’ and spend ‘“seven days’” in a virtual town choosing how to

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act and what to say.

Suggesting and debating different and interesting ideas is a way to explore new and innovative ways of doing things. In groups, plan and draw a few different ideas that could make your school more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

How can we rank or rate a proposal or idea if we don’t all agree?.

Being able to suggest, argue and then agree on an idea or plan is an important part of planning your proposal. Developing the plan will require your team to working together to describe and understand the impacts and refine their understanding of their proposal. You may be able to use the Seeing Reason Tool to understand cause and effect.

Write your agreed

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action in your Learning journal.

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Developing the proposal

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Developing the proposal for actionA proposal for reduced energy use and improved energy efficiency requires: a clear statement of action, criteria for success and agreement by stakeholders.

Developing the statement (brief) for actionHave we clearly stated the type of energy saving or efficiency action we have planned?How will we judge the success of our improvements?What are the individual steps required?What budget or resources are required for each step?Who will be responsible for these actions?What could we do if things don’t go to plan?

Proposal description.

Document your proposal in your Llearning journal.

Does it include:

A plan for action? The budget, personnel and

timing requirements? The steps we will follow to

implement our plan? The criteria and how we

will record information to judge how successful we have been?

A Power-mate measures the energy use and cost of an appliance.

With permission NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.

© NSW DET 2011

What we will do if the implementation doesn’t go to plan or schedule?

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Preparing to communicate the proposalWhat will the energy reduction or efficiency changes cost? Who will take the actions? Who do we need to share our plan with?How will we use feedback to improve our proposal?

Clear communication of your proposal is essential for success. This communication checklist will help you in being an effective communicator. Developed a multimedia presentation, digital story, (DEC intranet), 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional diagram for the class or an article for the school newsletter.

Develop a timeline to describe the main actions in your project and the sequence or order they will happen in.

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Gaining agreement on the proposalHas our class and have others in the school agreed to our ideas?Has our Pprincipal agreed?What modifications are needed to gain the endorsement of the Principal?

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All good plans need to have agreement from all the people that will be involved or affected by the project. This means gaining consensus on your idea. (use the Consensogram).

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Proposal descriptionThis is the final plan and should include all of the necessary information to proceed and make it happen.

Does our document include:

A plan for action? The budget, personnel and

timing requirements? The steps we will follow to

implement our plan? The criteria and how we

will record information to judge how successful we have been?

• What we will do if the implementation does not go to plan or schedule?

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Implementing

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Implementing the proposal

To put an energy saving or efficiency proposal into action you need to follow the sequential steps, monitor your progress and collect data to help measure your success.

Putting the proposal into actionAre we following the steps set out in the proposal?Are we keeping the purpose for the action clearly in mind?How will we know we are implementing the plan as it was agreed or intended?

Refer back to your plan to see if you are progressing as planned.

Discuss this with your team and record the issues you discussed and the actions will you take to address these issues or to stay on track.

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Monitoring and recording the implementationHow will we know we are

Timer switches for lights and fans as part of a student's energy project.

With permission NSW Department of Education and Communities.

© NSW DET 2011

implementing the plan as it was agreed or intended? Are we collecting the information for the evaluation?How can we use this information at this stage to communicate our project and engage others?

Write a short journal entry for each main action. Take a photo of the all of the steps of your implementation. Use these photos to create a digital story (DEC intranet). View a digital story about a climate change project.

Record your implementation in your Learning journal and include your thoughts or feelings as you were implementing the project.

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Reflecting and evaluating

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Reflecting and evaluating

You need to be able to judge and measure the success of your project in addressing the original issue and achieving your goal.

Evaluating the Sustainability sustainability actionDid we achieve our goal of reducing energy use?Have we measured or described this?What were the strengths and weaknesses of our plan?What could we have done differently to get a better result?How can we communicate our success and engage others to try our idea?

How can we communicate our success and engage others to try our idea? Use your photos and create a digital story (DEC intranet) or whiteboard video to tell people about your project and your achievement.

Write an article for the school newsletter or local newspaper.

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Reflecting on the learningHow has my/our feelings and behaviour changed as a result of my/our learning? How well did I/we participate in any group learning activities?Thinking back on what you have achieved, what was the most enjoyable part of the project? How can I apply what I’ve learnt to another

Solar panels installed on a school hall.

Wit h permission Solgen Energy

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sustainability issue?

In your learning Learning journal can you can:

reflect on the whole project state if you have addressed the

original issue describe some new knowledge or

skills you have developed describe the most enjoyable part of

the project.

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