Sustainable Homesteads Project

Woodleigh schoolYear 7 – bringing science, maths and

design together

Why?

• Opportunity for students to work scientifically – design and perform an real world experiment and present their findings to an outside audience.

• Opportunity for students to learn about energy transfer between solids, liquids and gases.

• Opportunity for students to create graphs from data.• Opportunity for students to learn how to use a range of

digital apparatus.• Opportunity for students to make recommendations based

on their data about the redesign and renovation of their Homesteads.

Week 1 – introduction to all students

The building we live, work and learn in protects us from the outside and allow us to have light, cooling, heating, spaces to sit, play etc.

Some buildings feel and perform better than others.

Think about a building at school you like and one that you don’t. Can you think why?

Week 1 – introduction to all studentsThings to think about when thinking about the building you like and

don’t like are:- Light – natural and artificial – can you see to do what you need to

do- Air – is it fresh- Temperature – are you too cold or too hot- Sound – is it too noisy or too quiet- What materials are the building made of and how does this make

you feel

Week 1 – introduction to all students- How efficient do you think your Homestead is – do they need a

lot of light, heating, cooling, why…

- Do these thing affect why you like or don’t like the building?

- Do you think you could fix the things you don’t like?

That’s what this subject is about – can you use what you learn to assess your Homestead and think on how

to make it better?

Today we will be learning about the equipment that can help us understand what works well and doesn’t work well in a building

Instruments 1

Reading surfacetemperature

Creating thermal images

Measuring Light levels

Measuring sound

5 x 1 x 5 x 5 x

Instruments 2

Reading ambienttemperature

Measuring humidity

Air movement

5 x 3 x 1 x

Activity

You will be introduced to the equipment by spending 15 minutes in one of 5 workstations doing a set activity to learn about the equipment and what it monitors.

Activity 1 – the role of windows, doors, seals, insulation, heat sources, cooling sources

Looking at the areas in your class room that are hot/cold and why?

Look at some electrical equipment what do you notice?

Work sheet thermal camera

Based on the images on the next slide choose 4 to describe what is being shown fill in your work sheet

With the teacher look at things in the class room and discuss in the group what you are seeing.

See if you can make an art work on the floor with your class mates

Work sheet thermal camera

Thermal camera bum flower

Activity 2 – how materials work and how they help a building become efficient and comfortable

Looking at the ability of materials to hold and retain heat and speed of cooling down

Using a thermal scanner to test how material do this

Activity 2 – thermal scanner

Take the materials in the box.Lay them out on a work bench inside the

classroom. Take their thermal reading – fill in your activity sheet.

Now put them outside and take their reading again – fill in your activity sheet.

Now bring them back inside and do it a third time as quickly as you can – fill in your activity sheet

Work sheet - materials

Activity 2 – thermal scanner

What do you notice?Can you think why?Does this information mean some materials are

good to use inside, some outside, and some are good for insulation? Which ones?

Activity 3 – what is happening with natural and artificial light in your class room

Look at different materials and their colours and how they reflect and absorb light.

Think about rough and smooth materials .

Activity 3 – what is happening with natural and artificial light in your class room

Take 6 materials from the box and lay them out on the bench – choose 3 carpet bits and 3 tile bits of similar colours.

Put them in order of most to least reflective.Test their reflectivity by shining a torch on the material at 45o

and then hold the big white ‘eye’ of the lux meter at 45o the other way. Where you correct?

Activity 3 – what is happening with natural and artificial light in your class room

Have a look around the room and fill in the activity sheet using the lux meter

Working the lux meter:- Take the black over off the ‘eye’ of the meter – this is where it gets its

reading- use the dial to turn onto the lux settings x100 etc. FC at foot candles use

in the US- If you are outside you will need to go to a higher power 1000x because it

is brighter- We measure at desk or bench height, why do you think that is?

Work sheet 3 light

Activity 4 - what is happening with sound in your class room

Just like light gets reflected around a room differently if it comes of a smooth or rough surface so sound is affected by rough and smooth surfaces.

This activity is about learning how to measure sound and the effect materials have on making things louder or less loud.

Activity 4 – how do we measure what is loud?

• Like km is for distance the measure for sound levels is decibels

• 40-50 dB is about right for a class room when you are trying to concentrate.. Any quieter people feel like it is too eerie and any louder it gets too distracting.

• Have a play with the meter – can you work out what all the buttons do?

Work sheet – sound levels

Activity 4

• The aim of this activity is to learn to use the meter and to think about different material and their affect on sound

• Go through the activities outlined on your sheet

Activity 5 – air movement affects how warm or cold you feel

You need air movement for several reasons:- Gets rid of pollutants- Helps you feel cooler in summerWe measure air movement in meters per second in a

building or km per hour for winds outside. Your meter will do both have a play with the settings.

In summer we prefer more air movement than in winter. Why? What can you do to give you the ability to have movement in summer and not winter?

Activity 5 – air movement affects how warm or cold you feel

Your readers also measure temperature

If you finish doing the air movement readings do the temperature one too

We are comfortable between 19-25 degrees, less than that we feel cold over that we feel too warm.

Work sheet 5 air movement

On your worksheet there is a rough outline of your class room. Use this to mark where you take measurements.

Pick 6-8 points in the room to take measurementsYou will use the meter to measure both vertically and

horizontally – why do you think we would do that?You will also measure it at about 1m off the floor, why?

Example

do the same for

each point

Work sheet air movement

At each point take a reading with:• Windows closed – measure air flow vertically and

horizontally• Windows open – measure air flow vertically and

horizontally• Fans off – measure air flow vertically and horizontally• Fans on – measure air flow vertically and horizontally

Work sheet air movement

Temperature readings – use your same 6-8 points, take the readings at the same height.

Does having the fans on make a difference? Does it feel

different why?