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Science / Year 5 / Science as a Human Endeavour / Use and influence of science

Curriculum content descriptions

Scientific knowledge is used to solve problems and inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE083)

Elaborations
  • considering how best to ensure growth of plants
  • considering how decisions are made to grow particular plants and crops depending on environmental conditions
  • comparing the benefits of using solid, liquid or gaseous fuels to heat a home
  • describing the safety aspects of using gases
  • investigating how the development of materials such as plastics and synthetic fabrics have led to the production of useful products

  • describing how technologies developed to aid space exploration have changed the way people live, work and communicate

  • exploring objects and devices that include parts that involve the reflection, absorption or refraction of light such as mirrors, sunglasses and prisms

General capabilities
  • Personal and social capability Personal and social capability
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
ScOT terms

Decision making

Video

Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Shrinking and expanding metals

Explore with the Surfing Scientist team what happens when metals are heated and cooled. Find out what happens to a metal ring when it is immersed in extremely cold liquid nitrogen. What do hinges on the Sydney Harbour Bridge have to do with all this? Find out.

Online

Growing your own pizza

In this hypothetical exercise, young learners will explore what they would need to establish if they were to grow their very own pizza. The OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for children to: investigate where and how food is produced; appreciate the complexities of food manufacturing; expand their knowledge of food ...

Online

Home energy use

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and sustainable energy use and are two of the major issues facing the world today. This project explores energy use in homes, and compares individual energy use with the class average and calculate and graph CO2 emissions.

Online

Every drop counts, being water wise!

This activity aims to explore water usage and water saving ideas. Every drop counts! OUTCOMES are for children to: understand the importance of water; look at ways to help save water; and undertake a water audit.

Online

Creating a food garden: vision

This learning activity is part of a sequence of 5 individual learning activities focused on creating a food garden. The order of these learning activities are: vision, site assessment, installing a no dig garden bed, planting and harvesting. OUTCOMES For children to: • appreciate what they would like to achieve from creating ...

Video

Steam or just a load of hot air?

Take a journey with two 2013 Sleek Geeks Eureka Science Schools Prize finalists, as they present their take on the history of steam power. See how they link steam power, the properties of water and the way energy is converted. WARNING: if flickering light affects you, you may be best to avoid watching this video.

Online

Creating compost

Compost is created when organic materials such as twigs, leaves, dry grass and kitchen food scraps break down. Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of landfill that is produced, and also provides soil full of good nutrients that can be used on the garden. OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for students to: ...

Online

Investigating the soil food web

Soil is much more than just dirt. In this activity, learners will be conducting an investigation to see which animals and other organisms are recycling nutrients in the garden. These organisms make up the soil food web, which includes microscopic bacteria, fungi, minute creatures such as springtails, worms, pill-bugs and ...

Downloadable

When the dam runs dry

This is an illustrated story retelling the real-life engineering decisions made to provide water to a Queensland town when its dam, the only source of water, ran dry. It shows the creativity, innovation and collaboration required to provide a solution that delivers a sustainable water supply. The downloadable PDF includes ...

Online

Creating a yarning circle: background

This activity introduces children to the idea of a yarning circle and its importance in First Nations Culture. It is part of a sequence of 8 individual learning activities designed to support the meaningful use of yarning circles in learning environments. OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for children to: understand ...

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Space Exploration: Community of Inquiry

In this resource, students participate in a community of inquiry to consider the implications of human space travel. This process gives students the opportunity to come to a full, shared understanding of the concepts and issues around human space travel.

Downloadable

Engineering a reef

This is an illustrated narrative describes the engineering decisions made when building an artificial reef to slow coastal erosion issues encountered on the Gold Coast. It shows the creativity, innovation and community collaboration required, focusing on the value being an engineer brings to the individual and the local ...

Downloadable

Moving a town

This is an illustrated retelling of the engineering decisions made to relocate a town from low to high ground following a dangerous flooding event. Based on a real-life event, the story shows the creativity, innovation and collaboration required to manage the process and focuses on the value engineers brings to the local ...

Downloadable

Fighting floodwaters

This is an illustrated story retelling the real-life engineering decisions made to mitigate flood damage to a Queensland town that experiences frequent, dangerous flooding. It focuses on the value of being an engineer and how It benefits local communities. The downloadable PDF includes classroom activities.

Video

Different types of telescopes

You can find both refracting and reflecting telescopes at Sydney Observatory. How are they different in the way they work and look? What can you find in nature that is like a telescope? Which type of telescope is it like?

Video

Working towards a renewable energy future

Listen to electrical engineering student Kulsoom Hussain describe her dream career. What are some of the challenges she says she'll face in trying to achieve her goals? What can you find out about the energy sources used in Australia? How much renewable energy is used to power our country?

Video

And now for the Sun's weather

The Sun is the primary source of energy on Earth and plays a major role in the weather we experience, but how does it affect weather in space? Watch this animation showing what happens when there is solar wind, solar flare and even a solar storm. Find out about their impacts on our planet and on us.

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FLEET Schools: Light: reflection, refraction, diffraction

This collection of learning activities explores the basic physics that describes light, the history of exploration of light and its applications, and implications for society. There are links to critical thinking activities and experiments that cover the concepts of absorption, reflection, refraction and diffraction to ...

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Primary Connections: Communicating matters

In this sequence of 8 lessons, students learn about solids, liquids and gases, determine their properties and consider how their particulate arrangement relates to their properties and behaviour. They study a variety of examples of science communication and develop techniques to communicate what they have learned. Professional ...

Downloadable

How my water travels

In this lesson sequence, students explore what happens as water soaks into or runs over the ground. They gain an understanding of a catchment from a sandpit model that show how water moves across the landscape. Students then trace the journey that their water takes every day, from catchment or aquifer to tap.