Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Energyville

20 minutes

Find Out: Letters to the mayor

25 minutes

Take Action: Fact-checking guide

5 minutes

Reflection: Two stars and a wish

Learning intentions

Students will:

evaluate electricity sources for reliability, safety and suitability
identify and differentiate between fact, misinformation and disinformation.

Success criteria

Students can:

identify the pros and cons of electricity sources using trusted information
create and apply a guide to fact-check scientific statements.

Tune In: Energyville

Step 1

As a class, read the case study on Hepburn Wind Farm, Australia’s first community-owned wind farm.

Case study: Hepburn Wind - A community-owned wind farm

Hepburn Wind is in Leonard’s Hill, Victoria, and is Australia’s first community-owned wind farm. It has been providing clean energy for over 10 years, generating enough electricity to power more than 2,000 homes in the region. The Hepburn Community Wind Park Co-operative runs the wind farm, offering a successful example of how communities can create renewable energy projects.

The wind farm has 2 turbines, Gale and Gusto, owned by the local community. Each turbine can produce up to 2.05 MW of power. The cooperative limited the project to 2 turbines to match the community's energy needs while remaining financially sustainable.

Funding for Hepburn Wind came from various sources, including $10
million raised through small investments by over 2,000 supporters, additional support from state government grants, and a loan from Bendigo Bank.

Before Hepburn Wind, the region relied on electricity from coal-fired power stations in the Latrobe Valley. Since 2011, the wind farm has produced about 11,000 MWh of clean electricity annually, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 12,200 tonnes annually.

This community project shows how renewable energy can be locally owned, and benefit people and the planet.

Source: Hepburn Wind Community Co-Operative

Step 2

After reading, discuss why the community used wind as their energy source.

Explain to the students that a new town is being developed. Students have been nominated to be members of the town council of ‘Energyville’ and must assist the mayor in choosing the best energy source for this new town.

Their goal is to use scientific knowledge to make an informed decision. Have students quickly call out energy sources they know. List them on the board: coal, nuclear, solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, etc.

Step 3

Using the thinking routine ‘Think, Pair, Share’, ask students to individually think about and jot down criteria for choosing a preferred electricity source to power a new town on the Student Worksheet. Prompt them with questions such as:

What should the electricity source be able to do?
How reliable should it be?
What safety considerations are important?

Step 4

Invite students to pair up with another student and share their ideas with a partner. Encourage students to discuss and combine their criteria.

Step 5

Ask students to share their top criteria with the whole group. As they share, create a list of criteria on the board, such as:

must power all homes and businesses
reliable and consistent
safe for the community
environmentally friendly
cost-effective

Find Out: Letters to the Mayor

Step 1

Divide the class into small groups of 4 or 5 students. Assign each group an energy source such as solar, wind, nuclear, hydro, or coal. Distribute the activity sheet about the differing energy sources. These letters include factual information, myths, and opinions from various perspectives such as scientists, locals, and industry representatives.

Instruct each group to read their letters. Based on the content, students will create a pros and cons list for their assigned energy source. Direct students to the Student Worksheet to generate their pros and cons list.

Step 2

Introduce the concept of misinformation and disinformation to students. You may like to explain that misinformation occurs when someone shares something untrue but doesn’t know it’s wrong. It’s like telling a friend it will rain today because you thought you heard it on the news, but the sun comes out instead. Disinformation occurs when someone intentionally shares something untrue to trick people. For example, if someone says a toy is the best in the world, everyone will buy it, even if it breaks easily.

Explain that some letters might contain inaccurate information. Challenge students to identify potential myths or exaggerations in the letters they read by circling them. Introduce the idea that misinformation and disinformation often oversimplify or distort scientific concepts.

Step 3

Facilitate a discussion with the students using the following prompts:

Why might people deliberately share information that they know is false or misleading?
Why would people share information without fact-checking it?
How can we check facts?
Why is it important to fact-check information, even from seemingly trustworthy sources?

Take Action: Fact-checking guide

Step 1

Explain to the students that they will create a fact-checking guide to assist the mayor in making a final decision. In pairs, students navigate the following links and take notes on how to fact check scientific statements.

National Geographic Kids: Their article, ‘How to be an expert fact-checker’, provides simple steps for kids to verify information, such as searching multiple sources and checking dates.
NASA’s Space Place: NASA's Climate Kids website, part of its educational outreach, has a section titled ‘The scientific method and climate change’ that explains how scientists verify information and conduct research.
Time for Kids: Time for Kids has an article titled ‘Find the Facts’ that discusses the importance of fact-checking and provides insights from professional fact-checkers on verifying information.

Step 2

Students develop their guide using the activity sheet, which explains the top 3 steps for fact-checking scientific statements based on their research.

Learning support: Students orally share their top tips on fact-checking scientific statements to be scribed by their teacher or using voice-to-text. They then create relevant visual icons to sit alongside each of their tips.

Learning extension: Organise a mock press conference where students take turns presenting scientific statements and challenging their peers to fact-check them using their newly developed guides.

Learning opportunity: Share students’ social media mockups with the broader school community, or invite a local scientist or journalist to speak to the class about the importance of fact-checking in their profession, and share real-world examples of how they verify information.

Reflection: Two stars and a wish

Students exchange guides and provide peer feedback using Two Stars and a Wish in a peer review. Begin by allocating students into pairs to review each other’s work before providing it in the following format:

Two Stars: 2 specific things they liked or thought were done well
One Wish: 1 suggestion for improvement or something they'd like to see added

Students share their ‘Two Stars and a Wish’ feedback with each other. Allow a brief discussion where students can ask questions or clarify the feedback they received.

How Do Energy Sources Work and How Are They Misunderstood?

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