👣 Learning journeys for "How to save or spend"

Posing this hinge question...

Does it help to switch things off for a short time?

may provoke responses which enable you to allow children to engage with exploring the importance of the idea of the power of appliance to energy paid for at one of three levels.

Teaching ideas from different levels can of course be introduced as appropriate to each child's learning journey.

Particular tripwires to bear in mind

⚠️ just this

⚠️ essence is how much

⚠️ compound quantities

Keep these in mind as you guide children through the selected level.

Shallow

🩺 Children draw on everyday slogans, or invent rules of thumb, perhaps based on very limited evidence.

Turning on a big thing costs heaps.

It's the things that are turned on for longest that cost you.

Even little things turned on for a long time cost you.

🔎 To help children see what they think and to develop those thoughts you might promote discussions using the following set of thoughts as prompts for children to agree or disagree with.

Just turn off the big things.

Turn off everything, that way you can't go wrong.

Choose carefully: turning off some things makes a lot more difference.

Here are some approaches to extend exploration at this starter level.

🧭 starting to explore "How to save or spend"

Digging

🩺 Children focus on a solution, which may be heading in the right direction, but only considers a limited number of factors.

Both little and big things turned on for a long time cost you.

But does a little one turned on for a long time cost more than a big one turned on for a short time?

🔎 To help children see what they think and to develop those thoughts you might promote discussions using using the following set of thoughts as prompts for children to agree or disagree with.

Turn off everything — it all helps.

Choose carefully what to make sure you turn off.

only charge big batteries when power is cheap.

Here are some approaches to extend exploration at this deeper level.

🧭 a deeper exploration of "How to save or spend"

In depth

🩺 Children consider a wider range of factors before settling on advice, and are open to the advice being modified in the light of suggestions and reasons they had not considered.

How long and how powerful — both with numbers.

Power and hours. Put the two together.

Kilowatt-hours is what you get charged for. So you have to figure those out.

🔎 To help children see what they think and to develop those thoughts you might promote discussions using using the following set of thoughts as prompts for children to agree or disagree with.

The power demanded by a device tells you which ones to concentrate on.

Cook or heat water when it's cheapest.

Look for the watts. The things with higher watts are the first ones to turn off.

Here are some approaches to extend exploration at depth.

🧭 exploring "How to save or spend" at depth