Rainwater harvester - Sustainable Learning · CHALLENGE Rainwater harvester Design, make and...
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practicalaction.org/design-challenge-water-harvesting DESIGN CHALLENGE DESIGN CHALLENGE Rainwater harvester Design, make and evaluate a rainwater harvesting system to irrigate a school garden. TEACHER’S NOTES This project outline has been produced to support the BBC bitesize programme Design challenge: Rainwater harvester developed in collaboration with Practical Action. This challenge is perfect for schools who have a school garden without a rainwater harvesting system or for schools planning to develop their own garden or outdoor growing areas. Ideas on how to run the project: We suggest that you organise the children to work in small groups. Decide on the best way for you to use the Design challenge programme. The 10-minute programme is divided into different parts, so can be used flexibly to support discussion at various stages of project research, design, make and evaluation. Visit the school garden or planned garden area and discuss with the children what the plants need to help them grow well throughout the year. Discuss the available options for getting water to the plants at present and any ideas for improving those systems. You might want to enable the children to take photographs, quick sketches and measurements of the outdoor garden area to help them plan their ideas. Back in the classroom, hand out a set of Practical Action’s photographs used by the children in the programme. They can be used to investigate features of water harvesting systems from Kenya. Ask the children to record the features and to feedback on their ideas. Support the children to develop their specific design brief and design criteria, related to their own school context. Check out our schools website for other STEM challenges practicalaction.org/stem Review their learning so far and ask the children to begin developing their design ideas for a system to collect rainwater and get it to where the plants are growing in the garden. You may decide to have groups working of different parts of the system e.g.capturing water or getting water to the plants. Ask pupils to annotate their sketches with ideas, including materials and measurements. Encourage the children to make models of their systems and to evaluate them. After evaluation ask the children to make any necessary changes to their original design resulting in a final design they are happy with. Allow pupils to make their prototype where possible. Evaluate the prototype and make any necessary adjustment to their final water harvesting system. What next? Please take some photographs and send them to us. We will host them on our website, so children can see ideas from other schools. Email us at schools@ practicalaction.org.uk. Check out our STEM challenges at practicalaction.org/stem You will need: Access to the Design challenge Rainwater harvester programme at bit.ly/design-challenge-water-harvesting Photographs of water harvesting systems – 1 set per small group of children Modelling equipment – card, straws, masking tape and scissors Designing equipment – paper, pencils and pens Making tools and equipment – dependent on final designs Time needed: Approx 4-5 hours
Transcript of Rainwater harvester - Sustainable Learning · CHALLENGE Rainwater harvester Design, make and...
practicalaction.org/design-challenge-water-harvesting
DESIGNCHALLENGEDESIGNCHALLENGE Rainwater harvester
Design, make and evaluate a rainwater harvesting system to irrigate a school garden.
Teacher’s noTes
This project outline has been produced to support the BBC bitesize programme Design challenge: Rainwater harvester developed in collaboration with Practical Action.
This challenge is perfect for schools who have a school garden without a rainwater harvesting system or for schools planning to develop their own garden or outdoor growing areas.
Ideas on how to run the project: We suggest that you organise the children to work in small groups.
Decide on the best way for you to use the Design challenge programme. The 10-minute programme is divided into different parts, so can be used flexibly to support discussion at various stages of project research, design, make and evaluation.
Visit the school garden or planned garden area and discuss with the children what the plants need to help them grow well throughout the year. Discuss the available options for getting water to the plants at present and any ideas for improving those systems. You might want to enable the children to take photographs, quick sketches and measurements of the outdoor garden area to help them plan their ideas.
Back in the classroom, hand out a set of Practical Action’s photographs used by the children in the programme. They can be used to investigate features of water harvesting systems from Kenya. Ask the children to record the features and to feedback on their ideas.
Support the children to develop their specific design brief and design criteria, related to their own school context.
Check out our schools website for other STEM challenges practicalaction.org/stem
Review their learning so far and ask the children to begin developing their design ideas for a system to collect rainwater and get it to where the plants are growing in the garden. You may decide to have groups working of different parts of the system e.g.capturing water or getting water to the plants. Ask pupils to annotate their sketches with ideas, including materials and measurements.
Encourage the children to make models of their systems and to evaluate them. After evaluation ask the children to make any necessary changes to their original design resulting in a final design they are happy with.
Allow pupils to make their prototype where possible.
Evaluate the prototype and make any necessary adjustment to their final water harvesting system.
What next? Please take some photographs and send them to us. We will host them on our website, so children can see ideas from other schools. Email us at [email protected].
Check out our STEM challenges at practicalaction.org/stem
You will need: Access to the Design challenge Rainwater harvester programme at bit.ly/design-challenge-water-harvesting
Photographs of water harvesting systems – 1 set per small group of children
Modelling equipment – card, straws, masking tape and scissors Designing equipment – paper, pencils and pens Making tools and equipment – dependent on final designs
Time needed:
Approx 4-5 hours
practicalaction.org/design-challenge-water-harvesting
Photographs of Rainwater harvesting and irrigation systems from Kenya
© Practical Action/Desmond Kawanda
© Practical Action/Justine Williams
practicalaction.org/design-challenge-water-harvesting
Photographs of Rainwater harvesting and irrigation systems from Kenya
© P
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Act
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Kar
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© P
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ical
Act
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Just
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practicalaction.org/design-challenge-water-harvesting
Photographs of Rainwater harvesting and irrigation systems from Kenya
© Practical Action/Margaret Gardener
© Practical Action/Andrew Heath
