How can technology and

changed human behaviours

preserve Earth’s
resources?
Science – Earth and space
sciences, Levels 7 and 8

Exploring socio-scientific
issues using scientific thinking
Authorised and published by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
Level 7, 2 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

© Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2021

No part of this publication may be reproduced except as specified under the Copyright Act 1968 or by permission from the VCAA.
Excepting third-party elements, schools may use this resource in accordance with the VCAA educational allowance. For more
information go to https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Footer/Pages/Copyright.aspx.

The VCAA provides the only official, up-to-date versions of VCAA publications. Details of updates can be found on the VCAA website at
www.vcaa.vic.edu.au.

This publication may contain copyright material belonging to a third party. Every effort has been made to contact all copyright owners. If
you believe that material in this publication is an infringement of your copyright, please email the Copyright Officer
[email protected]

Copyright in materials appearing at any sites linked to this document rests with the copyright owner/s of those materials, subject to the
Copyright Act. The VCAA recommends you refer to copyright statements at linked sites before using such materials.

The VCAA logo is a registered trademark of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

Contact us if you need this information in an accessible format - for example, large print or audio.

Telephone (03) 9032 1635 or email [email protected]

Contents
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................
Sample key science concepts......................................................................................................................
Links to the Victorian Curriculum F–10.........................................................................................................
Teacher background information..................................................................................................................

Learning activities and resources.................................................................................................................

Learning activity 1: How can technologies and practices improve environmental sustainability?.................
Learning activity 2: How can water be managed sustainably?...................................................................

Assessment ideas.........................................................................................................................................
Pre-assessment..........................................................................................................................................
Ongoing formative assessment..................................................................................................................
Summative assessment..............................................................................................................................

Appendices...................................................................................................................................................
Appendix 1: The water cycle.......................................................................................................................
Appendix 2: Peer review checklist of machine (template)...........................................................................
Appendix 3: Investigation report (template)................................................................................................
Appendix 4: Sample assessment task........................................................................................................
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Introduction
The ongoing availability of renewable resources influences how they can be recovered and the ways they
are used. Technological advancement and innovation provide opportunities for more efficient use of both
renewable and non-renewable resources in the production of goods and services for society, thereby
improving sustainability outcomes such as decreased reliance on fossil fuels to supply energy needs. Human
behaviours and actions such as repurposing materials and turning off lights when not in use also contribute
to minimising the use of renewable and non-renewable resources. This resource provides students with the
opportunity to explore renewable and non-renewable resources as they relate to both ‘sustainable
technologies’ and ‘sustainable practices’.

The socio-scientific issue as to how humans can use technology to solve sustainability issues is complex
because it involves not only scientific and technological understanding and expertise but also building an
understanding of relevant social, political, economic, health and safety, geological and environmental factors
and how these interrelate with each other. Students will investigate the potential impact of sustainable
technologies and sustainable practices through a school-based research task focused on addressing water
use. The water cycle will be explored in this context.

This resource contains two learning activities, each of which includes up to seven tasks. Teachers may
choose to undertake the tasks and/or activities in any order they choose but should note that undertaking a
single task within an activity may not enable full coverage of the mapped content descriptions and
achievement standard extracts.

This resource provides students with opportunities to:

 explore how sustainable technologies and sustainable practices can be applied to address the use
and depletion of renewable and non-renewable resources (Learning activity 1: How can technologies
and practices improve environmental sustainability?)
 investigate and evaluate strategies for conserving water and maintaining the quality of water supplies
(Learning activity 2: How can water be managed sustainably?).

Sample key science concepts

 Earth’s resources are renewable at different timescales.
 Some of Earth’s resources are considered non-renewable because the timescale required for their
formation is not fast enough to keep up with demand.
 The ongoing availability of renewable resources influences how they can be used and recovered.
 Technology is used to produce goods and services that can improve sustainability outcomes.
 The term ‘sustainable practices’ refers to the behaviours and processes that recognise the limits of
natural systems.
 The term ‘sustainable technology’, or ‘clean technology’, describes any process, product or service
that enables more efficient use of natural resources and greatly reduces waste and negative
environmental impacts.

© VCAA Page 4
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Links to the Victorian Curriculum F–10

The Victorian Curriculum F–10 content descriptions and achievement standard extracts that are applicable to
each of the two learning activities have been mapped in the tables below.

Science, Levels 7 and 8

Strand Sub-strand Content description Relevant element of the Learning
achievement standard activity

1 2

Science Earth and space Some of Earth’s resources are … compare processes …
Understanding sciences renewable, but others are non- including the time scales
renewable (VCSSU100) involved and analyse how the
sustainable use of resources  
depends on the way they are
formed and cycle through Earth
systems.

Science Chemical sciences Mixtures, including solutions, … describe and apply

Understanding contain a combination of pure techniques to separate pure
substances that can be separated substances from mixtures. 
using a range of techniques
(VCSSU095)

Science Science as a Scientific knowledge and … explain how evidence has

Understanding Human Endeavour understanding of the world changes led to an improved
as new evidence becomes understanding of a scientific
available; science knowledge can idea.

develop through collaboration and
connecting ideas across the
disciplines and practice of science
(VCSSU089)

Science Science as a Science and technology contribute … discuss how science

Understanding Human Endeavour to finding solutions to a range of knowledge can be applied to
contemporary issues; these generate solutions to
solutions may impact on other contemporary problems and  
areas of society and involve ethical explain how these solutions
considerations (VCSSU090) may impact on society.

Science Inquiry Planning and Collaboratively and individually plan … identify and construct
Skills conducting and conduct a range of questions and problems that
investigation types, including they can investigate
 
fieldwork and experiments, scientifically and make
ensuring safety and ethical predictions based on scientific
guidelines are followed (VCSIS108) knowledge.

© VCAA Page 5
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Strand Sub-strand Content description Relevant element of the Learning

achievement standard activity

1 2

Science Inquiry Planning and In fair tests, measure and control … plan experiments, identifying
Skills conducting variables, and select equipment to variables to be changed,

collect data with accuracy measured and controlled.
appropriate to the task (VCSIS109)

Science Inquiry Communicating Communicate ideas, findings and … communicate science ideas,
Skills solutions to problems including methods and findings.
identifying impacts and limitations
 
of conclusions and using
appropriate scientific language and
representations (VCSIS113)

Other curriculum areas

Some links to other curriculum areas are detailed in the table below. Teachers may also be able to
incorporate learning about the cross-curriculum priority Sustainability.

Curriculum area and Strand Content description Relevant element of the Learning
level(s) achievement standard activity

1 2

Critical and Creative Questions and Consider how to approach and use … prioritise the elements of a
Thinking, Levels 7 possibilities questions that have different question and justify their  
and 8 elements, including factual, selection.
temporal and conceptual elements
(VCCCTQ032)

Critical and Creative Questions and Suspend judgements temporarily … demonstrate flexibility in
Thinking, Levels 7 possibilities and consider how preconceptions thinking by using a range of
and 8 may limit ideas and alternatives techniques in order to

(VCCCTQ033) repurpose existing ideas or
solutions to meet needs in new
contexts.

Critical and Creative Reasoning Consider how to settle matters of … explain different ways to
Thinking, Levels 7 fact and matters of value and the settle matters of fact and

and 8 degree of confidence in the matters of value and issues
conclusions (VCCCTR038) concerned with these.

Critical and Creative Meta-Cognition Consider a range of strategies to … use a range of strategies to
Thinking, Levels 7 represent ideas and explain and represent ideas and explain and
 
and 8 justify thinking processes to others justify thinking processes to
(VCCCTM040) others.

© VCAA Page 6
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Curriculum area and Strand Content description Relevant element of the Learning
level(s) achievement standard activity

1 2

Personal and Social Collaboration Perform in a variety of team roles … explain the extent to which
Capability, Levels 7 and accept responsibility as a team individual roles and
and 8 member and team leader, responsibilities enhance group
 
assessing how well they support cohesion and the achievement
other members of the team of personal and group
(VCPSCSO041) objectives.

© VCAA Page 7
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Teacher background information

All of the resources created by Earth’s processes are renewable, but the timescale required for much of the
renewal is beyond human lifetimes. This means that many of the resources that we depend on for
manufacturing and energy production are considered non-renewable. Fossil fuels are one such non-
renewable resource.

Water, on the other hand, is a renewable resource that is abundant on Earth. The natural water cycle –
where water moves from the land, rivers and oceans to the atmosphere and back into usable water – is a
process that is critical to the survival of all living things on the planet. This process is under threat from a
changing climate where the volume, distribution, dispersal, timing and quality of evaporation and precipitation
are changing as temperatures change across the planet.

Sustainable technologies create possibilities for both renewable and non-renewable resources to be used
more effectively. Their purpose is to minimise energy inputs and waste. Technological innovation is also
important to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of resource use. Sustainable technologies and
technological innovation are not complete solutions in themselves and are not without impact, as they require
the use of renewable and non-renewable resources in their development.

Sustainable practices are behaviours and processes that recognise the limits of natural systems. Some
sustainable practices are associated with choice or behaviour only, for example turning off power points
when not in use (there is no change to the existing technology required for this sustainable practice to reduce
energy use). Other sustainable practices require technology; for example the use of wind for energy
generation requires the technology of wind turbines.

Each different combination of sustainable technologies and sustainable practices will have a varying impact
on sustainability outcomes, in terms of the rate of depletion of both renewable and non-renewable resources.

© VCAA Page 8
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Learning activities and resources

Learning activity 1: How can technologies and
practices improve environmental sustainability?
Learning intentions
Students will be able to:

 define and distinguish between sustainable technologies and sustainable practices

 reflect on factors that enhance the cohesion and effectiveness of working in teams
 understand the timescale for the formation of renewable and non-renewable resources
 plan and undertake a practical investigation
 consider how matters of fact and matters of value may be involved in environmental decision making
 evaluate the impact of selected technologies and practices in addressing sustainability issues.

Learning ideas

Task A: Sustainable technologies vs sustainable practices

 Brainstorm with students ‘What is sustainability?’ Prompt student responses by asking further
questions, for example:
 Where have you heard the word ‘sustainability’ being used?
 What do you think ‘sustainability’ means?
 What are some examples of sustainable and non-sustainable things that you do at home or at
school?
 In five groups, using a Hot Potato diagnostic assessment method, have students answer the following
questions.
 What is sustainable technology?
 How is sustainable technology used?
 What are sustainable practices?
 How are sustainable practices used?
 What is the difference between sustainable technologies and sustainable practices?
1. First, give each of the five groups a piece of butcher’s paper with one of the questions written on
it (you can change the questions if your focus is slightly different).
2. Give the students an agreed amount of time, for example three to four minutes, to write down
everything they think and know about the question in the centre of the paper.
3. After the set time is up, ask the students to pass their sheet of paper on to the next group and
collect a sheet of paper from another group – moving it along like a ‘hot potato’.
4. Students write an answer to the new question in front of them even if the answer is already on the
paper. That way students can see which ideas they have in common with others and which ideas
are unique.
5. After everyone has had a chance to answer all five questions, each group works with the sheet
that they originally started with and summarises the answers. Students should pay attention to
the repeated answers as these will indicate the dominant understanding of the larger class.

© VCAA Page 9
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

6. Each group then gives a brief report as to the answers on their sheet.
 Students individually reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of working with others to explore
ideas. Questions may include: How did your own ideas compare with your group’s ideas? How did
other groups’ contributions refine your and your group’s thinking and understanding? Did one person
in the group dominate in the discussions? How can the Hot Potato activity be modified so that all
members of a group get an equal opportunity to contribute ideas? Does the Hot Potato activity require
a leader? If so, what would be the leader’s role? Were there any differences of opinion in the group? If
so, how were they resolved?

Task B – Production and use of Earth’s resources

 Earth’s resources take a long time to be produced and should not be wasted. Discuss with students
the meaning of ‘renewable resources’ and ‘non-renewable resources’. Students should identify the
large amount of time it takes for non-renewable resources to form.
 Demonstrate the vast amounts of time needed to form non-renewable resources by using a Toilet
Paper Timeline.
1. Students collect 46 sheets of toilet paper. Each sheet represents 1 million (1,000,000) years.
2. Using a pen, mark the first 45 sheets 1–45. Mark the final sheet 4,600,000,000, representing the
origin of Earth (approximately 4,567,000,000 years ago).
3. Lay out the length of toilet paper and mark the following significant geological events on the
corresponding years in the timeline. (Note: It is important to point out the death of the dinosaurs
as this is the beginning of the formation of fossil fuels, a non-renewable resource.)

Event Approximate geological

time (years ago)

Today – the future begins here 0 years

Europeans first settle in Australia 240 years

Aboriginal peoples have lived in Australia 60,000 years

Oldest stone tools 3,300,000 years

India/Eurasia collision – Himalaya Mountains form 50,000,000 years

Dinosaurs become extinct 65,000,000 years

Early flowering plants appear 130,000,000 years

Beginning of the opening of the Atlantic Ocean 190,000,000 years

Early birds appear 160,000,000 years

Early mammals appear 220,000,000 years

First mass extinction (the Great Dying) 251,000,000 years

© VCAA Page 10
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Event Approximate geological

time (years ago)

Formation of coal during Carboniferous Period 300,000,000 years

Supercontinent Pangaea develops 300,000,000 years

Early reptiles appear 315,000,000 years

Early amphibians appear 370,000,000 years

Early insects appear 400,000,000 years

Early plants appear 430,000,000 years

Early fish appear 530,000,000 years

Cambrian explosion of life 545,000,000 years

Early multicellular organisms appear 2,000,000,000 years

Build-up of oxygen in the atmosphere 2,700,000,000 years

Oceans forms when gaseous water cools 3,800,000,000 years

Oldest known rocks 4,000,000,000 years

Origin of Earth 4,567,000,000 years

 Discuss with students the need to conserve what resources Earth has left, as well as the importance
of developing renewable and sustainable technologies.

Task C – Investigation of sustainable technologies

Students can investigate one or two sustainable technologies and compare them with sustainable practices.
They can choose water conservation or plastic biodegradability (as elaborated below) as examples of
sustainable technologies. Teachers can add any others that came up in Task A.

Water conservation

Use a standard showerhead (an older style showerhead that is not designed to conserve water) to calculate
the litres per minute (L/min) outflow compared with the outflow from a showerhead that has a water flow
regulator fitted. (Alternatively, you can source one showerhead with the water flow regulator fitted and
remove the regulator for one of the tests.)

© VCAA Page 11
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Image source: iStock.com/ben-bryant

Students need to first design an investigation, including developing an investigable question, to determine
the flow rate of the showerheads. They then conduct the investigation and report their results and
conclusions.

Teacher notes:
→ Advise students not to remove showerheads from their bathrooms. The class may discuss how to
access used showerheads and/or the activity may be run as a teacher demonstration.
→ Students should be changing the showerheads, measuring the water flow and keeping everything
else the same, including the time determined to let the water flow for measurement.
→ Encourage students to collect water in buckets when measuring outflow and then use this water
for pre-determined agreed purposes, for example, on the school garden.
→ Online videos may be accessed to show how water flow regulators work. Watching these videos
could be followed by a design task where students build models of a showerhead with and without
a regulator to calculate flow rates.

Biodegradable materials

Using home compost or compost from school, students design an investigation to determine the
biodegradability of different types of shopping bags or wraps, ensuring that the test is fair. Students may
compare different types of bags used to pack fruits and vegetables (such as plastic, biodegradable plastic
and different fabric bags), the fabric in different types of shopping carry bags or different lunch wraps.
Students could also consider burying the bags or wraps in soil (even comparing composition of different
soils) and then comparing their data, with respect to microbial activity, with those using compost as a
substrate.

When designing their investigations students should explore the principles of a fair test. They can use the
mnemonic Cows Moo Softly:

Cows Change one variable.

Moo Measure one variable.

Softly Keep all other variables the Same.

Teacher notes:
→ Students will be changing the material of the bags, measuring their decomposition and keeping
the time of the investigation and the compost the same.
→ Ensure that all materials are disposed of correctly and conscientiously.

Task D – Making sustainable choices

Students can use the results of their investigation in Task C to develop an argument for either the
advancement of sustainable technologies or the development of sustainable practices, depending on

© VCAA Page 12
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

whether their investigation shows one to be more advantageous than the other. It may be the case that
students argue for a mix of technologies and practices with reference to water conservation or the use of
biodegradable plastic.

Students should consider the evidence they use to support their arguments, including identifying aspects of
their arguments that could be considered factual (for example, energy-saving showerheads have a slower
flow rate than conventional showerheads, or biodegradable plastic bags decompose faster than fabric bags)
compared with arguments that are values-based (for example, it doesn’t feel like I can wash as well with an
energy-saving showerhead than I can with a more powerful conventional showerhead, or biodegradable
plastic bags just feel too light and I don’t like their texture or the way they look).

Discuss how students can make decisions involving the consideration of facts and values. Questions to ask
include: Are facts more/less/equally as important as values? What are the roles of performing experiments
and taking measurements in establishing facts? How can the relative merits of different values be compared
and evaluated?

© VCAA Page 13
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Learning activity 2: How can water be managed

sustainably?
Learning intentions
Students will be able to:

 define water as a renewable or non-renewable resource

 reflect on how preconceptions can affect decisions related to sustainability in relation to drinking
recycled water
 explore how resources can be managed using both sustainable technologies and sustainable
practices
 work in teams using a variety of methods to collect scientific information
 develop, trial and evaluate a strategy that is designed to improve the sustainable use and/or
management of water
 communicate the impact of a selected technology or practice to a general audience.

Learning ideas

Task A: Is water a renewable resource?

 Explore students’ ideas about where water on Earth came from. The most common scientific
explanation is that it was produced further out in the solar system in bodies such as icy comets or
water-rich asteroids that hit the newly formed Earth and watered it. Other ideas are that water formed
at the same time that Earth itself formed, that it has been generated from chemical reactions deep
within Earth and that it came from the vast cloud of dust and gas (called the solar nebula) remaining
after the Sun’s formation.
 Which student ideas are most prevalent? What reasoning have students provided for their ideas?
 Ask students to research the scientific ideas related to where water on Earth came from, including the
evidence that supports different theories. This may then lead to discussions about the dynamic nature
of science knowledge and its refinement as new evidence becomes available. For example, scientists
have thought that most earthly water came from an asteroid bombardment in the days of the early
solar system because Earth’s ocean water is similar to that found in asteroids. However, this does not
account for why there is so much water on Earth’s surface – and deep below, as well – so scientists
continue to look for further evidence and consider other possibilities, including using computer
modelling of the formation of planets to test different ideas.
 Students explore the terms ‘renewable’ and ‘non-renewable’ in relation to water. There are many
points to explore relating to the length of time it takes to renew water as a resource and the cycles and
behaviours that impact this.
 Draw students’ attention to the natural water cycle (for example, using diagrams that include relevant
scientific terminology such as evaporation, condensation and precipitation, such as the diagram in
Appendix 1: The water cycle) and processes that lead to water being available for use or not.
 Model the water cycle through a Water Cycle in a Bag activity. Students place one-quarter cup of
water and one drop of blue food dye into a plastic ziplock bag, tape it onto a window and observe the
contents of the bag after one day (students can decorate the bag with clouds and the Sun using
permanent markers – see Figures 1 and 2). Ask students to label their ziplock bag to show the
processes of evaporation, condensation and precipitation.

© VCAA Page 14
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

© VCAA Page 15
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Figure 1: Materials for the Water Cycle in a Bag activity

Figure 2: Sample results for the Water Cycle in a Bag activity

Water Cycle in a Bag set-up in the morning

Water Cycle in a Bag set-up after a few days

 Discuss the concept of a ‘cycle’ with students – can anything ever be lost?
 Organise students into small groups of three or four to research different definitions of renewable and
non-renewable resources and to then develop their own definitions for these terms, using their own
words. Explain that scientists believe that virtually no further water has been added to Earth since
water condensed on the planet around 4.5 billion years ago. Ask students to decide whether water is a
renewable or non-renewable resource given that Earth has a finite volume of water. They should use
their own definitions to decide this.
 Conduct a class discussion about whether water is a renewable resource. Student responses may
vary due to variations in definitions of renewable and non-renewable resources, and how water is
considered. For example, if a renewable resource is defined as a resource that is renewed or
replenished by natural processes, then water on Earth could be described as a renewable resource
since it cycles. If students consider ‘water’ in terms of their local drinking water supplies only, then
water may be considered as being a non-renewable resource as it is possible to deplete water
resources due to it being used faster than it can be cycled in the environment. This may then lead to

© VCAA Page 16
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

discussions of water conservation and maintaining good quality drinking water at home, at school and
in the community.

Task B: Would you drink recycled water?

 Survey students to determine whether they would drink recycled water. ‘Recycled water’ is usually
highly treated recycled wastewater (water that goes down the drain).
 Ask students to give reasons for their views. Are there any circumstances in which students who said
they would not drink recycled water would change their minds and drink it?
 Compare the class responses with those of the general public. Teachers may use case studies,
newspaper articles or extracts from research reports as the basis for discussions, such as the
following:
 In 2006, officials in drought-stricken Toowoomba in Queensland tried to implement wastewater
recycling but the plan was rejected in a referendum by 62 per cent of voters (‘Toowoomba says
no to recycled water’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 July 2006).
 A 2015 study of 2000 Americans, led by US psychologist Paul Rozin, found that while 49 per
cent of those surveyed were willing to try recycled wastewater, 13 per cent refused and the rest
were not sure.
 For some people, no matter how much you tell them the water is safe to drink, the feeling of disgust at
the thought of drinking recycled water is too much to overcome – even in situations in which there are
drought conditions or a very low water supply. Discuss how both technological and behavioural issues
are associated with efforts to introduce recycled water as a source of drinking water.
 Divide students into groups to research how recycled water is made safe for drinking and to consider
facts and fallacies about drinking recycled water. Articles such as ‘Recycled drinking water’ (Choice,
2018) can be used as a starting point.
 Ask students to reflect on whether their initial stance about whether or not they would drink recycled
water has changed. Explore how preconceptions about drinking recycled water may affect students’
ideas and willingness to consider drinking recycled water as an option to current tap water.
 Discuss what scientific testing and what ‘guarantees’ should be in place before communities are given
an option of drinking recycled water.
 Present students with the scenario on the following page.

© VCAA Page 17
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Scenario:

A machine that turns urine into drinkable (potable) water and fertiliser using solar energy has been
developed by a team of Belgian scientists. The urine is collected in a big tank and heated in a solar-powered
boiler. It is then passed through a special filtering membrane where the water is recovered and nutrients
such as potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus are separated and later converted to fertiliser.

The scientific team used the machine at a 10-day music festival, recovering 1000 litres of water from the
urine produced by music fans.

Since the machine can be used in areas that are not connected to the electricity grid, this technique of water
recycling could be applied at large community or sporting events, in remote areas and in developing
countries.

Image source: iStock/ampueroleonardo

Caption: Technological advances may enable community wastes to be converted to useful substances. What are the
advantages and risks associated with converting wastes into useful materials?

 Organise students into pairs. Ask each student to draw a schematic diagram of the water-producing
machine from the information in the provided scenario, labelling the sections of the machine that utilise
the processes of evaporation, condensation and precipitation. Students should then swap diagrams
and provide feedback on each other’s diagrams so that it is clear how the machine can produce
potable water as well as fertiliser. Appendix 2: Peer review checklist of machine representation
(template) may be used as a basis for providing feedback to each other. Teachers may wish to use the
checklist in Appendix 2 as a starting point for considering the question ‘What makes an informative
scientific diagram?’ Students may then work collaboratively to develop a refined checklist that can be
used to provide and respond to constructive feedback.
 Students should be organised into groups of four. Each student should draw a table as follows:

What I know about how the machine What is unclear about how the Possible features that could be added
works machine works to the machine to improve its function
of producing clean water and fertiliser

© VCAA Page 18
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

 Students may work together to complete the table, using their own schematic diagrams of the machine
and accessing the internet for further information. They should then add any new features to their
initial diagrams to produce an ‘improved’ machine.
 Display students’ diagrams around the walls of the classroom. Discuss the roles that technology and
behavioural change play in whether communities may take up the option of drinking recycled water in
the future.
 Students should reflect on the peer review task as well as the group research tasks in terms of the
effectiveness of the feedback (for the machine diagram task), and the extent to which sufficient and
appropriate information was collated from the internet (for the completion of the information provided in
the table as background for designing their ‘improved’ machines). Questions to address could include:
What type of feedback is useful? What type of feedback is not useful? To what extent is it important
that group members contribute to team aims? How can tasks be shared equally? What strategies can
be used if a group member is not contributing equally to the team outcomes?

Task C: Water sustainability in school

 Drawing on the previous exploration in Learning activity 1, students give one example of a sustainable
technology and one example of a sustainable practice.
 Students then explore the classroom or their immediate learning area for examples of sustainable
technologies and sustainable practices as they relate to water.
 Discuss ways to record all the sustainable technologies and sustainable practices related to water
across the school. For example, a description of the technology or practice can be tabled with tally
marks to record these.
 Students can use the water flow measuring process from Learning activity 1 to determine if
sustainable technology for water is used.
 Students record all examples in the school, including in the staffroom, classrooms and schoolyard.

Task D: Water consumption in the school

Students collect data on water consumption in the school over a school week. Students will need to identify
the location of the school water meter to do this.
This task needs to be repeated after Task E to measure the impact of any sustainable practices or
sustainable technologies.

Day Date kL start of the day kL end of the day Total water use
during school day

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Total water usage in one school week

© VCAA Page 19
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Teacher note: If there is a difference between water kL usage at the end of one day and the start of
the next, there is water usage out of school hours. This can be recorded in an additional column.

Task E: Investigation – Trialling a sustainable practice

 Students select a sustainable practice or technology to trial to determine the impact on water as a
resource in the school grounds.
 Brainstorm water-related sustainable practices and technologies that could be implemented.
 Students design and complete an investigation into a practice or technology (see Appendix 3:
Investigation report (template)) and determine if there is a measurable impact on water usage. This
investigation can be conducted across a range of days, for example so that school water consumption
data from one day can be compared to data from the same day the previous week.
 Use the data collected to determine if the impact can be measured over a short time scale.
 Students discuss what else is required to understand effectiveness. For example water efficiency can
include things like flow rate, not just eliminating leaking taps.

Task F: Evaluating sustainable options for water management

Students develop criteria to determine the impact of a water-saving technology or practice. Criteria will be
associated with the volume of water saved. Students may use the technology or practice from Task E, or
may investigate a selected technology or practice of interest, as the basis of their evaluation. Criteria for
selection could include cost, timeliness, difficulty of implementation, scale and impact on use of resource.

Students may determine that a combination of practices and technologies or stages of implementation is
best.

Task G: Science communication

Using the data collected and criteria used to assess water efficiency, students develop a communication
pathway to share with others related to what they found. The communication pathway could be a newspaper
article submitted to a local paper, a script written for a mock segment on breakfast television or news radio,
or even a song or a film clip.

© VCAA Page 20
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Assessment ideas
Pre-assessment
It is important that teachers determine the prior knowledge of students in relation to the achievement
standards against which teachers will assess them. For example, in planning for the assessment of the
Levels 7 and 8 achievement standard element ‘… compare processes …, including the time scales involved,
and analyse how the sustainable use of resources depends on the way they are formed and cycle through
Earth systems’, teachers will need to determine if students have developed an understanding of a range of
associated concepts from previous levels, including the Levels 5 and 6 achievement standard elements ‘…
compare the properties and behaviours of solids, liquids and gases …’, ‘… compare observable changes to
materials and classify these changes as reversible or irreversible …’ and ‘… explain how natural events
cause rapid change to Earth’s surface …’ Teachers may, for example, bring in different coal and oil samples,
or provide students with photographs of coal and oil samples and gas cylinders, and discuss these materials
in terms of their solid, liquid and gas states and behaviours. This could be followed by a discussion of how
these energy sources are used and whether the changes are reversible or irreversible. Open questions such
as ‘Where do you think coal, oil and gas come from?’ enable exploration of students’ ideas, including
misconceptions, about the origins of these materials and may lead to introducing the concepts of ‘resources’,
as well as ‘renewable’ and non-renewable’ energy sources.

Ongoing formative assessment

Providing feedback to students throughout their learning enables them to identify opportunities for
improvement. Examples of how to collect information about student learning and ways to offer feedback
include the following.

Three-way summary
At selected points in the learning tasks, students can be asked to write three statements about a key
question related to the learning intentions. The length of each summary will vary (the first being 10–15
words, the second 30–50 words and the third 75–100 words) and the summaries will demonstrate if students
can elicit the key point and add additional information.

Possible questions for students are ‘What is the difference between a renewable and a non-renewable
resource?’, ‘What is a sustainable technology?’ and ‘What is a sustainable practice?’. The 10–15-word
summary may be a general statement or definition. The 30–50-word summary would typically include
examples to illustrate definitions, while the 75–100-word summary may include points of contention or a
justified personal perspective based on science knowledge.

Pass the Parcel

This modification of the children’s game Pass the Parcel is a group activity where students progressively
build on a concept. Groups of about four should enable active participation of all students. For example, in
looking at the renewability of water through the water cycle, students could trace the whereabouts of a water
molecule from a nominated starting place, such as in a cloud or a droplet on a windowpane. Students take it
in turns to nominate the water molecule travelling to a new place or undergoing a particular process, with a
new process being required at least every third turn. For this example, students may be provided with a
representation of a water cycle, as a way of becoming more familiar with different parts of the water cycle.

© VCAA Page 21
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Summative assessment
Teachers should consider the relevant elements of the achievement standard(s) that will be used as the
basis of the summative assessment task. For example, in assessing the Levels 7 and 8 content description
‘Some of Earth’s resources are renewable, but others are non-renewable (VCSSU100)’, the relevant element
of the achievement standard is ‘… compare processes … including the time scales involved and analyse
how the sustainable use of resources depends on the way they are formed and cycle through Earth
systems.’

Some points to note in relation to this specific element of the achievement standard are:

 ‘compare’ implies that students have explored more than one of the natural processes that lead to the
formation of resources
 ‘analyse’ implies that students will have undertaken an in-depth exploration of resources, both
renewable and non-renewable, as well as the concept of sustainability.

A set of smaller assessment tasks can be set at various times across the teaching of a unit of work to
determine where students are placed on a learning continuum in relation to the achievement standard; for
example, student understanding of the renewability of water through the water cycle could be assessed by
setting a short imaginative task related to ‘A day in the life of a water molecule’ or a task involving how water
cycles through the atmosphere over a longer period such as ‘A brief history of the travels of a water molecule
in the twentieth century’. Breaking up assessment tasks also provides opportunities for teachers to provide
feedback to students so that the task becomes a formative assessment task in addition to being a summative
assessment task.

Assessment may involve students constructing models to show particular aspects of a process (such as the
water cycle) or may involve them critiquing someone else’s (flawed) explanation of a process.

A sample assessment task is provided in Appendix 4: Sample assessment task.

Some of the suggested learning activities may also be used as is or modified to be an appropriate
assessment task or as a contribution to a folio of learning evidence.

© VCAA Page 22
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Appendices

Appendix 1: The water cycle

The illustration below shows the main processes in the water cycle.

Image source: iStock/VectorMine

© VCAA Page 23
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Appendix 2: Peer review checklist of machine (template)

The following is a sample template for the peer review of student representations of a machine that produces
potable water and fertiliser from urine. Teachers should work with students to refine this template.

Reviewer: …………………………………………………………

Reviewer’s feedback

Does the representation … Yes To some extent No Suggestions

… have a title?

… include labels of machine parts?

… include labels of water cycle processes

(evaporation, condensation, precipitation)?

… show how the solar panels are placed on

the machine?

… show how the membrane carries out its

chemical separation role?

…show how pure water is collected?

… show how the chemicals used to make

fertiliser are produced?

Designer’s comments

In response to the feedback, I will ...

© VCAA Page 24
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Appendix 3: Investigation report (template)

Aim:
Write a brief aim for the investigation. What is the purpose?

Materials:
List what is needed to complete the investigation.

Method:
What did you do? List the steps and/or include photographs and/or draw a flow chart.

Diagram(s):
Fully label and/or annotate any diagrams used.

Results:

Discussion:
Respond to the questions below.

 Was there any measurable difference to the water used? Why or why not?

 Is it apparent whether the technology or practice has an impact on water used?

 Suggest two improvements to the investigation.

Conclusion:
Link back to the aim and include recommendations for the technology or practice if relevant.

© VCAA Page 25
How could technology and changed human behaviours preserve Earth’s resources? Science, Levels 7 and 8

Appendix 4: Sample assessment task

Debate: Sustainable technologies vs sustainable practices

Students will debate the following statement:

Governments should spend more money on sustainable technologies

because people are unreliable when performing sustainable practices.

Students will:

 demonstrate an understanding of renewable and non-renewable resources and how they relate to
sustainable practices
 define sustainable practices or technologies
 draw on the evidence from their investigative tasks in Learning activity 1 and Learning activity 2 to support
their arguments.

The debate:

 Students should form groups of six.

 Allocate three students to the affirmative team and three to the negative team.
 The debate should include:
 topic introduction (include an explanation of the topic and the defining of any key or important
terms)
 speaker arguments and rebuttals, which will require evidence from research and student
investigation.

Teacher note: More information about debate structure can be found on the Debating SA website,
including the Speech Structure Template – Cue Card resource (PDF download).

© VCAA Page 26