LEARNING & LESSON GUIDE

CONTENTS

1. Program Overview

2. Lesson 1 - We’re all Circuit Breaker

3. Lesson 2 - It’s just one big circuit

4. Lesson 3 - Bringing power to your community

5. Lesson 4 - Powering our lives

6. Lesson 5 - Engineering the future

7. Lesson 6 - The network of the future

8. Useful links

9. Media opportunities

10. Photo consent form

Program overviewUSING YOUR GUIDE

The following guide contains everything you need to know to deliver the Circuit Breakers program. Each lesson will teach you something new about the West-ern Power network and your 3D printer. Building on this knowledge your students will then engage in a conclusion project asking them to build their vision of the Western Power network of the future.

Engineer HelpEach school will be linked with an engi-neer or Western Power representative that will be in class to assist with some of the technical aspects of the lessons. Les-sons are designed to be teacher led with support from your engineer. While not expressly detailed your engineer should be able to assist with some of those more difficult questions.

Weekly questionsAt the conclusion of each lesson you are encouraged to submit some of the most common questions your students would like further help with. We will then be talking to leaders across our business and asking them to feedback answers to students. We will be releasing a video af-ter each lesson highlighting some of the most interesting questions.

ExtensionEach lesson is designed to be an intro-duction of electricity and to 3D printing. There is scope in each lessons to stu-dents’ knowledge and understanding. You are welcome to adapt and change lessons to suit your class and your teach-ing style. You are encouraged to share your extension ideas with other schools via the Circuit Breakers Facebook group.

Weekly printsEach week lessons will focus on a differ-ent area of our network. At the bottom of each lesson you will see a section de-tailing the week’s prints. You are advised to print some examples of those prints in the week leading up to the lesson, al-lowing students to reference them while working through the program.

The prints will then start to form the complete network of the future. Students can then add to these printed elements adapting them or creating their own for the network of the future.

Circuit Breakers JournalStudents should each have a copy of the Circuit Breakers journal which is also supplied. This will contain some of the in-formation discussed in lessons as well as space to work on ideas and brainstorm. This can also be adapted to methods that are in line with the way your class works.

3D printerAs soon as you’ve successfully complet-ed all aspects of the Circuit Breakers program including representation at the Science Fair the 3D printers will remain the property of your school.

You are encouraged to experiment with your printer and start to think about how you can utilise it in other curriculum areas. You will not be supplied with any additional filament, however you should have received enough to complete the program and print everything you need for your network model.

Any queries specific to your printer and how to use it should be directly to Tim Courtland from Frontier 3D. Tim will be available to assist and can attend your school if there are any major technical problems.

Assistance may also be provided through how to videos in the Circuit Breakers Facebook group.

Facebook group

To keep up to date with all of the latest information, how to videos and program updates from Western Power and other schools you are encouraged to join the Circuit Breakers Facebook group. This is a closed group for schools who are par-ticipating as part of the program.

Western Power engineers will also be encouraged to join the group. This will assist with any questions that could arise in between their visits.

LESSON ONEWe’re all Circuit

Breakers

Lesson OneBackground Information

Western Power relies on a team of engineers to help solve a number of problems that face them every day. These engineers work to ensure that communities across the Western Power network continue to enjoy the power they need to live their lives.

Western Power engineers come from all different walks of life and have a wealth of experience that helps them work through the unique challenges they are faced with.

Engineers are often the first involved in projects that tests new technology and new ways of doing things. They develop their ideas and see them come into reality. They are also responsible for evaluating these projects, further developing them to a stage where they could be ready to be implemented into the way things are done in the future.

Below are some great resources that explain the different type of engineers and what they do.

Links Types of engineers – Engineering Australia Fact sheetWhat is engineering (Video – 4 mins)

Lesson OneWe’re all Circuit Breakers

Duration - 50 minutes

Learning Goals

• Discover what engineers do and learn about different types of engineers• Describe what Western Power does and what they are responsible for• Explain ways in which 3D printers may be useful in day to day life

Resources

• Up Mini 3D printer (positioned at front of class)• Circuit Breaker journal (1 per student)

Lesson Sequence

Before the lesson starts set up and have a 3D print of your choice ready to start. It may be worth printing a spare before the session in case there are any printing prob-lems.

Start by introducing your engineer or Western Power representative and explain to students what Circuit Breakers is about and discuss with students about what the term has in store for them.

Briefly explain to students what a 3D printer is and show them your printer. Start your print and explain to students that by the end of the lesson you will have an object that can be used straight away.

Start your print

Ask students if they know what Western Power does.

Explain to students what Western Power actually does and see if the responses match.

Lesson OneWe’re all Circuit Breakers

Ask your engineer or Western Power representative to introduce themselves. They will discuss:

- What an engineer does - What engineers do at Western Power - Different types of engineers and what they do - Their journey to becoming an engineer

Give students some examples of how 3D printers have been used throughout the world

- Medical supplies in remote countries - Spare parts for cars when it is too hard to store pieces for different types of cars - Printing replacement parts quickly and cheaply rather than throwing them - out - Prosthetic parts for people with missing limbs

Give students a couple of minutes to note down in their Circuit Breakers journal some things they could 3D print.

Brainstorm with students about how they could use 3D printers to make things to help them at school.

The 3D print should have finished by this point. Remove it from the printer and show students how it instantly works. Pass it around for them to have a go.

Pose the final question to students to think about how Western Power could use 3D printers to help improve the network. Students should note down any initial ideas they may have as they can revisit them.

LESSON TWOIt’s just a

big circuit

Lesson TwoBackground Information

Generation

Western Power is an electricity distributor, which means we don’t generate any elec-tricity. We are responsible from transporting electricity from its source of generation to the community. However it is important to understand how electricity generation works.

The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered in the 1820’s by British scientist Michael Faraday. He generated electricity by moving a loop of wire between the poles of a magnet. This method is still used today.

Modern power plants generate electricity in a variety of ways. It is most often gener-ated by heat engines fuelled by burning fossil fuels or radioactive elements, but it can also be generated by water, wind, solar and geothermal power.

Power plants generate steam to power a turbine which spins a huge magnet inside a copper wire, producing electricity. The electricity flows from the power plant through wires to the transformer. The transformer raises the pressure so it can travel long dis-tances – it is raised as high as 500,000 volts in Australia.

The electric current then runs through the power lines to the substation transformer where pressure is lowered to between 11,000 and 132,000 volts. Electricity is then taken through the lines to a pole transformer and pressure is lowered again to be-tween 240 and 415 volts. From here electricity comes into your home through a meter box. Wires take electricity around your home powering your lights and appliances.

Links

Wind generationSolar generationPower stations

Lesson TwoBackground Information

Conductors

Electrical conductors allow electric current to flow easily because of the make-up of their atoms. In a conductor, the outer electrons of the atom are loosely bound and can freely move through the material when an electric charge is applied.

Conductive Materials

In general, the best electrical conductors are metals. They tend to have electrons in the outer layer of their atoms that are freely shared. The most conductive of all the elements is silver. The Most commonly used electrical conductor is copper. Copper is used in electrical wiring and electrical circuits throughout the world.

Insulators

The opposite of a conductor is an insulator. An insulator resists the flow of electricity and are important to keep us safe from electricity. The wire that carries electricity to your computer or television is covered with a rubber-like insulator that protects you from getting electrocuted. Good insulators include rubber, glass, the air, and paper.

Lesson TwoIt’s just a big circuit

Duration – 50 minutes

Learning Goals

Recognise the need for a complete circuit to allow the flow of electricity.Investigate different electrical conductors and insulators.

Resources

• Snap Circuit kits materials per group and one for demonstration;• A range of items that could be easily found to test conductivity (pop sticks, alumin um, plastics, paperclips)• Conductor or Insulator worksheet?

Discussion

How is electricity made?How does electricity get from where it is made to your house?Where does Western Power fit in this?

Lesson Sequence

Begin by having students gather around a simple circuit you have set up previously.

Discuss:What is a circuit? A continuous path for electricity to flow through.What does a circuit need to work? Continuous path, power source and conductive material. Introduce that electricity can move through certain materials, conductors but not others which are call insulators.

When talking about each item mentioned above ensure that students are able to rec-ognise the corresponding part of the circuit kit.

Lesson TwoIt’s just a big circuit

Distribute circuit equipment and ask students to create the same simple circuit using the examples provided in lesson 2 in their Circuit Breakers journal.

Check each group’s circuit to ensure it is working and discuss conductivity:

How do we know the circuit is working?What materials is electricity flowing through?

Ask the students how they could test different materials for electrical conductivity?

Ask students to assemble their circuit the same as the second example in their jour-nals.

Guide students to suggest introducing a test material to complete the circuit and if the light glows then then test material is a conductor, if it does not, it is an insulator.

Ask students to complete the Conductor or Insulator? worksheet and discuss the in-vestigation, including what materials will be tested, how to ensure the test is fair and variables.

Ask students what do they think will happen when different materials (aluminium, zinc, copper and other defined materials), are added to the simple circuit.

Have students work through the investigation with the provided materials and ensure students record their observations.

Following the investigation, discuss as a class the findings, including if there is a pat-tern.

Pose the question – Is the Western Power network just one bit Circuit?

This week’s printsPower station and Wind generator (generation sources)

Lesson TwoCircuit examples

LESSON THREEEBringing power toyour community

Lesson ThreeBackground information

Outside safety

We all like to play outside, but there are electrical hazards that we need to know about. Electricity poles and wires are all around us. They can be above us, next to us, and even below us. Play in open spaces away from electricity poles, towers and powerlines.

Remember• If you fly a kite and it gets caught in the overhead powerlines, live electricity could travel down the string and seriously hurt you. Don’t fly kites around power lines!• Never climb a tree that is near powerlines. Look up before you climb!• After a storm if you see fallen powerlines stay well clear of them. There is a strong chance they are still live with electricity and are extremely dangerous.

Safety around water

Water can conduct electricity because electrons can flow by hitching a ride on atoms and molecules in the water. Water contains dissolved substances, such as salt. These greatly increase the ability of water to conduct electricity. That’s why electricity pass-es easily through our bodies – because our bodies contain water and salt. This is also why it’s important to keep water away from electrical appliances.

Electricity substations

You will find electricity substations and power equipment all over the place. They are behind fences, in buildings or on the side of the footpath and most have danger signs. Substations transform the voltage generated at power stations so it can be distribut-ed to homes, schools and businesses. Sometimes they are near parks and play areas. Substations are safe, but you must follow the rules and stay away from them.

Remember• Sometimes it’s tempting to ignore signs and fences around substations. Remember, the warnings are there for everyone’s protection, so make sure you follow them!• Substations contain special equipment with invisible hazards. You don’t even have to touch anything to get hurt. Just being too close to some substation equipment can be dangerous.

Links

Play safe and stay Shockproof (video)Make the Safe Call (TV Commercial)

Lesson ThreeBringing power to your community

Duration – 50 minutes

Learning Goals

• Identify different Western Power assets and how they work• Understand how to live safely near the Western Power network and what to do in an emergency situation.

Resources

• Access to a computer or portable device for each student• Setup of a class on the Shockproof website prior to commencement to monitor stu-dent participation

Discussion

• Is the Western Power network like a Circuit?

• What can we see outside that helps bring power to our houses? - Poles, powerlines, underground cables (conductors) - Transformers/Substations (switches) - Power stations, wind turbines (power source)

• Electricity can be dangerous and while it is important to allow them to live their lives we must be careful around it.

• Ask you engineer to explain some of the safety that is built into the network and how Western Power manages it from a central location to keep the community and their workers safe at all times.

Lesson ThreeBringing power to your community

Lesson Sequence

Students can now log on to the Shockproof website where they can put their names in and work through the activities to learn more about Western Power and the various components of the network. Throughout the lesson remind students to fill out their Circuit Breaker journal identify-ing some of the different Western Power assets and what they do. Bring the class together and talk through the different types of Western Power assets. Ask your engineer what makes them unique and why they work so well.

This week’s prints

Electrical towerTransformerTransmission Tower

LESSON FOURPowering our

lives

Lesson FourBackground information

Solar energy

Solar energy can be used to make electricity. Solar energy comes from the sun. The system commonly positioned on your roof uses sunlight to make electricity. Solar collectors used for this process are called Photovoltaic (PV) cells (Photo= light, and voltaic=electricity). When the sun hits the PV cell, the little particles of light excite the electrons in the cell, and cause them to flow, generating electricity. The electricity is converted using an inverter which allows it to be utilised in your home.

In Western Australia we get a lot of sunlight so we can get a lot of electricity from the sun. Often you can make enough electricity to power your house during the day.

What happens at night or after a cloudy day?

Solar panels will work best on sunny days without too many clouds. During winter this can be a problem. That’s where the electricity network helps out. On days without much sun or at night time houses often draw their power from the traditional electric-ity network. Working hand in hand this ensures that everyone has a reliable electricity supply.

Trading electricity

Any excess electricity can also be fed back into the electricity network helping to supply additional electricity during high demand and peak times. Customers are paid an amount for this excess electricity creating a two way supply of electricity that benefits everyone.

Battery storage

Batteries in houses and larger scale community batteries are becoming increasingly popular. Large batteries will allow households to store their excess electricity and uti-lise it when sunlight is low or at night time. This will also allow for storage and trading of excess stored electricity.

This can only occur however with the assistance of the Western Power electricity network as it facilitates this process or trading electricity between individuals or back into the network to be reallocated where needed.

Links

How solar generation worksBattery Storage (video)

Lesson FourPowering our lives

Duration – 50 minutes

Lesson Goals

Measure the voltage and amps of circuitsUnderstand how increase demand on a power source can affect the efficiency and performance of appliances

Resources

• Snap Circuit Kit• Multimeter

Discussion

• What do you think would happen if we kept adding more and more lights to our cir-cuit?• What could you do to make sure there is enough energy to power everything we need?• What are some times of day where everyone might use lots of electricity at the same time?• How many students have solar panels at home?• Could this be the only way to get electricity in the future? Why? Why not?• How could we store electricity?• Ask your engineer about large scale batteries

Lesson Sequence

Review previous session about circuits

Ask the students what they know about the way electricity is measured.

Introduce the term volts and discuss.

Explain and demonstrate the use of the multimeter to the students.

Have the students predict whether increasing the number of batteries will increase the voltage.

Lesson FourPowering our lives

Ask the students to conduct an investigation to test their prediction in groups with the circuit kits

Students reconstruct their circuits, replacing the light bulb with the multimeter to complete the circuit.

Students complete the table in their journals table to record their observations

Using a multimeter students measure record and compare the voltage and amps of each circuit.

Students construct a graph using the collected data.

Discuss with students what type of graph would best represent the data in a way that best addresses their prediction.

What labels must they include on the X and Y axes?

Once students have constructed their charts discuss the results and construct a statement summarising what they have learnt about batteries set in circuits.

This week’s prints

Solar PanelBattery

Lesson FourUsing a multimeter

LESSON FIVEEngineering the

future

Lesson FiveBackground information

3D printing is becoming more and more common and affordable. 3D are now used by many businesses instead of traditional manufacturing methods. The ability to print anything conceivable without having to stock large amounts of parts is extremely valuable to businesses.

What about if you needed a replacement part for something at home? Rather than throwing it out you could simply print a new part, helping to reduce a lot of wastage.

In remote areas people are starting to use 3D printers for supplies that they may need from time to time but may take a long time to get. A doctor that needs a specific tool could easily print one off and get to work, saving lives quicker and getting people back on their feet.

You can build houses quicker and cheaper with less wastage. 3D printing also allows you to adapt and design fine details before you lay any concrete or print any ele-ments. You can see exactly what you are going to produce.

There’s a lot of possibility for companies such as Western Power, printing power poles is a real possibility. Engineers could work out a recycled material that could be used and be as strong as traditional wood poles. Imagine if each truck had a 3D printer on the back and could print a new pole out on site. The possibilities of 3D printers seems endless and only limited by our minds.

Links

Doctors using 3D printers in Nepal (video)Will 3D printing change the world? (video)Building a house in just a day (video)

Lesson FiveEngineering the future

Duration – 50 minutes

Lesson Goals

Create homes based on nets

Resources

• Printout of nets of houses• Plain paper• Ruler or shape template to trace around• Scissors• Glue or tape• Coloured pencils• Up mini 2 printer• Computer with UpStudio software

Discussion

• How 3D printers may change the way we work in the future• Look at examples of where 3D printers have been used to build houses and fast structures.• Why might this be better than the way we build houses now?

Lesson Sequence

Demonstrate how a 2D shape can be transformed using a net (a simple net of a cube would work best)

Ask students to think about the buildings we live in and visit every day. They are basi-cally built versions of nets – a series of shapes put together.

Talk to students about solar electricity and how we use the sun to generate electrici-ty.

Do you think this will mean our houses will look different in the future to include more solar panels to capture more energy?

Lesson FiveEngineering the future

Ask students to explore different versions of nets to build their own houses.

Students can also use the printed versions (supplied) as starting points and affix printed solar panels on the houses or they can create their own nets and houses.

Rotate some students through using 3D printers to create and print their houses. This will have impacts on time. Possibly design houses in this session and print afterwards. Students will start to build houses that will start to form their representation of the network.

This week’s prints

HouseStreetlightTraffic LightDesign your own house to 3D print using Tinkercad

LESSON SIXThe network of the

future

Lesson SixBackground information

As the needs of the entire community changes, so must the way electricity is supplied. This means that Western Power is undertaking a number of trials that are starting to explore what the network of the future looks like.

Kalbarri Micro grid Project

A new $5 - $10 million project which will improve electricity reliability for residents and holiday makers in the coastal town of Kalbarri, over 500km north of Perth.Kalbarri is currently supplied by a 140km long rural feeder from Geraldton which is exposed to environmental factors. The feeder’s length and remoteness can lead to extended outages.

Learn more about mircogrids

Perenjori - Battery energy storage system trial The town of Perenjori, 380 kilometres north of Perth, is one of our reliability hotspot locations and frequently experiences electricity outages.The two year trial will incorporate a one megawatt hour battery storage system con-sisting of a battery and an inverter. The system will be connected to the network via a transformer and switching equipment. During an electricity outage the system will switch on to automatically supply the town until the network is restored.Analysis has shown that this innovative solution should eliminate around 80% outages and reduce the length of remaining outages.

Ravensthorpe – Stand-alone power system trial

Edge of grid customers in Ravensthorpe, West River, Lake King and Ongerup experi-ence frequent outages due to the remoteness of their supply lines. The Stand-alone Power Systems Pilot provides six of these customers with an individual stand-alone solar, battery and generator system.

Learn more about stand-alone power systems.

Lesson SixThe network of the future

Duration – 50 minutes

Lesson Goals

• Plan your own network of the future• Consider communities’ needs and how you could change your electricity network to support this.

Resources

• Network elements printed and created in previous weeks• Baseplate (supplied by Western Power

Discussion

• What do we use electricity for now?• What do you think we will use electricity for in the future? Think electric cars, battery storage, solar panels etc.• What if the sun wasn’t shining and your house battery went flat?• How would you power your car or your TV, your fridge?• What if you could store lots of energy in big batteries and share it with people that couldn’t afford solar panels? Or give it to your school so they didn’t have to pay pow-er bills?

Lesson Sequence

As a group brainstorm answers to the previous discussion questions.

View the videos listed below looking at the different new technology that Western Power are trialling as they start to think differently about the electricity network.

Western Power – It’s On (video)Ravensthorpe stand-alone power systems (video)Part 1 – Perenjori Battery energy Storage System (video)Part 2 – The brains behind the battery (video)

Once students have watched the videos and discussed future projects it’s time to present to them the project they will be working on for the rest of the term.

Lesson SixThe network of the future

Project:

Based on what you have learnt as part of Circuit Breakers

Create your vision of the network of the future for your community. How will it be pow-ered? Making sure it is safe and allows the community to live safely around it.

Consider:

• Weather – how would the weather affect your network?• Outages – does your power go out often? How could you fix this?• Safety – Sometimes the network can get damaged, could this be avoided?• Community – People still have to live around the network so it must fit in with their way of life

Parameters:

• Must be contained within the board provided (approx. 1m x 1.5m)• Use your 3D printers to print elements of the network you want to include• Create your own or adapt network elements to fix problems using your 3D printer• You may use your paper houses to start creating your community• Think about your future needs not just what your community needs now• Think big and bold – create solutions to problems like an engineer would

Presentation:

• Each school will be asked to present their model at the Western Power science fair• Each school must nominate a small group of students to present a 3 minute overview of their network to other schools and VIPs

Note:There is no right or wrong. This is an opportunity to build on your learning and have some fun with what your network of the future looks like.

Extension:

You may also build on your knowledge of circuits and create small circuits within your display to allow elements to light up or work.

RESOURCESLinks and

additional information

Links

Energy information

Western Power – Includes information on safety and innovation projectsWestern Power – Education Resources

Social Media

Western Power – FacebookWestern Power – TwitterWestern Power – YouTube

3D printers

Tinkercad - Tinkercad is an easy-to-use 3D CAD design tool. Quickly turn your idea into a CAD model for a 3D printer with Tinkercad.Thingiverse - a universe of things. Download files and build them with your 3D printerSculptris - Focus as an artist on pure creativity. Enter Sculptris, a fun and engaging way to start off your digital sculpting journey!Frontier 3D – Printer support

Engineering

Engineers Australia – Resources for Primary School teachers

Media opportunities

Social Media

Being part of Circuit Breakers is a fantastic achievement and your school should be very proud.

Many of you have your own school social media accounts and this is a great opportu-nity to promote the great work you are doing and your involvement in the program.

It’s also a great opportunity to share what you are learning with other schools as they take part in the program also.

We encourage you to take lots of photos of your progress along the way and share them with us. Each week we will be looking for schools who have tagged us in photos and videos of their progress so we can share them all of our customers.

Make sure you tags us and the program in all of your social media posts and use #cir-cuitbreakerswa so we know where to find them.

Facebook - @westernpowerwaTwitter – @westernpowerwaInstagram - @westernpowerwa

Media and photo opportunities

We are always very interested in any stories that we can circulate with traditional media outlets. This could be your opportunity to get your students and their hard work on TV. If you have any ideas for stories about your students’ journey or great photo opportunities we would love to hear about it.

Just email us any ideas at energyeducation@westernpower.com.au.

School Newsletters

On request the Circuit Breakers logo and some images that you could use in your school newsletters can be supplied. It’s a great idea to keep your school informed about how the program is going. If you’re ever stuck for words let us know and we can help write something for your newsletter in the format your school uses.

Pg 1

Film/photo consent form (Minors) Waiver of all claims to Intellectual Property rights

I _______________________________ am the parent/guardian (circle applicable op on) of (print your full name)

_______________________________ (“my child”). (print full name of minor)

By signing below, I hereby:

∞ consent to Western Power taking visual images and/or sound recordings of my child including, without limita on, by digital camera, video camera, sound recorder or other image and/or sound recording device (“Images and Recordings”);

∞ consent to Western Power using my child’s Images and Recordings including, without limita on, in hardcopy or so copy formats, for a range of internal and external Western Power publica ons and ac vi es including, without limita on, uses such as websites, newsle ers, corporate reports and publica ons, posters, signage, adver sements and brochures;

∞ acknowledge and agree that:

my child is under 18 years of age;

my child’s Images and Recordings may be available on the internet;

all intellectual property rights rela ng to my child’s Images and Recordings which have been taken by Western Power are the sole property of Western Power and I disclaim all intellectual property rights rela ng to such Images and Recordings;

neither my child or I will be en tled to receive any compensa on (including, but not limited to, monetary compensa on) for the use of my child’s Images and Recordings;

neither my child or I will have the opportunity to view any Images and Recordings of my child prior to those Images and Recordings being published or otherwise used;

any Images and Recordings of my child may be edited, altered and/or copied;

∞ agree to Western Power collec ng and storing my name to use in connec on with the Images and Recordings of me. This personal informa on will be collected, stored and secured in accordance with Western Power’s Privacy Policy which is available on Western Power’s website.

Signature of Parent/Guardian ___________________________

Print full name of Parent/Guardian ___________________________

Date: / / 201___

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