Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Sun’s out, batteries out

25 minutes

Find Out: Investigating battery storage

30 minutes

Take Action: Battery storage influencers

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will:

understand the factors that contribute to the adoption of scientific knowledge and practices in society, with a focus on battery storage technology.

Students can:

define battery storage and explain its significance in both current and future societal contexts
identify and analyse the societal factors that have contributed to the increased uptake of battery storage projects
evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of battery storage technology, providing examples of its impact on individuals, industries, and communities.

Tune In: Sun’s out, batteries out

Step 1

Explain to students they will be focusing on solar energy. Share the following video from the start to 1:50:

How solar works - A Lightforce solar animation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5-7yxKmGKs)

Step 2

Provide each student with a copy of the Student Worksheet. Using the attached Visual Explainer, show your students the first 2 slides featuring images of solar panels. Invite them to use the Student Worksheet to complete the ‘parts, purposes and complexities’ thinking routine.

Parts	Observe the 4 images closely. What are the parts or components of solar energy?
Purposes	What is the purpose of each of these parts?
Complexities	How can the relationship between the parts and purposes be complex? What questions do these images raise?

Step 3

After providing time for students to complete the thinking routine, discuss their responses. The parts of solar energy could include the sun, solar panels and generation of electricity for people to use. The purposes of each component are that the sun provides solar renewable energy and that the solar panels are designed to harness that renewable energy and transform it into usable electricity. The final 2 images speak to the complexity of the relationship between parts and purpose.

Lead students to discuss how solar panel energy efficiency is impacted by cloudy conditions and during the night, where the relationship between the sun and the panel is hindered.

Step 4

Keep facilitating this discussion by bringing wind turbines into the mix. What same complexities might exist in this renewable energy system?

In your discussion, talk with students about how renewable energies such as wind and solar are only effective if the wind is blowing and the sun is shining.

Step 5

In pairs, ask your students: ‘How might we overcome challenges such as the unreliability of renewable energies like wind and solar?’

Ask pairs to brainstorm ways to overcome these limitations in their Student Worksheet. You can encourage students to think big here. What crazy things could we design to ensure these types of energies can work 24/7? You might also like to prompt students to think about their phones or devices. These run off electricity, but what makes them able to be used when not connected to a charger?

Choose a few students to share their ideas with the class.

Step 6

Explain to students that 1 way to overcome challenges related to the unreliability of renewable energies such as solar and wind is through battery storage systems. Students would be familiar with batteries such as those in handheld devices, small electronic objects or maybe even electric cars. But there is also the possibility of harnessing generated energy in large-scale battery storage!

Show students the images on the next 2 slides of the Visual Explainer to show what these large-scale battery storage systems look like and how many of these storage systems can be used together, like at the Chinchilla battery in Queensland.

Note: you could also watch the rest of the video you viewed earlier, from 1:50 to the end.

Find Out: Investigating battery storage

Step 1

Watch the following video with your students, which outlines what large-scale batteries are and how they are used. As students watch, invite them to fill in the PMI chart in their Student Worksheet with any information they think is a plus, a minus or interesting, and discuss their responses after the clip.

Origin's grid-scale battery - Origin Energy - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uKPPQoTLkY&t=29s)

For a more detailed look into battery storage in Australia, you might like to share this longer video from ABC News Australia with students, which discusses the broader implications of battery storage in Australia.

Step 2

Students will now explore battery storage technology, its importance, and the factors contributing to its adoption in greater depth.

Divide students into groups and assign each group a specific aspect to research so that each question below has been assigned (note: groups requiring extension could be assigned with more than 1 question):

Group 1. What is battery storage? What are the 2 different types, and how do they work?
Group 2. How are large battery storage systems made? What materials do they need to be created?
Group 3. Why is battery storage important and needed in our current and future society?
Group 4. What factors in society have contributed to the uptake of battery storage projects?
Group 5. What are the advantages of battery storage technology?
Group 6. What are the disadvantages of battery storage technology?
Group 7. Are there any battery storage systems near you, and who are the people who work on battery storage?

Students can conduct their own research into these topics. However, there are some great resources that students can use to investigate their questions.

Battery Storage - Queensland Government Department of Energy and Climate (https://www.energyandclimate.qld.gov.au/energy/types-of-renewables/secondary/battery-storage)
Chinchilla battery - CS Energy (https://www.csenergy.com.au/what-we-do/firming-and-storage/chinchilla-battery)
Discover Energy Storage Course - Clean Energy Council (https://rise.articulate.com/share/KB704x4jRbH__h1jp2ZREFyAXwz-0eLN#/)
How batteries produced in Queensland will charge-up our renewable energy grid - Queensland Government State Development and Infrastructure (https://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/news/how-batteries-produced-in-queensland-will-charge-up-our-renewable-energy-grid)

Battery Storage - Australian Government Australian Renewable Energy Agency (https://arena.gov.au/renewable-energy/battery-storage/)
How are big batteries helping to transition to renewables? - Australian Government Australian Renewable Energy Agency (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e0qcXgA8VM&list=PLEtIWM856Qqv0NopBbGufeLE3DWWH5Mmz&t=41s)
Future Energy Jobs Guide - Queensland Government (https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/ckan-publications-attachments-prod/resources/57272966-0265-4a95-87b4-fcbc92a30ed6/future-energy-jobs-guide-interactive-pdf-version-final.pdf?ETag=0aa487ce72a1cf5b5cfb991edf3eb93c)

Step 3

Provide each group with poster paper and sticky notes to document their learning. Give students a set amount of time (eg 10 minutes) and ask groups to use this time to document as much of their research as possible by making notes on their poster paper.

Ask students to go on a ‘gallery walk’ to read the research gathered from groups. Using sticky notes, ask them to make further comments on the poster paper for the groups they were not involved in. These comments can be in the form of a question, more information, or feedback.

Step 4

Lead a class discussion to synthesise the information shared by each group. There is information to guide you in this discussion in the Teacher Content Information Section.

Ask students to reflect on the following questions:

How do the factors identified by Group 3 influence individuals, industries, and communities differently?
What are the most compelling advantages of battery storage, and what challenges might need to be addressed?
How do you think the adoption of battery storage will evolve in the future?
Are there any battery storage systems near our school or in our state? What types of careers are involved in creating these projects?

Take Action: Battery storage influencers

Step 1

Now that students are keenly aware of battery storage technology, they are to create a communication piece aimed at raising awareness of, or advocating for, the adoption of battery storage technology in their school or local community.

Depending on the amount of time you have to allocate to this task, you could:

get each group to create a separate piece of communication covering all of the aspects of battery storage technology
create a whole-class communication piece and assign each group a separate aspect of battery storage technology to add to the overall product. If choosing this option, we recommend allocating a different topic to each group rather than sticking with their original topic to promote a wider understanding of the different aspects.

The groups (or the class) can decide the format their communication piece will take. Encourage them to work to their strengths. If working as a class, a poster or presentation to the local council might be a simple way to ensure everyone’s ideas are included. If you’re using separate groups, social-media-savvy students could create an awareness campaign to promote the installation of household battery storage systems. Students requiring an extension could prepare a letter or presentation to take to the local council to convince them of the benefits of battery storage for the local community, and sustainability-minded students could create a piece of communication to convince their school or household to adopt battery storage.

Step 2

Direct students to the Student Worksheet and the guiding questions to outline their research and planning. Emphasise to students that their communication pieces should incorporate the factors they have learned about, including:

what battery storage is and how it works
why battery storage is important and should be adopted
how batteries are made, and what materials they require

what benefits household batteries or large-scale battery storage system/s in their local community could provide (ie social, environmental and economic impacts!)
the potential barriers that might come up in adopting this technology, and how these can be overcome
positive case studies and examples of success stories
the careers and jobs that could be developed in designing, creating, installing and servicing these technologies.

Step 3

Once students have finished their communication piece, invite each group to prepare a brief presentation to share with the rest of the class or another group, depending on the time available. If you are creating a whole class communication piece, you can spend this time collating everyone's responses. If you tackled this task with separate groups, you might choose to invite questions and comments from the other groups during the presentations.

Were there similarities in the way they presented the information?
How did the communications change depending on the audience?
What parts were particularly persuasive?
What parts might need more information?

Optional extension:

If time and resources allow, select 1 or more projects to be developed further and implemented in the school or community.

Reflection

Reflect on the lesson using the following question: ‘How can the adoption of battery storage technology make a difference in our community, and what role can you play in promoting its use?’

Exploring Battery Storage Technology

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