Science Education News (SEN) Journal 2018 Science Education News Volume 67 Number 3 | Page 62

YEARS K–6 IDEAS FOR THE CLASSROOM The Hivve – St Christophers Primary, Holsworthy By Tony Boyd (Principal, St Christophers Primary, Holsworthy), Dominique Goode (Year 2 Teacher, St Christophers Primary, Holsworthy), Simon Crook (Founder, CrookED Science) Sustainability, low energy costs and real world learning are all tied together in an innovative new portable classroom called the Hivve. In the press release from ARENA who provide the Hivve they refer to it this way: “Known as the ‘Hivve’, the portable classroom incorporates solar PV generation, real time energy metering, CO 2 metering, data capture and communications to actively manage energy demands and control indoor environment quality.” However, the Hivve is not just a great piece of infrastructure; it is also a wonderful learning tool. The school has worked with Dr Simon Crook, founder of STEM education consultancy CrookED Science, to develop Science teaching units which utilise the data collected on the Hivve. This includes energy generation and usage, temperatures inside and out, and air quality counts. The students at St Christophers are able to investigate the Hivve’s performance compared to standard demountable classrooms. In 2017, St Christophers, Holsworthy faced the prospect of getting another stock-standard demountable classroom until the Principal, Tony Boyd, was approached to host a new type of sustainable portable building. And so the journey began! Behind the HIVVE classroom, showing some of the technology The front of the HIVVE classroom at St Christopher's Holsworthy Students as young as Year 2 are accessing the Hivve as part as their Science and Technology units. In Term 3, Year 2 are learning about the Earth’s resources, and will visit the Hivve to observe and compare the costing of the Hivve versus those of a standard demountable classroom. They also plan to analyse the Hivve’s effectiveness at saving money for the school and as being an environmentally friendly resource. Miss Kristen Tomsen who teaches Year 2 said, “It was an opportunity for Year 6 students to become experts in the Hivve as a resource and its sustainability to then share back with Year 2 in a reciprocal learning task.” The Hivve is a portable modular classroom designed to meet the needs of growing schools. However, it goes a number of steps beyond this. The building is not only made out of sustainably sourced materials such as plantation wood, but also has a roof covered in the latest solar panels. These panels, combined with state of the art insulation, mean that the Hivve looks after all its own energy needs. In fact, in summer it not only generates enough energy to power its two efficient heat pump units, but can power an additional six similar classrooms! In a time of ever increasing power costs, this is a great saving for any school. Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Federal Government have installed monitoring equipment not only in the 62 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 3