Activity Introduction

Quick summary: Students will complete a creative writing task based on factual stimulus material. They are asked to write a short story based on the life of one of Hydro Tasmania’s many workers, Theo Beluch, a Polish immigrant who came to Australia to work for ‘The Hydro’ in the 1950s.
Activity developed in partnership with  tasmania_hydro_200x84_300pxl

Hydro Tasmania has been at the forefront of clean energy innovation for one hundred years. It is Australia’s largest producer of clean energy – generating hydro and wind power – and the largest water manager. Hydro Tasmania has 55 major dams, operates 30 hydropower stations and has built some of Australia’s largest wind farms.

Hydro Tasmania also sells energy in the National Electricity Market through its retail business Momentum Energy, and sells its expertise internationally through its consulting business Entura. Visit the Hydro Tasmania website to learn how the business is working towards Australia’s clean energy future.

Learning goals: This lesson is designed to provide valuable practice for NAPLAN*, the national literacy test held in Years 3 and 5. It features a creative writing task that requires students to use their imagination to expand on a nonfiction text.

General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and creative thinking, Intercultural understanding, Ethical understanding.

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.8.

Australian Curriculum content description:

Year 5 English

  • Create literary texts using realistic and fantasy settings and characters that draw on the worlds represented in texts students have experienced (ACELT1612).
  • Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1704).

Syllabus Outcomes: EN3-2A, EN3-7C.

Topic: Hydro Tasmania, Energy.

Time required: 60 mins.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – oversee activity.

Resources required: Internet access, Student Worksheet (one copy per student OR computers/tablets to access the online worksheet), pen and paper for story writing.

Digital technology opportunities: Digital sharing capabilities.

Homework and extension opportunities: Includes opportunities for homework and extension. 

Keywords: Energy, hydropower, history, workers, children, Hydro Tasmania. 

* This lesson plan is not an officially endorsed publication of NAPLAN’s creators and administrators – the ACARA body – but is designed to provide practice for the Australian Curriculum’s compulsory NAPLAN testing scheme.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

Teacher Preparation

Overarching learning goal: This lesson is designed to provide valuable practice for NAPLAN*, the national literacy test held in Year 5. It features a creative writing task that requires students to use their imagination to expand on a nonfiction text.

Teacher background information: Energy is the lifeblood of our modern life. It gives us light and keeps our food fresh. It powers our industry, fuels our cars, and charges our iPhones. Our energy is produced by burning fossil fuels and this has a range of environmental, social and economic impacts. One of the most significant is the emission of greenhouse gases. A solution is the transition to clean energy sources. The brilliant thing is that we have huge amounts of free, renewable and clean supplies of natural energies. These include sunlight, wind, running water, oceans and underground hot rocks.

According to the Clean Energy Australia Report 2013:

  • 14.76% of Australia's electricity came from renewable sources
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Student Worksheet

Thought starter: Did you know that 'The Hydro' has been going for over 100 years?

Instructions to students

In this lesson, you will complete a NAPLAN style practice creative writing task. Read the Reading Text below and write a story based on the information and photographs provided. You have 40 minutes to write and proofread your story. Write on separate paper and remember to include your name.

Reading text

An Introduction to Hydro Tasmania

Hydro Tasmania provides electrical energy for the people of Tasmania, Australia’s island state. The word ‘hydro’ means ‘water’. Hydro Tasmania has thirty hydropower stations in Tasmania and a wind farm on an island in Bass Strait. Hydro Tasmania operates two wind farms on mainland Tasmania under a joint venture. Hydro Tasmania catches the electrical energy from these sources and sends it to places where it is needed, to power people’s homes and businesses.

The information below focuses on the story of one of Hydro Tasmania’s many workers. As

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