Moving Towards Tomorrow

Overview

Across five 40-minute lessons, students investigate how objects move, collect information about volunteering in their school community, and use their findings to design a celebration of achievement and sustainable future thinking. The sequence connects science, social sciences, technology and the arts through the theme of balancing abundance and scarcity: using time, materials and people’s contributions wisely.

Learning intentions

• WALT compare the time taken and distance travelled by objects and identify which is faster or slower.
• WALT collect and represent information about how people volunteer their time.
• WALT explain how resources, including time and materials, can be abundant or scarce.
• WALT design and communicate an achievable, sustainable idea for a future celebration.

Success criteria

• I can measure and compare distance and time fairly.
• I can use information from people to identify patterns in volunteering.
• I can explain one way a celebration can reduce waste or use resources carefully.
• I can contribute positively to a group design and explain my choices.

Curriculum links

• Science — Physical Science: comparing the time taken and distance travelled by objects; identifying which is faster or slower.
• Social Sciences — Economic Activity and community participation: collecting information about how people in the school and local community volunteer their time.
• Technology — developing and communicating design ideas in response to a need or opportunity.
• The Arts — communicating ideas and achievement through visual design, movement, sound or performance.

Lesson structure (Lesson 1: 40 minutes — Measuring Movement)

1. 0–5 min · Hook. Open with the movement comparison introduction and show two toy cars travelling different distances; students predict which is faster and explain why.
2. 5–10 min · Direct teach. Demonstrate a fair test, explaining that we need to measure both distance and time, use the same starting line, and repeat trials. Students help identify what must stay the same.
3. 10–27 min · Investigation. In groups of four, students use ramps, toy cars and measuring tools to test two objects over a marked track, recording three trials on the movement investigation sheet.
4. 27–34 min · Compare results. Students calculate or compare the recorded times and distances, then agree which object was faster or slower and identify any unusual result.
5. 34–40 min · Plenary. Return to the movement conclusion slides. Students complete the sentence, “Our evidence shows ___ was faster because ___.”

Lesson structure (Lesson 2: 40 minutes — Time as a Resource)

1. 0–5 min · Reconnect. Revisit the movement investigation through the time and resources prompt. Students discuss how time was used during yesterday’s testing.
2. 5–12 min · Explore abundance and scarcity. Introduce the idea that a resource may be limited or plentiful depending on the situation. Students sort examples verbally, such as time, clean water, paper, energy and helping hands.
3. 12–25 min · Community information plan. Model respectful questions about volunteering: “What do you volunteer to do?” and “How often do you help?” Pairs use the volunteering question planner to prepare two questions and predict possible answers.
4. 25–35 min · Practice collecting data. Students interview three classmates or role-play community members, recording answers with tally marks. Emphasise listening, consent and not recording private information.
5. 35–40 min · Plenary. Students share one pattern they noticed. Record the class’s possible future interview group on the data collection and reflection slides.

Lesson structure (Lesson 3: 40 minutes — Mapping Contributions)

1. 0–5 min · Hook. Show the striking visual on the community contribution hook: a celebration supported by many small actions. Students identify visible and hidden contributions.
2. 5–12 min · Analyse information. Model turning tally marks into a simple picture graph or column graph. Students identify the most and least common types of volunteering.
3. 12–27 min · Group data task. Groups combine their interview information and create a labelled graph on the volunteering data worksheet. They include a title and answer two comparison questions.
4. 27–35 min · Interpret and discuss. Groups explain what their graph shows and consider whether time, materials or helpers were scarce or abundant.
5. 35–40 min · Bridge to design. Using the design challenge slides, students choose one way to make a class celebration more sustainable, such as sharing resources, reusing materials or valuing volunteer help.

Lesson structure (Lesson 4: 40 minutes — Designing Celebration Futures)

1. 0–5 min · Design brief. Present the challenge through the future celebration brief: “Design a celebration of achievement that uses available resources fairly and creates little waste.”
2. 5–10 min · Criteria discussion. Co-construct criteria: celebrates achievement, is safe and inclusive, uses time and materials wisely, and is possible at school.
3. 10–28 min · Create and test. Groups sketch a layout, make a simple model or storyboard, and label materials, roles and estimated time on the sustainable celebration design sheet. Students test whether their plan fits the criteria.
4. 28–35 min · Improve. Groups use peer feedback: one strength, one question and one suggestion. Students revise one aspect of their design.
5. 35–40 min · Prepare to communicate. Groups select a speaker, visual explanation, sound, movement or short performance to present in the final lesson.

Lesson structure (Lesson 5: 40 minutes — Sharing Future Visions)

1. 0–5 min · Rehearse. Use the presentation success criteria to remind students to explain their evidence, design choices and sustainability decision.
2. 5–25 min · Presentations. Groups present their future celebration design in two minutes each. The audience records one idea they value and one question on the audience response and reflection sheet.
3. 25–32 min · Feedback and comparison. Students identify common solutions and discuss which designs use time, materials and volunteer effort most effectively.
4. 32–37 min · Class decision. As a class, agree on one or two ideas that could realistically be used in a future celebration. Students justify their choices using the success criteria.
5. 37–40 min · Exit reflection. Students complete: “I used evidence when…”, “One resource we need to protect is…”, and “My next sustainable action is…”. Close with the celebration and future-thinking conclusion.

Resources

• the five-lesson teaching deck
• the five-part student workbook
• Toy cars or small wheeled objects
• Ramps, books, masking tape and metre rulers
• Stopwatches or tablets
• Graph paper, pencils, cardboard and reused craft materials
• Measuring tapes and classroom timer
• Whiteboard and markers

Assessment

• Observe whether students control variables, measure consistently and use evidence to compare speed.
• Check interview questions, tally marks, graphs and explanations for accurate information handling.
• Assess designs and presentations against the criteria: scientific evidence, community information, sustainability, collaboration and clear communication.
• Use the final reflection as an individual exit assessment.

Differentiation

• Support learners with a pre-marked track, visual step cards, partner roles, word banks and sentence starters such as “___ was faster because…”.
• Provide adult or peer support for reading questions, recording data and using stopwatches; allow oral, drawn or labelled responses.
• For EAL learners, model questions, use gestures and images, and accept home-language discussion before English reporting.
• Extend learners by asking them to calculate average time, explain an unexpected result, compare two design costs or propose how their idea could work for the wider community.