Science in Construction

About these resources

The following resources have been produced to support teachers to incorporate the context and building and construction related to the Level Crossing Removal Project into their teaching of science. 

The resource packs are: 

  • Connected to both the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and Australian Curriculum 9.0
  • Designed to be adapted to your cohort and context
  • Intended to fit into a larger teaching and learning sequence
  • Supportive of models of teaching practice such at the Victorian Model of Teaching and Learning 2.0

They are not complete standalone programs, or detailed lesson plans, that cover every aspect of the relevant content. 

These resources are not a substitute for pedagogical content knowledge, and will require teacher expertise and professional judgement to be used effectively.  

Acknowledgement

The Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria would like to acknowledge the contribution from the North Western Program Alliance, comprised of Level Crossing Removal Project, John Holland, Kellogg Brown & Root, Metro Trains Melbourne and V/Line. All photography and video are the property of the North Western Program Alliance and are not permitted to be reproduced or distributed  in any form without prior written permission.

To find out more about the Level Crossing Removal Project visit the Big Build website. 

Resource Pack 1 - Forces in the real world

This resource pack focuses on supporting connections between identifying and representing forces and the context of civil construction. 

It is comprised of nine sections: 

  • Building vocabulary
  • Introduction to construction
  • Types of forces
  • Identifying forces on objects
  • Identifying forces in construction
  • Creating force diagrams
  • Force diagrams in construction
  • Combining forces
  • Balanced forces

Curriculum connections

These materials are best suited for use at Level 7 and 8. 

They could be adapted and used at Level 9 and 10 as part of activation of prior knowledge. 

Victorian Curriculum 2.0
  • Level 7 & 8 Physical Sciences VC2S8U14 : balanced and unbalanced forces acting on objects, including gravitational force, may be investigated and represented using force diagrams; changes in an object’s motion can be related to its mass and the magnitude and direction of the forces acting on it
  • Level 7 & 8 Achievement Standard: …represent and explain the effects of forces acting on objects
  • Level 9 & 10 Physical Sciences VC2S10U17: Newton’s laws of motion can be used to quantitatively analyse the relationship between force, mass and acceleration of objects
  • Level 9 & 10 Achievement Standard: …use Newton’s laws to describe and predict the motion of objects in a system 
Australian Curriculum 9.0
  • Level 7 Physical Sciences AC9S7U04: investigate and represent balanced and unbalanced forces, including gravitational force, acting on objects, and relate changes in an object’s motion to its mass and the magnitude and direction of forces acting on it
  • Level 7 Achievement Standard: …represent and explain the effects of forces acting on objects
  • Level 10 Physical Sciences AC9S10U05: investigate Newton’s laws of motion and quantitatively analyse the relationship between force, mass and acceleration of objects
  • Level 10 Achievement Standard: …explain how Newton’s laws describe motion and apply them to predict motion of objects in a system
The slide decks and activities can be downloaded and edited. 
The videos are embedded in the slides. The links above are provided if helpful for playback online. 

Resource Pack 2 - Sustainability in action

This resource pack focuses on supporting connections between sustainability and the context of civil construction.

How to use these resources

These resources focus on practical examples of sustainability in action. The intention is to make connections between:

  • scientific knowledge related to sustainability
  • examples of sustainability in action in construction
  • application of sustainability strategies at school and/or at home

This resource pack is designed to be adapted and elaborated upon by teachers using their knowledge of science, effective pedagogy and their students. Adaptations may include:

  • incorporating the content into an existing unit of work
  • setting a suitable duration for each activity
  • adding additional supporting information, including examples from your school or community
  • adjusting the scope of the activities, making them larger or smaller as necessary
  • using only some of the examples provided and/or going into greater depth with each example
  • incorporating explicit teaching of the knowledge and skills required to access the unit content
  • adding additional opportunities for extending and challenging students

Curriculum connections

These resources are designed for use at Year 9 and 10 Level, to support the following content descriptors from the Victorian Curriculum 2.0:

  • the Law of Conservation of Energy can be analysed in systems, including Earth systems, by assessing the efficiency of energy inputs, outputs, transfers and transformations (VC2S10U15)
  • …mitigating human-induced climate change requires addressing various activities including power generation, deforestation, manufacturing, transportation, food production and resource consumption (VC2S10U11)
  • the use of scientific knowledge to address socio-scientific issues and shape a more sustainable future for humans and the environment may have diverse projected outcomes that affect the extent to which scientific knowledge and practices are adopted more broadly by society (VC2S10H03)

The resources could be adapted for use at Year 7 and 8 Level, where it would be possible to make connections to the following content descriptors from the Victorian Curriculum 2.0:

  • the sustainable use of Earth’s resources is influenced by whether the resources are renewable or non-renewable; the processes involved in resource extraction and energy production come with both benefits and risks to sustainability (VC2S8U09)
  • …energy transfers (conduction, convection and radiation) and transformations occur in simple systems and can be analysed in terms of energy efficiency (VC2S8U15)
  • household energy consumption can be analysed using an energy audit and is affected by appliance choice, building design, season and climate (VC2S8U16)
  • proposed scientific responses to socio-scientific issues impact on society and may involve ethical, environmental, social and economic considerations (VC2S8H03)

Resource pack contents

The following resources ave available in the pack:

Feedback on these resources