Junior Home Assessors
Junior Home Assessors
Prepare your class before they visit our EcoCentre and earn their Junior Home Assessor credentials
Programme outline – One hour
Students will be introduced to the concept of sustainability and how it might apply to their homes. They will develop an understanding of the many resources that they might use every day and how reducing their consumption of these resources can have a positive impact on the environment. Through demonstrations, students will learn key scientific principles that they can apply as they explore our award-winning EcoCentre to discover ways they can make their homes healthier and more sustainable. Finally, the students will be tasked with using their new knowledge at home as ‘Junior Home Assessors’ and committing to carrying out one new sustainable action.
Some pre-workshop activities for your class
Have your students draw a simple plan of their house like this one:
On their map, have them mark out the following: Heat sources e.g. heat pumps
Windows and curtains
Rooms that are usually warm
Rooms that are usually cold Which side of the house the sun is shining on at 4pm
Have your students spend five minutes thinking about what they might be able to do to keep their homes warmer.
As new Junior Home Assessors, your students will be able to carry on their learning both in the classroom and at home!
Some post-workshop activities for your class
Research the different types of insulation used by different houses. What are the pros and cons of each material?
Take a look at national news articles about healthy homes or sustainability that have been published in the past year. What has changed? Why might that be?
Post-workshop activities to take home
The real value of the knowledge gained as Junior Home Assessors comes when they apply it at home. Send your students home with the following tasks and questions to complete with their family:
Investigate the roofspace and underfloor area with your parents:
What kind of insulation is there?
What is the thickness?
How wide is it compared to your hand-span?
Does it cover the whole area?
Are there any gaps?
Look at your source of hot water with your parents:
How is your water heated? Gas? Electricity? Solar energy?
Is it wrapped in any insulation? Is there insulation built-in?
What temperature is it set to? Examine your windows and curtains:
Are your windows double glazed?
Do they get a lot of condensation on them in the morning?
How high do your curtains go above your window frames?
How far below the windows do your curtains drop? What are your curtains made out of?
Are they double layered?
Search the house for draughts that are sneaking through cracks or gaps: If you added up the area all of the cracks and gaps up, how much space would they take up? What does your family do to stop draughts?
Have your students bring their findings back to class and investigate the different things they could do to make their homes warmer and more energy-efficient. They could make a presentation to their family of their findings.
+ Curriculum Links
- Science (Nature of Science (Living World, Planet Earth and Beyond, Physical World, Material World)
- Social Studies
- Technology (Technological Practice + Nature of Technology)
- Health and Physical Education (Healthy Communities and environments)
+ Key Competencies
- Managing Self
- Participating and Contributing
- Using languages, symbols, and text
- Thinking
- Relating to Others
+ Develop yourJunior Home Assessor vocabulary!
Research the following terms and find out how they affect the health and sustainability of our homes:
- Ventilation
- Moisture
- Condensation
- R-value (insulation)
- Glazing
- Thermal
- Passive heating and cooling
- Radiant heater
- Dehumidifier
- Thermostat
- Convection heater.