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PRODUCE APPLY FIND
SUCCESS
CRITERIA
PRINCIPLES VALUES
KEY
COMPETENCIES
LEARNING AREAS WORD BANK
RESOURCES
REQUIRED
Celebrating and sharing of a New Zealand invention
UNDERSTANDING THE GENIUS IDEA THAT IS THE WAIRAKEI BIOREACTOR
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How do you clean water?
WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?

TRY THIS WITH

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?
The molecular makeup of water
Why the bioreactor at Wairakei was invented
How we can use science to solve a problem
Discuss the idea of the periodic table
of elements.
Ask students to fnd the elements
(and symbols) of Hydrogen, Oxygen,
Sulphur and Carbon.
In groups, fnd out what each of the above
elements do.
What happens when some of the elements
above join? Prompt discussion by asking
what students think the makeup of H
2
0 is.
Introduce LEGO bricks as a way of
demonstrating the different formula for
each compound.
Ask students to demonstrate the formula
for water (H
2
0 - 2 parts Hydrogen, 1 part
Oxygen) and salt (NaCl - 1 part Sodium, 1
part Chlorine) using different coloured LEGO.
Create a series of photos with explanations.
Introduce the problem that Contact Energy
faced in 2000/2001 they needed to reduce
the amount of Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) that
was being discharged into the Waikato River.
Use the 2012 article to discover what the
solution to the problem was.
Watch the Te Radar video. Organise your
fndings using Popplet.
Make a model representing H2S using LEGO.
The bugs in the bioreactor eat the H2S and
convert it to Hydrogen and Sulphate.
Change the LEGO model to represent the
Sulphate (SO4 - one part Sulpher to 4 parts
Oxygen) and Hydrogen (use one LEGO
brick) to show this conversion.
Ask the engineers at Contact Energy what
problems and solutions they found when
growing the bacteria.
Inform students that they are to solve a
hypothetical problem.
A school in San Francisco that is in a
geothermal area has made contact. They
have identified a similar problem with their
water, and want to investigate solutions.
Discuss the discovery of bacteria that
gobble the Hydrogen Sulphide.
How do students think they can explain
this concept?
Using Vine, create a six second explanation
of the Wairakei bioreactor to present to their
peers in San Francisco.
Provide key words and numbers that must
be used in the explanation.
Send a copy of the video to the engineers
that helped to answer the questions.
Tweet the video with the hashtag
#6SecondScience
Defne
Remember
Reproduce
Translate
Explain
Illustrate
Connect
Interview
Solve
Research
Order
Reorganise
Justify
Solve
Speculate
Model
Prove
Validate
TRY THIS WITH
Years 6 - 9
Students who have lots of ideas
Students who love investigating problems
Students can check they have completed the task successfully by:
Displaying the correct chemical breakdown
Explaining how Wairakei use the bioreactor
to clean the water
Providing a realistic solution to the
problem posed
Community engagement
High expectations
Innovation, inquiry
and curiosity
Community and
participation
Ecological sustainability
Using language, symbols
and text
Participating and
contributing
Science
Maths
Chemical Reaction
Bacteria
Bioreactor
Innovation
Te Radar Video
NZ Herald Article