Resources to help you
Power Up the Future
Scroll this page to find our National Science Week competition webinar registration, Student resources and Teacher resource packs for each age category.
Teachers! Register for the free National Science Week webinar to give your students a power boost
For the first time, we are offering a webinar to assist your students in creating a submission for our competition!
The guided session takes you through sustainable energy sources and prompts activities and ideas to get the creative juices flowing for their competition submission. Registering for this session will allow you to watch this video at a time that works for you and your class as many times as you like.
Other supporting curriculum aligned resources matched to this video will help you use this session in your classrooms and create competition submissions. Inspire the youth of today to be a part of tomorrow’s solutions and Power Up the Future!
Resources for entrants
There are so many different ways that you can get started with your Powering Up the Future competition entry! After you have read the information on this page and explored renewable energy, take a look at the resources for the age category you will enter.
Renewable energy information
There’s a lot to learn about renewable and sustainable energy! You can start your research by going through the information on this page. Something here might spark an idea for how you can Power Up the Future.
Hydro power
Hydro-electricity is generated using the energy created by falling water. When water travels down the penstocks into the power station, the potential (stored) energy changes to kinetic energy – the energy of motion. In a hydro-power station, the water is directed through a turbine which drives the generator, usually mounted on a vertical shaft above the turbine.
Electricity is generated by rotating a magnet inside a wire coil. In a power station, this process is maximised by an electromagnet, or ‘rotor’. The rotor spins inside fixed copper coils. The stationary part with the copper coils is called the stator of the generator. Snowy Hydro has eight hydro stations with 33 turbines capable of generating 4,100 Megawatts.
Next, the generated electricity is boosted by transformers. Then transmission lines carry it over long distances to centres that distribute it to homes, schools, hospitals, factories, shops and offices.
Start your own research here
Snowy 2.0
Snowy 2.0 will act like a giant battery, storing water that can be used as energy at times of high demand. Pumped-hydro operates like a conventional hydro-electric scheme. In periods of high demand, electricity is generated by releasing water from an upper reservoir into a lower reservoir. However, instead of releasing the water after energy has been generated, a pumped-hydro scheme ‘recycles’ or pumps water back to the upper reservoir during times of low energy demand, so it can be used again.
Find out more about Snowy 2.0 here
Solar energy
Solar energy is energy created by the heat and light of the sun. Solar power is produced when this energy is converted into electricity, or used to heat air, water, or other substances. There are two main types of solar energy technology:
- Solar Photovoltaic (‘photo’ means ‘light’ and ‘voltaic’ means ‘electricity’): this technology converts sunlight directly into electricity using photovoltaic (PV) cells. The solar PV cells are combined in panels, and are usually made from silicon. They can be put on rooftops, integrated into building designs and vehicles, or installed by the thousands across fields to create large-scale solar power plants.
- Solar Thermal: this technology converts sunlight into thermal energy (or heat). It uses a field of mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a thermal receiver, which transfers the heat to a thermal energy storage system. Energy can then be released from storage as required, day and night.
Snowy Hydro has a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with solar energy generators across Australia. This is an agreement to purchase an amount of energy from the solar generators at an agreed price for many years. These agreements make sure that solar energy generators have a guaranteed cash-flow to help them grow their solar generation assets and businesses. It also means that Snowy Hydro can use renewable energy to move water to be used for hydropower at a later time, or can pass on zero emission energy to consumers when they need it.
Start your research here
Geoscience Australia – Solar Energy website
Wind energy
Used for thousands of years, wind power is generated by converting the kinetic energy of the wind into electricity using wind turbines. These turbines convert the force of the wind into torque (rotational force), which is then used to propel an electric generator to create electricity. Wind energy power stations (known as wind farms) commonly draw on the output of multiple wind turbines through a central connection point to the electricity grid. Across the world there are both onshore (on-land) and offshore (out to sea) wind energy projects.
Snowy Hydro has a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with wind energy generators across Australia as well as solar. This is an agreement to purchase an amount of energy from wind farms at an agreed price for many years. These agreements give wind farms a guaranteed cash-flow to invest in maintaining their turbines, as well as investing in growing the wind energy sector. For Snowy Hydro, it means the use of renewable energy to move water to be used for hydropower at a later time, or can pass on zero emission energy to consumers when they need it.
Start your research here
Ocean energy
Ocean energy is classified as:
- Wave energy: this is generated by converting the energy within ocean waves (swells) into other forms of energy (currently only electricity). There are many different wave energy technologies being developed and trialled to convert wave energy into electricity.
- Tidal energy: generated by harnessing the movement of tides. Tides contain both potential energy, related to the vertical fluctuations in sea level, as well as kinetic energy, related to the horizontal motion of the water.
- Ocean thermal energy: generated by converting the temperature difference between the ocean’s surface water and deeper water into useful energy. Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plants may be land-based, as well as floating or grazing. This has a range of applications for Australia, including electricity generation.
Start your research here
Geothermal energy
Geothermal energy can be drawn from the hot water circulating among rocks below the earth’s surface, or by pumping cold water into the hot rocks and returning the heated water to the surface. This water can be released from the ground as steam or hot water. The high pressure steam can be used to drive turbines to produce electricity.
Start your research here
Resources for Junior category entrants (ages 8-12)
Make sure you have read the information about renewable energy sources at the top of this page to inform and inspire you.
Then, download this folder of Junior category resources. You do not need to use any of these resources for your idea, but they might help you gather ideas or help you plan your submission. Inside this folder, you will find:
- An auditing sheet for you to look through your house for opportunities to save energy
- a guided research activity to work through a few of your ideas
- a storyboard worksheet to help you plan your entry
Resources for Senior category entrants (ages 13-18)
Make sure you have read the information about renewable energy sources at the top of this page to inform and inspire you. You might also find some of these resources useful to explore ideas:
- The Clean Energy Regulator (CER)
- The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) was established by the Clean Energy Regulator Act 2011. It is a non-corporate Commonwealth entity under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
- Snowy Hydro Sustainability Report
- This report sets out our Sustainability Program, which builds on our exceptional sustainability story to date
- RED Energy Read a Bill
- This helps you to understand how to read an electricity bill. Understand your usage and how this is calculated
Then, download this folder of Senior category resources. You do not need to use any of these resources for your idea, but they might help you gather ideas or help you plan your submission.
Inside this folder, you will find:
- An auditing sheet for you to look through your house for opportunities to save energy
- a guided research activity to work through a few of your ideas
- a storyboard worksheet to help you plan your entry
Resources for teachers
The Powering Up the Future competition is mapped to the Australian Curriculum (v9). Download this compressed file that contains everything you need to get you and your students started.
You can use one or all of these resources. Each resource within the folders is editable to help you cater to your classroom.
In these folders, you will also find instructions and templates for how to submit entries on behalf of your entire class.
Resources for years 3-6 classrooms
This folder for Junior age category classrooms contains:
- a guardian and parent ‘about the competition’ communication template
- curriculum alignment documents
- an editable student assignment template complete with task instructions and a curriculum aligned rubric (one for years 3&4, one for years 5&6)
- an editable student self-checklist for the competition entry and assignment
- an auditing worksheet for students to identify where they have opportunities to become more energy efficient
- a copy of the renewable energy information found at the top of this webpage
- a guided research exercise to brainstorm a few ideas to pursue for their competition entry
- a storyboard worksheet for your class to plan their ideas
- instructions on how to submit your class’ entries
- a template spreadsheet for submitting your class’ entries
Resources for year 7-12 classrooms
As well as the information about renewable energy sources at the top of this page, Your students might also find some of these resources useful to explore ideas:
- The Clean Energy Regulator (CER)
- The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) was established by the Clean Energy Regulator Act 2011. It is a non-corporate Commonwealth entity under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
- Snowy Hydro Sustainability Report
- This report sets out our Sustainability Program, which builds on our exceptional sustainability story to date
- RED Energy Read a Bill
- This helps you to understand how to read an electricity bill. Understand your usage and how this is calculated
This folder of Senior age category classroom resources contains:
- a guardian and parent ‘about the competition’ communication template
- curriculum alignment documents
- an editable student assignment template complete with task instructions and a curriculum aligned rubric (one for years 7 & 8, one for years 9 & 10)
- an editable student self-checklist for the competition entry and assignment
- an auditing worksheet for students to identify where they have opportunities to become more energy efficient
- a copy of the renewable energy information found at the top of this webpage
- a guided research exercise to brainstorm a few ideas to pursue for their competition entry
- a storyboard worksheet for your class to plan their ideas
- instructions on how to submit your class’ entries
- a template spreadsheet for submitting your class’ entries