SMART HOMES
THE STEM from Home Smart Homes pack explains that what smart homes are, how a smart meter works and how homes are powered.
The pack points out to children that their homes may already be smarter than they think – as they may already have smart speakers like Alexa, Google or Siri who can tell them facts from the internet, what the weather is like, play music and can also turn off the lights and close the blinds.
Coffee can be brewed on an instruction from a smart phone and the house can be cleaned using robot vacuum cleaners.
In this pack children learn all about smart meters, how they work and the benefits of having them in the home.
In the activity section they are given examples of smart meter data and asked to find out how much money is saved by turning the lights off or how much is spent by watching TV.
The pack then asks them to think about the advantages and disadvantages of using electricity and to find out how solar, water and wind power work.
They are given a picture of a kitchen and asked if they can spot how the owner can reduce their energy use.
Children are also asked to design their own smart home and think about the technology they will use, how it will be powered, how they will dispose of waste and what security they might use.
Their designs can be handdrawn, made as a model or designed virtually using software such as PowerPoint or Blender. cgi.com/uk/ stem-fromhome