World 06 · Any term · Combined Year 7–8 class

Ecohome & Design

How can we design a home that works for people and place?

Start the journey Read first

Your mission

Warm Whare Challenge: design a home that works for people and place.

What you'll make

A model home tested for warmth, improved once, and explained with evidence.

Who it's for

A local builder or architect, a housing provider, and whānau

How long

About nine one-hour sessions, in any term. It can be shorter or longer.

NZ curriculum, Years 7–8:Science: Matter Interactions and EnergyTechnology: Materials TechnologyTechnology: Design, Make, and Innovate· Topics: heat transfer, insulation, energy-efficient homes, passive solar design, materials testing, design technology, warm dry homes

Your journey

Nine weeks from question to something you're proud of

Each week has one job. You ask, investigate, make sense of it, design, build, test, improve and share.

Nine weeks, one hour each

Tap a week to see that lesson. Each world runs as nine one-hour weeks; it can be shortened to five weeks or stretched to 11–12.

5 weeks

Quick build

A fair test of insulation materials and a recommendation for a real home.

9 weeks

Full journey

A model home tested for warmth, redesigned once, with a design justification.

11–12 weeks

Go further

Window and daylight design, laser-cut or 3D-printed parts, or advice for a real building.

Big ideas

What this world is really about

Big idea 1
A home is a system of interacting subsystems: thermal, structural and electrical.
Big idea 2
Material properties and construction techniques together determine how well an outcome performs.
Big idea 3
Good design balances user needs, environmental impact and material performance.

Up close

Things you'll meet in this world

A thermal camera shows heat escaping: the building on the left glows (heat leaking out), the insulated one on the right stays cool.
Photo: Passivhaus Institut, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Read first

Background reading

Short readings to read with a partner. Stop at each “Think about it” and talk it through.

What is energy efficiency?Read

Energy efficiency means using less energy to get the same comfort and convenience. A warm, bright house that needs less heating is more efficient than one that needs a heater running all day. There are two ways to get there: better technology (such as insulation or efficient heaters) and changing how people behave.

Buildings matter. One set of course figures says buildings use about 42% of all energy and about 25% of all water.

Think about it: Name one change to technology and one change to behaviour that would save energy in your classroom.

Source: Massey "Introduction to Energy Efficient Buildings", Topic 1 slides.

Five principles of passive solar designRead

A passive solar home uses the Sun's free energy to stay warm, with no machines. There are five principles:

Orientation: in New Zealand, most windows face north to catch the winter sun.
Thermal mass: heavy materials like concrete, brick or stone soak up heat in the day and release it slowly at night.
Insulation: keeps heat in during winter and out in summer. Wool and recycled polyester are two insulation materials.
Shading: eaves, pergolas and deciduous trees block the high summer sun but let the low winter sun in.
Ventilation: lets fresh air move through, and cools the house when needed.

Think about it: Why do deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves) make good shading for a north-facing window?

Source: Massey "Energy Efficient Buildings" Topic 1; Regenpreneur PDC "EcoHome Design".

Water in an ecohomeRead

An ecohome saves water in three ways:

Rainwater harvesting: the roof, gutters and downpipes carry rain to a filter and a storage tank. The water can be used for gardens, toilets, or drinking after proper filtering.
Greywater: water from showers, sinks and washing machines is reused on the garden. It needs gentle, biodegradable cleaning products, and it must meet health rules.
Water-saving fittings: low-flow taps and showerheads, and dual-flush toilets.

Think about it: Which of these could our school try first? What would we measure to show it worked?

Source: Regenpreneur PDC "EcoHome Design".

An Earthship on a New Zealand beachRead

In a WIS project, students researched Earthships, homes designed to provide their own food, water and power. They split into expert groups: producing food and water, building the house, managing waste and water use, and creating electricity. Then they designed an Earthship for a New Zealand beach. One idea was aquaponics inside the home: fish waste feeds the plants, and the plants clean the water for the fish.

Think about it: A home is a system of subsystems (heat, water, power, food). Pick two. How does a change in one affect the other?

Source: WIS 2024 "Earthship Design Research Project".

Go deeper: from Science Learning Hub and DOC

Heat on the moveRead

Temperature measures the average energy of the particles in something. The faster they move, the hotter it feels.

Heat always moves from hotter things to colder things, in three ways:

Conduction: through direct contact, like a cold floor taking heat from your feet.
Convection: warm air or water rises and carries heat with it.
Radiation: heat travels as energy through space, like the warmth of the Sun on your face.

Insulation slows heat moving from one place to another. Trapping air in layers works very well, which is how penguin feathers keep penguins warm, and how wool, batts and double glazing keep homes warm.

Some energy sources can be replaced quickly: solar, wind, water, geothermal and bioenergy. A solar oven uses insulation, reflection and absorption together.

Think about it: In your model home, where will heat escape by conduction, by convection and by radiation? Which will you fix first?

Adapted for Kōkiri Lab from “Physical world: heat”. Source: Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao, The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, www.sciencelearn.org.nz Read the original

Explore more

Trusted places to find out more

Videos, articles and activities from Science Learning Hub and other trusted sites, matched to the week they help most.

For teachers

For teachersWeeks 1 and 9Energy Efficiency and Conservation AuthorityEECANZ's energy-efficiency agency, including the Warmer Kiwi Homes insulation and heating programme.Open

These links open other websites. Kōkiri Lab checked them in September 2026.

How you'll learn

Investigate, think, make, share

Every world moves through the same four areas. Pick one to see what you actually do here.

What evidence can we gather?

Students encounter the phenomenon, build the knowledge needed to interpret it, and gather evidence directly.

What you actually do in this world

Design and conduct a fair test to compare thermal conductivity or insulation across different materials.

This is not a strict pipeline. A student may investigate, model, test, investigate again, revise, and communicate, in whatever order the actual inquiry demands.

Make something

Investigate it. Build it.

Hands-on science investigations and build projects for this world, each linked to the week it fits. Open one to see what you need and how to do it.

Science investigations

VOICE: ask a question and find out with evidence

Best insulatorWhich material keeps a cup of water warm longest?Open

You need

identical cups · warm water (teacher pours) · thermometers · wool, foil, bubble wrap, newspaper

Steps

Wrap each cup in a different material, one cup unwrapped.
Fill all with the same warm water at the same time.
Record temperature every 2 minutes for 20 minutes.

How you'll know: The slowest-cooling cup has the best insulator. The unwrapped cup is your comparison.

The teacher handles hot water.

Go further: Test two thicknesses of the best material.

Fits Week 3 →

Where does heat escape?Where does a room lose the most heat?Open

You need

thermometer · tissue strip · room plan

Steps

Measure temperatures near windows, doors, walls and the floor.
Hold a tissue strip near gaps to find draughts.
Mark hot and cold spots on a plan.

How you'll know: Your map shows the coldest spots and draughts: the first places to fix.

Go further: Compare morning and afternoon.

Fits Week 2 →

Sun trapDoes a north-facing window warm a model room more?Open

You need

2 shoebox 'rooms' · cling-film windows · lamp or sun · thermometers

Steps

Give each box a window facing a different way to the lamp or sun.
Measure inside temperatures every 5 minutes.
Compare.

How you'll know: The box whose window faces the sun warms faster. That is why NZ homes put windows on the north.

Go further: Add eaves (card) and test on a 'summer' (high) sun angle.

Fits Week 4 →

Build projects

FORGE: design, make, test and improve

Warm whare modelCan we design a model home that stays warm?Open

You need

cardboard · insulation offcuts · low-temp glue gun · lamp · thermometers

Steps

Write specifications (e.g. stays 3 °C warmer than outside).
Build version 1 and test it with the lamp.
Find where heat escapes, change one thing, and retest.

How you'll know: Version 2 beats version 1 and meets your specification.

Low-temp glue guns and craft knives only with supervision.

Go further: Beat your own model by 2 °C.

Fits Week 6 →

Temperature alertCan a sensor warn when a room gets too cold?Open

You need

microcontroller · temperature sensor · LED or buzzer

Steps

Choose a 'too cold' temperature.
Program the light or buzzer to come on below it.
Test it with ice packs.

How you'll know: It switches on at the right temperature every time.

Go further: Add a second level: warn, then alarm.

Fits Week 7 →

Laser-cut model partsCan we make accurate walls and windows for our model?Open

You need

design software · laser cutter (teacher-run) · card or ply

Steps

Measure your model and draw the parts.
The teacher cuts them.
Assemble and check the fit.

How you'll know: The parts fit without gaps, which helps insulation too.

Only the teacher operates the laser cutter.

Go further: Design a window that can open for ventilation.

Fits Week 6 →

More ideas from the Kōkiri library

Background learning

Earlier Kōkiri inquiries with learn pages, activities and build ideas that fit this world. They were written before the eight-world curriculum, so use them as background and pick what helps.

Makerspace build ideas

Ready-made ideas from the Kōkiri maker library that suit the Make & Test part of this world.

Stretch challenges

Beat your own model by 2 °C.
Use a recycled material and prove it works.
Explain one trade-off between two parts of the house.

Where AI helps

AI is your thinking partner, not your ghost-writer

AI turns up at particular moments in this world, to help you think harder. The ideas, the making and the explaining stay yours.

Kōkako, your AI mentor
Weeks 3 and 7
What it does
Asks you one question at a time, such as “Where did the heat escape? What is your evidence?”. It never tells you the answer or whether you are right.
What you do
Choose the one change to make, and test it.

Our AI promise

AI asks. You decide.
AI never writes your explanation or does your making for you.
AI never gives you a mark or a score.
If AI is unsure, it says so, and that is useful evidence too.

A laser cutter cutting parts for a small model building

Your platform

KāingaLab

The specialist platform for this world's material tests and functional home models.

This section introduces the platform. Its tools are still being built.

Open KāingaLab

For teachers: curriculum, reasoning and inquiry stages

Essential knowledge

Taught to the whole combined class. Over the two-year programme the class covers both the Year 7 and Year 8 curriculum statements.

Matter Interactions and EnergyMaterial properties and thermal energy: conduction, convection, radiation, thermal conductivity, insulation.
Materials TechnologyPerformance properties of materials, construction and joining techniques, sustainable material choice, functional modelling.

The whole combined Year 7–8 class investigates the same phenomenon, with the same fieldwork, equipment and inquiry problem. Instead of splitting the class by year level, every task has three levels of support (Getting started, On track, Stretch), so each learner goes as deep as they are ready to.

Dominant mode:

Design

Reasoning this world makes visible

A home is a system of interacting subsystems, and explaining how they affect one another is central to good design.

Causal and systemic explanation

Starting out: Identify relationships.
Going further: Explain interactions, feedback, unintended consequences and system-level effects.

All five dimensions recur across every world. Each world provides a context in which one or more becomes especially visible, not an exclusive assignment.

VOICE and FORGE stages

Document 33 stage names, used across Kōkiri. The week plan above shows which stages each week works in.

Te reo groupings shown are provisional, pending cultural advisor review.

VOICE: investigating

Mainly in STEM Investigate and Think & Create.

Kite · te reo group (provisional)

Question · What do we want to find out, and why does it matter?
Observe · What do we notice?
Evidence · What did we actually record?

Whakaaro · te reo group (provisional)

Compare · What is the same or different?
Interpret · What might the evidence mean?
Uncertainty · How sure are we, and why?
Finding · What can we say?
Next step · What should happen next?

FORGE: designing and making

Mainly in Make & Test, ending with Explain in Share & Impact.

Wero · te reo group (provisional)

Frame · What is the problem, who is it for, and what counts as success?

Kite · te reo group (provisional)

Options · What are at least two real ways we could do it?

Whakaaro · te reo group (provisional)

Represent · Can we sketch, flowchart or model it before we build?

Auaha · te reo group (provisional)

Generate · Make it.

Tohu · te reo group (provisional)

Test · Does it work? Record what actually happened.
Evaluate · How well does it meet the criteria, and why?
Refine · What one change will help, and why?
Explain · How do we explain it, and the evidence, to someone else?

Aotearoa and place

Māori housing and pā, colonial housing, railway houses and state housing nationally; local housing history and materials specific to Whanganui.