Electrical safety with Sparky
Sparky is a smart, resourceful and cheeky dog who would do anything to protect his family.
Sparky is a smart, resourceful and cheeky dog who would do anything to protect his family.
Sparky appears in a set of resources you can use in the classroom to teach students about electrical safety and introduce them to the world of STEM.
Sparky and the Electrical Pillar book
Sparky’s job is to protect his family, making sure everything is safe in the house, in the garden and in the outside world. But does Sparky know enough about electrical safety to really protect them?
The book has a teacher’s guide packed with Years K-3 curriculum linked activities and the resources for teaching safety around electricity and STEM.
If your primary school's located within the Western Power network it should have received at least one copy of the book.
If you live or teach in the area you can order a copy of the book by clicking on the button below or download a PDF version for use on your whiteboards.
Sparky and the Electrical Pillar book
Order nowWhy Sparky got a shock video
This video looks at why electricity causes shocks and how electricity is normally safe and when it might not be. Suitable for students in years 3-6.
Keep Sparky Safe app
We've developed an augmented reality (AR) app suitable for primary school students. Sparky the dog helps students understand the dangers associated with electricity. They'll learn how to recognise common street electrical equipment and what to look for to know when it's damaged and unsafe.
The free app is available for download on Apple iOS devices. We’re working on the Android version of the app and will have it available soon.
Check out this handy factsheet that helps explain how to best use the app with your children.
Keep Sparky Safe app
The free app is available for download on Apple iOS devices
Years K-3 teacher’s guide and resources
The Sparky and the Electrical Pillar teachers guide is packed with curriculum linked suggestions for classroom activities linking to the Sparky and the Electrical Pillar book plus an appendix with 20 additional aids.
Appendix teaching aids
The page from the back of the book that has the questions for prompting discussion along the themes of; doing a job, protection and safety, observing the world through our senses, streetscapes and STEM behaviour.
The page from the back of the book with information about electricity and electrical equipment found around the suburbs.
Images from the book that depict key parts of the story but in a random order – students can cut up the storyboard and arrange in the correct order.
Images from the book that show the sequence of Sparky’s escape from the backyard. Students can describe what Sparky is doing using positional descriptive language.
A picture of one of our emergency vehicles that the students can label. Also see the video, Network Response Officer vehicle.
A picture of a network response officer in personal protective clothing (PPE) that the students can label. Also see the video Network Response Officer and his safe work suit.
A chart to help with recording 2D shapes found around your students’ environments.
A chart to help with recording 3D shapes found around your students’ environments.
A chart featuring common street electrical equipment for finding common shapes in.
The birds eye view of Sparky’s route taken from the book for use in talking about and representing views, maps and routes.
A page taken from the book showing Sparky with his family in their home in which many electrical items can be spotted.
A page taken from the book showing a cut through view which shows the underground pipes and cables coming into the house which the students can track. They will also like finding the other things that can be seen underground.
A diagram that shows how electricity gets from where it is generated to where it is used with space to add examples of each. This can be used as a worksheet or poster.
A form/tally sheet to help with surveying the class on how electricity comes to their home (via overhead line or underground cable).
Instructions and template for making a paper windmill that spins (for thinking about electricity generated by wind.)
Some ideas for making model power poles to hold up powerlines.
A danger sign commonly found on substation fences warning people to keep out.
This image can be printed for use in role play around finding a damaged powerline.
Students can colour in this image (and add a warning to the mini pillar.)
Students can colour in this image and add their electrical shock embellishments.
Print out and laminate these playing cards and play snap (exact matches or electrical and non electrical matches) or memory. You can also play Happy Families or Go Fish.