Lesson Five

Content Area Standards

English and Language Arts:
  • RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
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Social Studies:
  • 3.C&G.2.2 Exemplify how citizens contribute to the well-being of the community’s natural environment.
  • 4.G.1.2 Explain the impact that human activity has on the availability of natural resources in North Carolina.

Objectives

Students will be able to:
  • Explain how to employ the for R's (refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle) in order to make personal, sustainably sound decisions.
  • Recognize the need for civic responsibility in relation to the conservation of natural resources.
  • Research sources to collect information in order to make decisions and propose solutions divert waste from landfills in the future.

Concepts

Sustainability - Civic Responsibility - System

Accomodations

​Universal Design in place to accommodate exceptionalities.

Assessment

Teacher collects informal assessment information through in-class participation and discussions.  Students will demonstrate their research skills by extracting relevant information from text and taking notes representative of their content knowledge, in order to make decisions and propose solutions in future lessons.

Prerequsite Knowledge

Students must have knowledge of the impact that human activity has on the availability of natural resources, and that natural resources are used to create materials.  These man-made materials often contain substances that are toxic to humans and animals.

Prior Preperation

  • Research local waste disposal and recycling facilities for information relevant to local city.  
    • Obtain a reference tool from local recycling center such as a brochure, image, website, etc. depicting what items are accepted by the recycling center and if recycling is single stream or must be sorted, and any other relevant information to recycling.
  • ​On the day of the lesson students will save their own lunch waste, and bring it back to the classroom.  This includes tray, utensils, uneaten food, packaging - everything that was taken but not consumed.  Students will label their tray with their name and set aside until needed.

Materials and Resources

Materials:
Prezi, 1 Poster board, Markers and other art materials, Student lunch trays, Plastic gloves, Sorting bins, Reference tool(s) from local recycling center such as a brochure, image, or website. 

Video Resource:
Newell Recycling: "Recycling Challange 2009-2010" Educational Curriculum. (October 29, 2009). What's One Can? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9UjmOHC300​

​​​Innovative Solutions Resources:
Busch Systems. (n.d.). It's Elementary - Starting a Recycling Program For Schools Grades K-12. Retrieved from http://www.buschsystems.com/recycling-bin-news/2015/01/its-elementary-starting-a-recycling-program-for-schools-grades-k-12/

​Reuse this bag.com. (n.d.). Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Tips for Kids. Retrieved from https://www.reusethisbag.com/articles/ reduce-reuse-andrecycle-tips-for-kids.php

​Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District. (2015). Reducing Waste at School. Retrieved from http://www.hamiltoncountyrecycles.org/index.php?page=reduce-waste-at-school​
Books:
One Plastic Bag
Miranda Paul. (Februaru 9, 2015). One plastic bag: Isatou Ceesay and the recycling woman of the gambia. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.
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Click to Preview Book

Instructional Procedure

    Reducing Waste
  • Open the lesson with a short recap of the previous lesson on landfills and plastic waste in our waterways, lead a brief class discussion by asking students if they know of other common solutions to reducing waste.​​
    Destination #3: Recycling Center
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What's One Can? Click to View Video
  • Video recap:
    • Recycling is good, but it’s not enough.  One of the characters in the video reminded us to never litter and always recycle - this is great advice, but… There are steps to take before we need to recycle.  Recycling still requires energy and natural resources, it just doesn’t use as much as producing new products.   
    • Introduce the 4 R's- Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Give some examples of how to put the 4 R's into practice and ask the students to offer some of their own.
      • Refuse - Make a choice to not use one-use-items.  Refer to lesson one: Accepting products without questioning is blind consumerism.  Blind consumerism = consuming goods or products without awareness of any potential consequences. We all have a choice and a potential to make a change.  Every purchase is a vote for that product to be made again.  Bring your own reusable shopping bag and water bottle.
      • Reduce - Sometimes waste is unavoidable, but using less is always an option.  Do you really need four paper towels, or will one dry your hands?
      • Reuse - Instead of tossing a used item into the trash or recycling, consider other uses for it.  Could that spaghetti jar make a cool pencil holder?  Could your old T-shirt be cut up to be used as a rag to clean around the house?
      • Recycle - Finally, if you have considered all of the previous R's, then you can recycle.  

      • Conversation starters and questions: ​​
        • What’s one can? Remind students of what the boy said in the video. 1 can x 1 year = 365 cans x 50 years is thousands of cans.  What if everyone in the world did the same thing?  The U.S. recycles only 31% of its plastic beverage bottles and 50% of it’s aluminum cans —the rest ends up in a landfill, as litter on the ground, or at sea.
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Why Deforestation? Use of Natural Resources and Clearing for Agricultural Land.
  • How does recycling conserve energy and natural resources? Recycling reduces the source of some pollution - less need for new materials to be produced, less waste in the landfill, and less litter.  In previous lessons we learned about the process of extracting natural resources to produce certain materials, such as oil to make plastic.  What is a major natural resource in your state?  What kind of products are made from this resource?  What would happen if we used up all or a lot of that natural resource?  
  • How do you know what can be recycled? Recycling can be confusing.  Sorting what can and cannot be recycled can be the hardest part. Some materials are more easily recycled than others.  A lot of recycling centers only accept certain types of materials.  The best thing to do if you are unsure is do your research or ask!

Recycling and Landfill Sort
  • Groups of 2-3 students.  Provide students with a reference tool from local recycling center such as a brochure, image, website, etc. Gloves can be provided.
  • Ask students to find their trays from the lunch period prior.  Give all groups two bins (landfill and recycling).  Students will sort their lunch waste using the chosen reference tool.
  • Circulate the room to ensure children are understanding the concept and that they are using the reference tool.
  • After all students are finished, lead a short discussion about the activity and answer any questions.
  • Conversation starters and questions: Was it hard or easy?  Is this something you could do every day?  Does your city have single-stream recycling or did you need to sort all items separately? What couldn’t be recycled?  Where do those items go?
  • ​Inform students that they have already thought about how to reduce their own waste at lunchtime.  What could the people who made the products (producers) do differently to reduce waste items that end up in the landfill?  What could the people at your school who buy products (consumers) do differently to reduce the volume of products used? 
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Let’s Recycle! 
  • Students will be presented with a poster board that they will design for their classroom recycling collection bin in their small groups of 2-3 students at a time.  

Innovative Solutions
Lesson Vocabulary - Conserve, Deforestation