From: Action for a Cleaner Tomorrow -DHEC

Grade Level: 3rd

Content Area: Science

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Standard: 3.E.4A.3 Obtain and communicate information to exemplify how humans obtain, use, and protect renewable and nonrenewable Earth resources.

Lesson: I Spy Garbage!

*TIP* The lesson can easily be taught on Zoom, if all students have internet access!

 

Overview: Students will learn that the trash from home, schools, and businesses, is also known as Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and it can either be deposited into a landfill, or it can be recycled or repurposed. Students will also learn the implications of throwing things away, as well as collect/analyze data on the trash they throw away over the course of a day to see just how much waste a small group of humans can generate.  

 

Engage- Students will listen to Shel Silverstein’s poem, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out, which is a humorous text that emphasizes just how much trash one can generate, as well as the importance of waste disposal.

 

Lesson Part 1- Students will brainstorm a list of items from various categories (paper, plastics, yard trimmings, metals, textiles, wood, food, aluminum, glass, etc.) that they would throw into the trash every day at home and at school. That list will be copied for every student to serve as a checklist for the next activity. The teacher will then pull out a “staged bag of trash” to demonstrate how students will record their discarded items and the quantities for each for one whole day. For example, in the staged back the teacher could pull out a Tide laundry detergent bottle, which would be recorded as plastic, a banana peel would be recorded as food scraps, etc. After the demonstration is complete, the teacher will tell the students that for the next 24 hours, they will record everything they throw away on a worksheet that is broken down by the categories listed above (attached). The information gathered will be used in the next part of the lesson.

 

Lesson Part 2- Once students have finished recording their “trash inventory” for an entire day, the teacher will create a graph that shows how much the class threw away. The teacher will ask students if they think their trash says anything about their habits, lifestyles, or consideration for what they decide to throw away. Some teachers may choose to have students create a journal entry (*Assessment idea*). Then, students would participate in an open discussion where the teacher would ask a series of questions to spark the conversation:

• Would your trash look the same every day for a year, or would it differ?

• How would birthdays and holidays affect the amount of trash you throw away?

• Do you think your neighbors generate the same amount of trash as you and your family?

• How do you think a reliance on convenience products, like microwavable dinner, affect your trash?

• How would having a baby change the amount of trash a household generates?

• How would the amount of trash a one parent, one child family generates be different than a two parent, two children family?

• How many bags of trash do you think you produce in a month? A year? A lifetime?

 

End of lesson- The wrap up the lesson, the teacher will come full circle and remind students that trash can either be deposited into a landfill or recycled and repurposed. With that in mind, students can complete an exit ticket (attached) that details at least three things they could do at home or at school to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills and match pictures of garbage to the proper category.