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Consequences of Garbage
First graders consider the problem of too much garbage in America. In this garbage use lesson, 1st graders discuss ways to decrease garbage in the United States and complete a coloring sheet.
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Trash To Treasure
In this environmental worksheet, students learn about reusing trash and making crafts and useful items instead of throwing it into a landfill. Students study 15 pictures of crafts and list as many trash items as they can find.
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The Trash We Pass
Students engage in a study of trash and how it is disposed of in the environment. They also research the impact of recycling and its effects upon the disposal amounts. Students calculate the advantages of recycling using real world...
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Trash Or Treasure
Students investigate the concept of garbage and define how it may be useful for people. The consumption of products is estimated to predict the annual volume of garbage for a household. Then students attempt to create a treasure made...
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Trash on Texas Beaches
Students take a field trip to a local Texas beach. Using the trash and debris they find, they classify them based on specific criteria. In groups, they calculate the total for each category and determine the percentage of each category...
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What's Up with Waste?
Fifth graders design a brochure that identifies types of solid waste that are often improperly disposed, explains the effects of this disposal and proposes a solution to the problem. The read humorous books, define vocabulary words and...
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Mini-Sanitary Landfill
Second graders work in groups to bury a variety of trash items and arrange them in a mini-landfill. They predict which items will biodegrade and then keep records of what the items look like every ten days. Students consider how...
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Yesterday's Trash
Students create a trash book or individual student books using cereal boxes. They record everything thrown away and use one page for each category.
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Fireplace Logs from Newspapers
Students discuss the topic of recycling. They identify items that can and cannot be recycled. They practice using their newspaper to make other items.
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Trash Count
Students identify pollution around their local community. They discuss the sources of polution and categorize objects based on their properties. They discover ways to make changes to the environment and how to inform the public.
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THe Trash We Pass
Young scholars identify the sources of pollution and waste in their community. They examine the process of recycling and how to eliminate some of their family waste.
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It's in the Garbage
Students analyze how studying garbage relates to methods of archaeology. They examine garbage to determine things about their culture and relate that to prehistoric peoples.
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Make a Difference
Young scholars are introduced to the resource economies of recycling aluminum cans. They develop understanding about their own impact on the amount of solid waste produced and recognize the impact of recycling on energy and natural...
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The Waste Paper Basket
Students examine the consequences of littering and creating garbage.
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Trash...it really piles up!
Students investigate a contemporary "midden" by analyzing trash collected from various sources and determining life-style choices people make. They see that reducing the amount of waste we generate is helpful to the the environment.
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A Community Decision!
Learners investigate waste management through a simulated role-playing activity. They use a decision chart to organize their presentatioins and justify their decisions.
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Mapping the Village
Students measure, weigh, and document the amount of trash and garbage generated by the school for one day. They brainstorm solutions for trash in the area and assist with the school-wide recycle program.
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Throw-Away Society
Students think about garbage disposal and the amount that we produce.
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Reduce and Reuse
Young scholars conduct a lunch waste audit by recording each item they throw away at lunch. They graph class lunch waste. They use this information to devise a plan of action to reduce lunch waste. There is also an activity to make paper.
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Trash Traits: Marine Debris, Litter, Ecology, Oceans
Students perform experiments to examine whether trash can float, blow around, or wash away. The effects of these characteristics on the presence of marine debris in the environment are then discussed.
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Recycle
Students determine the weight of paper waste generated by the class. They brainstorm ways to reduce and recycle. They make their own paper to demonstrate recycling. This lesson plan is very effective in demonstrating how recycling works.
US Environmental Protection Agency
Epa: Recycle City
This interactive site allows students to implement recycling programs to transform "Dumptown" into "Recycle City". To make this simulation realistic, students must implement the programs within a budget.
Other
Association of Science Technology Centers: Rotten Truth About Garbage
This comprehensive website includes activities, time lines, definitions, statistics, and information to help you see garbage in a new light. Of special interest is a page that shows all of the resources that go into the production of a...
Other
100 Years of Manhattan's Garbage
"What could you smell on the streets of New York in 1890?" An interesting question that this paper answers well by examining an exhibit at the New York Public Library entitled "Garbage: The History and Politics of Trash in New York City."