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Fitting Trash into Yesterday: A Fifth Grade Activity
Fifth graders explore the concept of waste management. In this recycling lesson, 5th graders discover the history of waste management and discuss how the U.S. should respond to the issue of ever-increasing waste.
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Let's Build a Worm Bin
Learners explore the process of decomposition. In this ecology and measurement instructional activity, students prepare a worm home to be used for vermicomposting. Learners weigh a group of worms and the added food, recording this...
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Molehill or Mountain
Students explore the concept of waste management. In this environmental stewardship lesson, students consider the trash generated by people per day and discuss what steps they can personally take to reduce waste.
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Collective Compromise
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning instructional activity, students examine what to do with waste as they plan and implement a strategy for controlling their school's trash.
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Water Conservation
Students identify ways to conserve water. In this environmental lesson, students use a water use checklist to identify how much water they use in one day. Students analyze the data and brainstorm ways to conserve water.
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Spanish Lessons on Waste
Learners investigate waste. In this environmental activity, students read a worksheet in both Spanish and English and share how they recycle at home. Learners are encouraged to use key vocabulary words from the worksheet such as...
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Leaky Landfills
Young scholars build a model landfill. For this ground pollution lesson, students use soda bottles to build a model of a landfill. Young scholars observe their model over a period of two weeks and determine safety problems that come from...
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Recycling and Waste Disposal
In this recycling and waste disposal worksheet, students check one of 5 boxes with predictions on how long certain materials such as styrofoam and glass take to decompose and disappear underground. There are 10 items that students must...
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What Will Biodegrade?
Students create their own landfill where they observe materials that will and won't biodegrade. In this biodegrading lesson, students discuss the concept of a landfill and what materials biodegrade into soil and which ones stay in the...
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I'm Warm Now
Third graders graph how much water is wasted while waiting for it to get warm in the spigot in the sink. In this graphing lesson plan, student first predict how much water is wasted. That night they test it out at home and the next day...
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Pollution and Marine Life
In this pollution and marine life worksheet, students use 9 given terms related to types of pollution and ocean food chains to complete sentences. Students number the effects of human sewage and soil runoff that harm ocean organisms in...
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Wake County Landfill Problem
Students create a proposal to solve Wake County's problem with losing the North Wake landfill in such a way that: a new landfill site is agreed upon, Solid-wase disposal is in compliance with Local and State landfill regulations and...
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How Long Until Dirt
Third graders examine the difference between composting and wasting food. They problem-solve what to do about leftovers after lunches so good food doesn't go to waste.They study food storage techniques that are environmentally friendly...
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Garbage Pizza
Students examine amount of garbage disposed of by average household weekly, classify different categories of garbage and describe composition of landfills, investigate what happens to waste after it is collected by garbage trucks, and...
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Classifying Waste: What Kind is Mine?
Students discover what happens to their trash and garbage once it is collected off of the curb. In groups, they classify garbage and waste into seven different categories and estimate how much waste is created in each one. Using the...
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What Is The Concept?
Students systemically determine the concept that the waste items placed in a "yes" category are biodegradable and those in the "no" category are not. This activity is a motivating way to introduce a unit on wastes by having students use...
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Waste Not, Want Not
Students consider the types of debris that litters beaches and conduct research on waste management. They then interview professionals in a particular field of waste management and write reports for a booklet about garbage and sewage to...
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Compost
Students expand their understanding of solid waste management. They examine the effects of packaging decisions. They study engineering advancements in packaging materials and solid waste management.
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Waste: Where Does It Come From? Where Does It Go?
Students work together to identify sources of hazardous waste in their community. They discover the threat it poses to the environment. They examine how to properly dispose of hazardous waste as well.
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Federal and State Laws on Hazardous Waste
Students examine how laws on hazardous waste is developed and enforced. They work together to discover how statutes are passed as well. They complete an activity to end the instructional activity.
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The Urban Explosion
Students investigate the uncontrolled development of the world's major cities. They define key vocabulary terms, view and discuss video excerpts, and complete a project that involves drawing a "perfect city," developing a plan to...
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Waste Management
Students explore the topic of waste management. They define key vocabulary words, take a pre-quiz, complete a questionnaire, evaluate their own waste reduction habits, and write a short summary.
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Performance Art and The Waste Stream
Students research local waste management services, discuss findings, give opinions about what they have found, offer solutions and ideas, and create performance art, design art works, and fine art works to convey information on waste...
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COMPOSTING: WHY BOTHER?
Students explore the composting process and participate in a contest to make the most compost the fastest from the school's kitchen and yard waste.