Where does our garbage go? What is the difference between a recyclable and non-recyclable item? Pose these important, but often overlooked, questions to your class and invite them to consider the lasting and damaging effects of the...

Elementary schoolers count and order objects using numbers 1-300. They bring recyclable items from home. Students group the items, skip count by 2's, 3's, and 5's, and arrange the items on a number line. Recyclable plastic bags are put...

Students discover that recycling is using a product more than once so that natural resources can be saved and so that we won't need so many garbage dumps and landfills. They see that there are different ways to recycle. Students design a...

Track how much paper their class uses in a week. They will pile their used paper into one place, each day the pile is measured. They make predictions about how much paper they would collect in a month, then recycle the paper.

Students develop a working model computer program of a recycling center addressing the material management, work schedules and business finances of running the recycling center.

Students discuss what happens to trash after it is collected. They sort "clean" trash into groups depending on whether it should be recycled, incinerated, placed in a landfill, composted or if it is something we could avoid using.

In this recycling worksheet, students study items in a list and circle those that can go into the recycling bin. Students solve 5 recycling riddles, unscramble letters to find 6 recyclable items. Students write 4 ways that a milk carton...

Students develop a working model computer program of a recycling center which can be used to make decisions about a school recycling program.

Students explore the benefits of recycling paper. For this recycling lesson, students use statistics to calculate the amount of paper that is thrown away each week and construct a graph. Students analyze the data and calculate the...

Students relate recycling to waste reduction. In this science lesson, students talk about the environment and how recycling certain natural resources actually saves on energy.  They also discuss what type of recycling causes...

Students discuss the importance of recycling and preventing pollution. In groups, they complete mini-studies on various environmental issues and evaluate different consumer products. They use global warming data to determine the...

Students examine different "cycles" that are found in nature, such as the water cycle and recycling. They create their own artwork about cycles to be displayed on a bulletin board

Young scholars examine the importance of recycling to help the environment. In groups, they make a compost bin on the school grounds recording how the material changes from week to week. They collect other materials for recycling like...

Students discover the types of batteries and their uses. They experience static electricity by rubbing glass jars and using it to raise their hair. After discussing the importance of recycling batteries and using ones that are...

Learners determine the percentage increase in output of solid waste in the U.S. They determine the length of time it takes for throw away items to decompose.

Plastic math? Have young learners count and name the number of plastic items in their centers. Kindergartners match sight word cards to the number of plastics in a given group, while learning that plastics come in all different shapes,...

Students investigate how to reduce, recycle, and reuse items in order to conserve natural resources. They complete a trash graphing activity after discussing different types of trash. Finally, the examine ways to buy recycled products to...

Young scholars brainstorm reasons for politicians to expand recycling programs and find statistics to support recycling programs. They design posters, displaying a compelling statistic about recycling, to convince students at their...

Students figure out math equations based on the recycling of cans and gas consumption. In this recycling lesson plan, students have challenge cards that ask them challenge questions on how to save gas and what a difference recycling can...

Students investigate solid waste. In this environmental lesson, students collect their own garbage for a day and analyze the weight and the percentage of recyclable items in their trash.

Young scholars investigate data and recyclable materials. In this math lesson, students save recyclable materials and create a graph of the materials. Young scholars discuss how they could help the environment by recycling.

Students share their knowledge about aluminum and aluminum recycling by sharing the information with the rest of the community.

More people, more garbage! Young environmentalists graph population growth against the amount of garbage generated per year and find a linear model that best fits the data. This is an older resource that could benefit from more recent...

Students collect data. In this math lesson, students collect data about recyclable materials. Students develop a plan that will help the environment. Recycling plastic containers is discussed.