Berkshire Museum
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Sorting Through Personal Choices
Raise children's awareness about the importance of conservation with this hands-on science lesson. Start by breaking the class into groups and having them collect trash from around the school or local park. Students then use the provided...
Curated OER
Slash Trash! Reducing, Reusing and Recycling Our Way to Zero Waste
The other "Three Rs" are covered in this instructional activity: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Over four weeks, conservationists collect data about waste in their own homes. They combine their findings with those of other students in order...
California Academy of Science
Where Do I Put My Trash?
Where does the trash go after you put it in the garbage can? The class discusses sustainability, recycling, compost, and landfills as they play as fun relay game. In teams, they race to be the fastest group to successfully sort their...
Curated OER
Trash Bashing
Students define trash, garbage, or solid waste, discuss ways of disposing of trash, list examples of biodegradable materials, and have trash relay race in order to sort trash into appropriate containers labeled biodegradable, reusable,...
Curated OER
Garbage Pizza
Young scholars 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,...
Curated OER
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Students explore the concept of waste management. In this environmental stewardship instructional activity, students study the nuances of the terms reduce, reuse, and recycle. Students investigate ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle many...
Curated OER
A Lot Of Garbage
Learners collect their own garbage. In this recycling lesson, students keep their own garbage for a day in their own personal garbage bag and then consider methods to reduce wastefulness.
Curated OER
Trash a Pizza!
Students investigate data about America's trash production. In this environmental lesson, students use statistics about what we throw away to create an art pie chart project called a "trash pizza."
Curated OER
Test Your Trash IQ Crossword Puzzle
In this trash recycling crossword puzzle, students complete a word puzzle about proper trash recycling. They read 17 clues and place the answers in the proper place on the crossword puzzle.
Curated OER
Reuse and Respect!
Students examine the concept of reusing trash to save the environment. In this environment lesson, students examine the definition of the word reuse, and apply it by finding ways to reuse trash in their school. They talk about what...
Curated OER
Eco-Healthy Lunch
Students plan healthy lunches and how to dispose of their lunch waste. In this pre-field trip lesson, students and teachers plan healthy, nutritious lunches to bring on a field trip. They also discuss how to sort their garbage into the...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Good Litter, Bad Litter
Which ones can be thrown on the ground? Discover the difference between natural litter and unhealthy trash, helping scholars by using several examples. Use the information here to give them a basic background, but also encourage prior...
Curated OER
Trash Disposal Choices
Students determine the differences between reusable, compostable and recyclable trash.
Teach Engineering
Trash to Treasure!
One person's trash is another man's treasure. Challenge your class to build something useful out of the trash they throw away on a regular basis. Groups design and build a practical item from trash they collect, allowing the class to...
Curated OER
Garbage or Art?
The three R's are, reduce, reuse, and recycle. Third graders use recycled materials to design and create an environmentally themed piece of art. They discuss and examine major art works that were created using recycled materials, then...
PJ Library
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Teach children that just because something is old, doesn't mean you have to throw it away with a reading of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. Engaging children with an arts and crafts activity in which they patch the holes in...
Curated OER
Earth Day - Reduce - Reuse - Recycle
In this Earth Day worksheet, students fill in the blanks to sentences, match words to definitions, and make slogans for pictures about reducing, reusing, and recycling. Students complete 3 activities.
Curated OER
What is Trash?
Students consider what garbage is and where it ends up. In this recycling lesson, students read excerpts from Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little as they consider methods to reduce wastefulness.
Curated OER
Classroom Trash Audit
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.
Curated OER
Graphing Trash Material
Students investigate recycling. In this reuse and recycle instructional activity, students examine the number and kinds of materials they discard. It also encourages them to think about taking action by reusing and recycling some of...
Curated OER
Trash or Treasure?
Students identify things that can be reused. In this environmental lesson, students read the poem "Hector the Collector" and discuss the difference between junk and treasure. Students complete a reflection about what they read by...
Curated OER
What Can We Do About Trash in Our Community?
Fourth graders examine how to deal with the amount of trash in their community. They discover alternate ways of managing waste. They develop their own solutions to the problem.
Curated OER
Recycle Relay
Here is a quick activity intended to get little learners ready to conserve. They classify trash for recycling by placing items in the categories reduce, recycle and reuse. In teams the sort real life trash items into the best...
Curated OER
Recycling-Taking it Easy on the Environment
Students review the garbage/landfill graphs included with the lesson. They discuss the information on the graphs and discuss which garbage products come from their homes. Students collect examples of over packaging to share with class...