Lesson Plan

Summary: Students bring to school five items they would normally throw away and five items they would normally recycle. Expert groups are formed to present information on the recycling of glass, metal, plastic, and organics such as paper and food waste. Classroom activities stress that many things we throw away can be recycled and some things we try to recycle will be thrown away. The Family Page extends this learning to the community by challenging families to increase recycling efforts at home.

Note: Distribute the Family Page in advance of the activity to allow time for students to collect trash and recyclable items needed for Day 1 of the lesson.

Gather the following materials for each team: calculator, chart paper, markers.
Organize Student Information Pages into team folders--five different pages in each folder. (See Ready to Print.)
Copy a class set of the Thinksheet, Data Sheet, and Family Page (See Ready to Print.)
Gather information from local collection centers via mail, phone, or Internet for use as additional classroom resources. (See Related Resources for ideas.)
Decide on a strategy for grouping students into teams of five.

Introduce the activity to your students. "In this activity you will..."
- hypothesize about the ability of a given object (e.g., plastic jug, orange peel, metal can, etc.) to be recycled
- analyze data to form conclusions about current recycling practices
- classify objects brought from home as recyclable or non-recyclable
Tell students what behaviors you expect of them before, during, and after the lesson.
- scientific thinking
- respectful listening
- speaking in appropriate voices
- participating
Explain how this activity is grouped:
- whole class introduction
- sorting activity
- research
- class discussion
Discuss the following terms and their meanings: solid waste, waste reduction, and natural resource. (See Background Information.)
Group students into teams of five. Have students number off in each team from one to five.

Ask team members to take turns sorting their items into two larger team piles: recyclable and non-recyclable. Encourage discussion and debate. (future photo)
Distribute the Data Sheet and discuss.
Complete the Item, Category, and Prediction columns of the Data Sheet.
Distribute the Thinksheet and give students a moment to complete the "Question" and "Think It Through" sections.
Share/Discuss team predictions.
Complete the "Hypothesis" section of the Thinksheet.
Distribute the Student Information Pages to each team. Each student receives the page that corresponds with his/her team number.
- 1 = composting
- 2 = metals (steel and aluminum)
- 3 = plastic
- 4 = paper
- 5 = glass
Allow time for students to read their information pages.
Form "expert groups" to discuss the reading material (e.g., a glass recycling discussion group with one member from each team, a paper recycling discussion group...).

Day 2: Expert Groups and Re-sorting (45 min.)

Allow time for expert groups to summarize the text into the following categories for their type of matter:
- What Is Recyclable
- What Is Not Recyclable
- Other Important Information
Distribute chart paper and markers. Allow time for students to create posters to illustrate the findings of their expert group.
Display posters in the classroom after each team presents its findings.
Return to original teams of five where each member is now also a member of a different expert group.
Ask team members to once again take turns sorting their items into two larger team piles, recyclable and non-recyclable, as they complete their Data Sheets. Encourage discussion and debate.

Summarize the Main Points

Not everything we throw away is trash. Not everything we recycle is recyclable.
Share selected Background Information.
Read Where Does Our Garbage Go? (or similar book about waste reduction).
Use the Matter Cycle images to show the flow of matter with and without recycling. While discussing each diagram, stress that certain materials (glass, metals, plastics) return to the Earth's resources very slowly and will not necessarily become the same resource again after breakdown. For example, a plastic jug will not break down into the exact materials needed to make another plastic jug. Emphasize that the more we recycle, the less we need to take from the Earth's undisturbed resources.

Compliment students for appropriate behaviors during the lesson.
Evaluation

Formative: anecdotal notes of teams in progress, incidental questioning of students' rationale for what they are doing (during activity), observation of teamwork, status of the class (end of each unfinished activity day)
Summative: Choose one or more of the following:

Want Something More???

Check out Related Resources.
Begin an aluminum or paper recycling program at your school. If your school already has a paper recycling program, brainstorm ways to improve the quality of recycling efforts through posters, P.A. announcements, etc.
Conduct the Science for Ohio "Leaf" It In Your Yard investigation and begin composting at your school and in your community.