REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE  

      Part of the Solution

OBJECTIVES

• The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend text.

• The student uses technology to enhance their research, create maps,  
   fill-in data sheets, and import pictures to illustrate.

•  The student makes a plan before writing the first draft.

• The student focuses on a central idea and groups related ideas.

• The student uses strategies to support ideas in writing (uses several sentences to elaborate on an idea, uses specific word choice and relevant details, reasons and examples).

Duration  

Four one-hour periods 

Materials FOR  Activity #4 (scroll down page)
a tool to dig with, 4 flat sticks you can write on; Popsicle sticks will be okay, a marker, a pear or apple core, leaf from a green leafy vegetable like spinach or lettuce, a piece of plastic packaging; a plastic bag will do just fine, a piece of Styrofoam

Magazine Kids Discover Garbage,  4-H Council Compost Curriculum You must order these materials ahead of time.

Vocabulary 

aluminum, biodegradable, commitment, compost, decay, global community, glass, plastic, toxic chemicals, recycle.  EPA Glossary  From A-Z about the Environment.  It can be used for all lessons.
.

Procedure

1. Revisit the story The Berenstein Bears Don't Pollute Anymore.

2. Discuss the ways in which they helped Bear Country.

3. Read Kids Discover Garbage, Kids Discover, 1996 April Issue

4. Use the article Throaway Society to compare and contrast food stores in Colonial times and supermarkets Today. Explain what difference it makes in the amount of garbage we have.

5. Use the article Recycle Shop to show what recycling does. Explain that there are three R's to remember to help save our planet.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

6. The student will visit the following websites and learn more about recycling. Then they will work on a three page presentation.  One page for each of the R's.  In each page they will explain what the word means.  Also give three examples of things you can do for each R. Use pictures if possible.

    a.  Visit Fact Monster's  The Three R's of the Environment

    b.  Allbrite  teaches you what you can recycle.

    c.  The Kids Ecology Corps  (click on Programs) Read about making a  commitment 
          to help. Also scroll down to Waste Disposal and learn more about what to do with 
          garbage.

7. Write a commitment letter explaining what you will do to help your environment.

8. Complete Activity #4 (scroll down page ) How Nature Recycles.  See Compost.

9. Students will keep a log of what they recycle for a week.  Then the student will make a graph to show how much glass, metals, plastics and paper were thrown away that week.

Extensions

1. After students have finished this unit on ecology and the environmental problems, let them do their presentations for the school or P.T.A. (Parent Teacher Association) so that they can actually make a difference in their community.  Schedule an assembly in which they can share their multimedia presentations and what they have learned and motivate others to get involved.

2.  Start a recycling center at the school.  Provide heavy boxes to collect glass, aluminum and paper.  most neighborhoods provide bins and will collect the recyclable materials.  If in your area they don't have this service students may want to enlist a few parents to help transport the materials to a recycling center.

3. If you collect aluminum cans they can be sold and you can use the money to buy books or as a fund raiser for your school.

Home learning

1. Read the story Compost! Growing Gardens From Your Garbage by Linda Glaser.  

Begin a compost bin in your backyard where all the biodegradable things can be thrown away.  Watch the garbage disappear.

The 4-H Council provides a Compost Curriculum  for  $5.00.

2.  Lots of families receive a large amount of advertisements and other junk mail that they do not want. You can stop the mailings and reduce waste by writing to the following address and requesting that they take your name off of their distribution list: Check with your parents first.

Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9000

Assessment

1. Three R's presentation (scroll down page) Explain what each term means and what can be done for each R.

2. Comparison between Colonial times store and present day supermarkets.  The Student evaluates why there is more garbage today.

3. A commitment contract telling what the student plans to do.