Teacher’s Guide
Wellbeing Stages 4-6
Kate Daniels and Victoria Pugh
4.8 One world
Lesson number and title
4.8.1 Reduce, recycle, reuse, repurpose
4.8.2 How does plastic affect our planet?
Sub-strand
Making a difference
Making a difference
Curriculum framework learning objectives
• 456Nb.01 Explore how to apply the four Rs of waste reduction to their everyday life.
Overview
Students identify the 4 Rs and what they mean. They create graffiti walls showing what their class or school can do to ensure that they follow the 4 Rs. Based on these ideas, they write a persuasive letter to their head of school or school governance to explain the importance of promoting the 4 Rs within the school or community.
4.8.3 Human rights
Making a difference
• 456Nb.04 Understand the impact of plastics on our planet.
• 456Nb.06 Explore their fundamental human rights.
This lesson gives students the opportunity to develop their understanding of the time it takes for plastics to disintegrate and how single-use plastics affect the planet. They will create an infographic of their research in this area.
Students learn about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and explore the thirty different articles. They choose an article to focus on and create a painting of their favourite article.
Key vocabulary alternatives, articles, compost, decompose, landfill, letter, persuasive, single-use plastic, recycle, reduce, repurpose, reuse, typography, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
4.8.1 Reduce, recycle, reuse, repurpose
Big question:
• How can we promote ‘reduce, recycle, reuse, repurpose’ within our school community?
Learning objectives
• 456Nb.01 Explore how to apply the four Rs of waste reduction to their everyday life.
Introduction (10 mins)
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Key vocabulary:
• reduce, recycle, reuse, repurpose, alternatives, compost, persuasive, letter
Resources:
• PowerPoint 4.8.1
• Workbook pp. 57–58
• Worksheet 4.8.1
• Poster paper; paper for graffiti walls; markers or pens
• Turn to Workbook page 57 and allow time for students to discuss the photo and the question as a class. Then use Slide 1 to introduce the 4 Rs: reduce, recycle, reuse, repurpose. As a class, think about what each word means and give examples in context.
Show Slide 2. On four separate graffiti walls (one for each R), ask students to write as many ideas of ways to reduce, recycle, reuse or repurpose within school as they can think of. This might include:
Reduce – not using individual glue sticks and having folders instead, where pages can be holepunched rather than being stuck into books; reducing the number of worksheets printed out; reducing plastic bottles by having reusable bottles for water; holding zero-waste parties for end-of-year or other festival celebrations.
Recycle – having a school compost heap for kitchen scraps; having separate recycling bins for plastic or paper waste.
Reuse – holding uniform or clothes sales at the en d of each half term, where parents bring uniforms or other clothes which children have grown out of, and donating the proceeds to eco-projects.
Repurpose – bringing in old things that would be thrown away or are unwanted to use for arts and crafts activities.
Activities (25 mins)
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• As a class, discuss what students have written on the graffiti walls and try to elicit further suggestions. Together, talk through the implications of each idea for both the school and the environment.
Show Slide 3. Based on the graffiti wall suggestions and su bsequent discussion, ask students to write a letter to their head of school or school governance, explaining ways in which the school could reduce, recycle, reuse and repurpose, informing them of the benefits to both the school and the environment. They can note their ideas and plans in their notebooks. Worksheet 4.8.1 and Workbook Activity 8.1 provide a useful template to support students in writing their letter.
Plenary (10 mins)
• Read out letters from students who are happy to share their work and go round to each member of the class asking, ‘Which of these 4 Rs (or more!) could you do at home?’
Assessment opportunities and next steps
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• Persuasive letters can be assessed for understanding of the key elements of reduce, recycle, reuse and repurpose, as well as for independent thinking in rela tion to strategies to encourage the 4 Rs.
The class could create a book of letters to display or put into the library.
The letters could be sent to a local paper or community group to highlight the importance of the 4 Rs within the community.
4.8.1 Planning a persuasive letter
Write a letter to your head of school or school governance, explaining the importance of the 4 Rs: Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose. Think about how best to explain what the terms mean, give examples of ways in which the school can encourage them and point out the benefits to the school and the environment. Plan the key points you want to include in each section.
Introduction
4.8.2 How does plastic affect our planet?
Big question:
• How does plastic affect our planet?
Learning objectives
• 456Nb.04 Understand the impact of plastics on our planet.
Introduction (10 mins)
•
Key vocabulary:
• single-use plastic, decompose, recycle, landfill
Resources:
• PowerPoint 4.8.2
• Workbook pp. 59–61
• Timer; plastic bottles; computers with internet access or printed information for research
• Stand in front of the class and act out drinking from a plastic bottle. Then throw it in the bin. Ask students: ‘What happens to the plastic bottle no w?’ Take some initial ideas from students.
Display Slide 1. Talk through each of the stages in the flowchart, clarifying vocabulary such as ‘landfill’, ‘recycling’, ‘decompose’ and ‘single-use plastic’. Students could find the definitions of these terms in a dictionary. Stress that not all plastic use is inherently bad, but that single-use products create large amounts of waste that can end up in landfill or in the oceans, either because it can’t be recycled or because the user doesn’t bother to put it into a recycling bin.
Activities
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(25 mins)
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• Explain that when plastic bottles are not recycled, they take an extremely long time to break down, using up lots of space in landfill sites or ending up in the sea where they can cause harm. Tell students that they are now going to do a quiz to see how long diffe rent types of plastic take to decompose. Complete the quiz on Slide 2, allowing 20 seconds for students to make their guess for each item. They can work individually or in teams. Don’t forget to set the timer! Then show the answers on Slide 3. Were they close? Are they surprised?
Display Slide 4. Read through the stages of recycling with students and check their understanding. Also see the slide notes for more about different types of plastic.
Divide the class into groups to do some research about plastic and/or plastic recycling. When choosing groups, ensure that more confident students will be able to support less confident students in their research. If students don’t all have access to the internet for research, provide printed information for them to use in their research. Encourage them to thin k in fairly general terms at this stage (e.g. ‘facts about plastic use’, ‘plastic pollution’, ‘plastic recycling’). Key facts for possible research include: plastic codes; what each type of plastic is used for; how m any tonnes of plastic are recycled or not each year; how much plastic ends up in the oceans; the number of sea animals that die due to plastic waste each year. These ideas can be given to help prompt groups, or students can research their own questions. Ask them to make notes in their notebooks.
Show Slide 5. With the results of their research, ask students to create an electronic or paper infographic to show key facts in a creative way to share with the rest of the school. They could share this with younger classes to educate them on the issue. See slide notes for online templates.
Plenary (10 mins)
• Give students the opportunity to display their research infographics and share facts they have discovered. Were any of the facts shocking or particularly interesting?
Assessment opportunities and next steps
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• Use students’ finished infographics to assess their understanding of issues surrounding plastic, its use, plastic waste and recycling.
Ask students, using Workbook Activity 8.2a or their notebooks, to pledge what they are going to do to reduce the amount of plastic in our environment. For further learning, students can find out more in Workbook Activity 8.2b. They could expand further by researching how plastic is made.