| Overview |
| Grade Level: 6-8 |
| Background Information:
The average American produces about five pounds of garbage every
day. Most of this waste ends up in landfills. Other waste from the
American home gets recycled through community recycling programs
or through natural cycles (for instance, water used on our lawns).
This activity is designed to help middle school students identify
some of the solid waste that is generated by them and produced by
industry for products they may use. They will then design a solid
waste management plan that applies their knowledge of natural cycles
to minimize the waste and the dangers of landfills.
Note: In order to complete the second part of the activity, students
should have a basic understanding of the concept of cycles (for
instance, the water cycle, rock cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen and
other nutrient cycles or recycling - not all of these are necessary).
These lessons can also be used in conjunction with units on Environmental
Issues/Science, Human Populations or Cycles
|
| Content Standards |
| Related National Standards
This lesson addresses the following National Content Standards
found at: http://books.nap.edu/html/nses
Content Standard D: As a result of their activities in grades
5-8, all students should develop an understanding of:
- Structure of the Earth System (rock cycle,
nutrient cycles, water cycle)
Content Standard F: As a result of their activities in grades
5-8, all students should develop an understanding of:
- Populations, resources and environments
|
| Extension Web Sites
from PBS: |
|
Newtons Apple
- Glass Recycling
This website includes background information on bottle recycling
and several activities that involve calculating the amount of materials
we put into a landfill.
Escape
from Affluenza Teacher's Guide
Have students collect and measure all the garbage they produce in
one day.
The following three sites contain tips and problems that integrate
math and the subject of solid waste:
PBS
Mathline - Real Data
PBS
Mathline - What We Do Adds Up
PBS
Mathline - A Little Recycling Goes a Long Way
|
| Activity 1: What kind of garbage
do you produce? |
| Time Allotted:
30 minutes including discussion
Materials:
Butcher Paper, Poster Paper or Chalkboards for Brainstorm Activity
| Objectives: |
- Students will be able to list the types of household waste
that they produce daily.
- Students will be able to describe some other types of
waste that are produced by industry or agriculture to help
maintain their lifestyles.
- Students will be able to explain the fate of some of their
household waste.
|
 Watch
the AFG Video Segment:
 |
Landfills
- Health Concerns
Members
of some communities located near New Mexico landfills are beginning
to voice concerns over health issues. |
| Note: Watch the video
clip from the beginning of the video and stop after hearing
'out of site and out of mind, no complaints.' |
| Discussion Questions for Video Segment: |
- Break students into small groups (three to five students).
Give them paper or part of the chalkboard and markers or
chalk. Have them brainstorm answers to the following question
for five minutes: What things do you dispose of each day?
Be specific.
- Have a spokesperson for each group explain their ideas.
Compile a class list on the chalkboard or overhead.
- Watch the video clip for more ideas and then add them
to the class list.
|
Watch the AFG Video Segments:
|
Landfills
- Hazardous Waste
Hazardous
waste is not allowed in landfills, but some people worry that
it may be slipping in despite regulations.
|
| Note: Start the video
clip at 'Residents who live near landfills have one other big
concern' and stop it after 'so they can be sent to hazardous
waste facilities' |
|
Brazos
River Clean-Up
For
years the Brazos River in Texas was a dump site; today environmentally-minded
residents are helping to clean it up.
|
| Note: For more ideas,
watch this video clip starting at the beginning and stop after
hearing 'scenes like this could easily be the rule rather than
the exception'. |
| Discussion Questions for Video Segments: |
- Drawing from the class list the students created earlier,
discuss the following questions:
- What do you produce at home/school/play?
- What solid waste is produced by industry or agriculture
in order for you to maintain your lifestyle?
- Do different types of industry produce different types
of garbage?
- What type of waste is most prevalent in your area?
- Where do these things go? How can we reduce the amount
that finds its way to landfills?
- If you are planning to have students design their own
landfill (Activity 3) you may want to have them copy down
the class list of solid waste into their notebooks.
|
|
| Activity 2: Recycling Solid
Waste |
| Time Allotted:
25 minutes
Materials:
None
| Objectives: |
- Students will learn how household waste can be reduced,
reused or recycled.
- Students will be able to demonstrate how certain types
of waste can be reused by returning to natural cycles such
as the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle or in recycling.
|
Watch
the AFG Video Segment:
|
Healthy
Rivers - Part 4
There
are many things that people can do to help improve river water
quality, whether on a ranch or farm, housing development or
private home. |
| Note:
Start the video at 'shows examples of practices he wants farmers
to change' and stop after hearing 'cut the dairy farmers fertilizer
expense' |
Classroom Activity:
Ask students to show how these farmers are recycling the nitrogen.
Give students a diagram showing a cycle (e.g. a circle with arrows).
Ask them to work with a partner or in a group of three to illustrate
the steps that the nitrogen passes through during its cycle.
(Answer: Nitrogen is in grass, horse eats grass, horse eliminates,
manure is stored in pond, pond water is used as fertilizer, nitrogen
fertilizer helps grass grow, horse eats grass)
| Discussion Questions: |
- How did these farmers put solid waste to good use?
- What are some ways that this technique helped the environment?
- Does this technique have any implications for what we
do with our household waste?
|
|
Activity 3:
Designing a Solid Waste Management Plan |
| Time Allotted:
2-3 45-minute class periods plus some time as homework
Materials:
Student Instruction Handouts, Poster Board
| Objectives: |
- Students will design a waste disposal system to integrate
the concept of cycles that will help to reduce the amount
of solid waste that ends up in landfills.
|
Assessment:
A sample of a scoring guide that can be used to assess the poster
and presentation is included in the PDF
version of this unit.
Classroom Activity:
Students will research problems associated with garbage disposal.
They will then apply what they know about garbage to make a plan
that will effectively reduce or reuse solid waste produced in American
society. Have students work with a partner. They should follow the
directions included on the Student Instruction
Handout.
|
