Provide hands-on activities for practice and mastery. Check for understanding of concepts and skills by using relevant standard materials, i.e. worksheets, text problems, workbooks, teacher prepared exercises, etc.
Objective: To reinforce students' understandings of concepts related to waste and how to manage it.
Activity: Garbage Game: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group 10-15 index cards on which you have placed pictures of a variety of municipal solid waste. Ask each group to classify the index cards into the classification categories which they learned about during the instruction given during Quadrant Two, Left Mode--Classifying Municipal Solid Waste.
Prowl For Plastics: Give each student a Prowl For Plastics sheet. Ask them to go home and "prowl" in their pantry for plastics. They should list the products on their sheet on which they found the appropriate plastics code. Share items found in class.
Carousel Walk: On large chart paper, place a picture of an item which has been overpackaged. Below the picture, write these questions: 1) What function does the packaging serve? 2) Is the packaging necessary or unnecessary? 3) Design a new package for this item that uses less packaging. (Make five or six of the above described chart papers, each with a different item, and place the chart papers around the classroom.) Divide the class into small groups. Station each group at one piece of the chart paper. Allow time for each group to respond to the questions. After sufficient time, play "carousel" type music, this is the signal for each group to rotate clockwise to the next piece of chart paper. Continue this procedure until all groups to return to their seats. The teacher may then walk around the room reviewing with the class the ideas which were generated by each group.
3-R (Reduce, Reuse or Recycle) Activity: Arrange the class into small teams. Provide each team with an envelope containing individual statement strips which illustrate the act of reducing, reusing or recycling as well as some blank strips. Explain that they should work as a group to classify the statement strips based on the 3-R philosophy of reduce, reuse, or recycle. Once the students have classified the statements into three categories, advise students they are to generate two new statement strips for each of the three categories. Their ideas are to be written on the blank statement strips from the envelope. In a whole group discussion, have each group read their additional ideas.
