The Litter Villain Grade Level: K-2 Lesson Overview Objectives: Students will be able to Define waste Recognize that humans produce waste and that it tends to pile up Demonstrate how waste can be separated for recycling Preparation/Materials: Activity 1: o Disposable gloves for each student o Garbage bags, kitchen sized, for each student o Classroom waste basket o Garbage bag with preselected, clean trash enough to fill a large plastic tub or bin (Make sure any examples of trash and recyclables you bring to the class are clean and free of sharp edges so students can touch them.) Activity 2: o 4 recycling bins or boxes labeled Plastics, Paper, Aluminum, and Compost o Paste or tape for attaching signs to bins o Materials that can be recycled in your area, such as paper, plastic, and aluminum Procedure: Activity 1 (15 minutes): The Litter Villain Strikes Activity 2 (15 minutes): Defeating the Litter Villain Home Activity: Solve the Puzzle! Source: https://learninglab.usgbc.org/module/854/798 Green and Healthy Kids - Outdoors Topic 8: Waste Rising levels of gases in the Earth s atmosphere have the potential to cause changes in our climate. Some of these emission increases can be traced directly to solid waste. The manufacture, distribution, and use of products, as well as management of the resulting waste, all result in emissions of greenhouse gases that affect the Earth s climate. Waste prevention and recycling are real ways to help address climate change. Knowledge Outcome: Know that trash goes to landfills that pollute the outdoors and our communities Behavior Outcome: Sort their recycling from their trash every time they throw something away
Activity 1: The Litter Villain Strikes 1. Set-Up: When students are not in the classroom, such as before class or during recess, spread the preselected trash all around the room so they find their classroom heavily littered with trash when they enter the room. Make sure any examples of recyclables you bring to the class are clean and free of sharp edges so students can touch them. 2. Give students time to look around. Encourage them to use their senses to explore the room. After giving them some time to explore, ask them: What have you observed so far? (Sample answers: I see things that weren t there before; I see ugly things; I smell something different; I smell something nasty; I touch things around the room that aren t usually here.) 3. Ask students: What do you think and feel about what you see in the classroom? Help them to express their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ideas. (Sample answers: I feel sad; I am mad; I think this is silly! I am surprised; etc.) 4. Explain that someone has put trash which is also called waste, litter, or rubbish all over the room! Ask students: What exactly is trash? (stuff we don t want anymore, so we throw it away) 5. Tell students that you suspect a bad guy named Litter Villain made the mess. He likes to litter and hates to recycle. Ask: Do you know what litter is? (It is trash that has been left lying in an open or public space.) What about recycle do you know what that means? (to take something and return it to its raw materials so it can be used again) Why would Litter Villain like to litter and hate to recycle? (Because he s not nice!) Would you like to stop Litter Villain? (Most students will say YES!) Explain that in order to stop him, they must collect the trash and separate (sort) it into the correct bins. 6. Give each student a pair of disposable gloves, and help them put the gloves on. 7. Tell students to find a partner, and give each pair a trash bag. 8. Direct students to work with their partner to collect trash from around the room. When they are finished, instruct them to bring their bags to the center of the room. 9. Ask: Is your bag heavy? (Accept all reasonable answers.) Subjectively measure the bags as heavy, heavier, less heavy. Then put all the bags together and ask: Is this heavy? (Yes!)
10. Have students carefully empty their bags into a large container located in the middle of the classroom. The container should be full. Then ask: Is that a lot of trash? (Yes!) Where do you think all this trash came from? (people at the school) Explain that as we humans use things and then throw away what we don t need, all that trash builds up. Think about how much trash you throw away each day. Then add the amount your brothers and sisters throw away, and your parents. Then consider all the trash your classmates and their families throw away. What about all the trash your teachers and the staff at the school throw away? When you look at it that way, trash piles up fast, right? (Yes!) 11. Invite students to form a circle around the container. Let them see inside, and ask them to share examples of trash they throw away on a daily basis at school. To help them understand the types of things that are thrown away, ask: Do you see some things in this container that you have thrown away in the past? (Yes.) Then ask: When do you throw something away? (when I m finished with it) Where do you put your trash? (in the trash can) Why do you throw it away? (because I don t need it) Introduce students to the concept of managing waste by explaining that waste must go somewhere. Explain that our cities must take care of the waste we throw away. Activity 2: Defeating the Litter Villain 1. Remind your students that the bad guy named Litter Villain that might have made this mess likes to litter and hates to recycle. Explain that some of this trash can be recycled and some of it cannot. Tell students that in this activity, they are going to sort all the recyclable materials into the recycling bins at their work areas, and everything else will go in the regular wastebasket. 2. Divide the class into groups of 4 5 students, and assign each group to a work area. Guide students to their work areas, pointing out the bins labeled with a type of waste: Plastics, Paper, Aluminum, and Compost. 3. Select a recyclable plastic item from the large container, and hold it up for students to see. Ask: What category does this item belong to: plastic, paper, aluminum, or compost? (plastic) Tell students: Let s look at the physical properties of this item. What color is it? How would you describe its shape? its size? Do you think it weighs a lot or a little? Does it have a particular smell? Is it recyclable? (Yes.)
Which bin should we put it in? (Example: the Plastics bin) Then select an item from each of the other groups (paper, aluminum, and compost), and ask the same questions. You may want to hold up a few more items to ensure that students understand the four categories. Also hold up an example of something that is not recyclable, like a plastic wrapper, and tell students that those items can go in the classroom wastebasket. Point out where the wastebasket is located. 4. Ask: Does anyone remember how we can get rid of Litter Villain? (We can sort all the litter he leaves behind.) Invite one group at a time to the large container at the center of the room. Ask or remind them what the sign on the recycling bin at their station says. Then have each group member select an appropriate item to put in the group s bin and then return to their station to put the items in the bin. Have the next group come up so that each member can select an item to go in the recycling bin at this group s station. Rotate through the groups multiple times until all the trash has been sorted into the bins. You might want to take a turn in the rotation, each time picking a non-recyclable item, identifying it as such, and placing it in the classroom wastebasket. 5. Gather all the students into a circle to talk about the activity. Ask: Did you stop Litter Villain? (Yes.) How? (by sorting all the recyclable trash into recycling bins) Explain that Litter Villain isn t real you littered the trash around the classroom to help students understand how litter can make a nice place not feel so nice. (Whew!)
Home Activity: Solve the Puzzle! R M S L R T R L J P J S M Z A K E C Y T W E N L R A D G L Z P L C K M J T Q G I Z P U E N E F N Y I X T P X T F M E I R T A B W C B I F K B I D V R D S J L F M L L X B N A M N Y E A D A Y N G E P U V M W D A T W Y V R I U K M S S A L G S L C Y X I G H M B Z T L C O G D I F P R G P I Z A P R P C G H T H S Z Z C N I B C M Z O T Z S O S J Y U L D G O C C W Q Q A O C A C Z T L C T G G Z C R L Z E M R S Q B V B Q H V J H P Z Z M F T J I B Y B A C T D ALUMINUM COMPOST GLASS LANDFILL LITTER PAPER PLASTIC RECYCLE TRASH WASTE