Science Unit Plan - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Level 1
Topic: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Strand: Material World
Curriculum Level: 1
Achievement Objectives:
The Nature of Science and its
relationship to Technology:
List of resources and references:
Story: So What’s the Problem With Waste? (included in kit)
Samples of materials to decompose and marking pegs.
Feely bags (pillow cases?) and items to put inside.
Bag of waste products, magazines.
Kerbside Recycling Pamphlet (included in kit).
Song: Recycling In My Home (included in kit).
Material World
L1 AO1: explore simple physical properties and use
them to describe and group everyday materials.
L1 AO1: share and compare their
emerging science ideas.
Duration: 4 learning experiences
L1 AO2: clarify and communicate their own ideas on
appropriate choices of materials for familiar activities
based on simple, easily observable properties.
Science Concepts
There are lots of different ways of grouping
We can sort waste according to its
People have different ideas about what can be classified as
waste.
properties.
waste.
We can sort waste by using our senses.
Recycling codes and practices are based on
If we are careful about how we use materials, we can reduce the
the properties of materials.
amount of waste we produce.
Developing Scientific Skills and Attitudes
Focusing and Planning:
Information Gathering:
Processing and
Reporting:
Attitudes:
Use their science ideas and
Make observations and
Interpreting:
Share what they did and
Positive regard for the environment.
personal observations to
simple measurements when
Use their findings to
what they found out in their
Reflection on Science in society.
make predictions about the
examining decomposition in
suggest an answer to
investigations when they take Critical-mindedness
possible decomposition of
different materials in
questions about what items part in ‘show and tell’ in
Flexibility
various materials in session
session one.
would not be good in a
activity four.
one.
landfill during session one.
Diagnostic Assessment:
Te Reo Māori me ōna Tikanga
Class brainstorm the word “waste”
reduce = whakaiti ake
reuse = whakamahi anō
recycle = whakahou
waste = para
Summative Assessment:
Knowledge LO: Suggest how one item can be reduced, reused or recycled.
Task: The students will have a ‘show and tell’ session and they will identify what the
item was used for, what it is made out of, and identify one way it can be reduced,
reused or recycled.
Criteria:
1. Student can identify the object and its purpose.
2. Student can identify the object, its purpose and the material it is made from.
3. Student can identify the object, its purpose, the material it is made from and
they can suggest a way it can be reduced, reused or recycled.
Skill: Focusing and Planning
Task: Students will make predictions about the decomposition of materials
when they are buried.
Criteria:
1. Student can describe the current object.
2. Student can make a future prediction about the object.
3. Student can make an appropriate prediction about the potential
changes in an object.
Learning Outcomes:
The students will …
1. Sort waste based
on physical
properties.
2. Describe the
physical properties of
a material.
3. Identify products
suitable for recycling.
4. Suggest how one
item can be reduced,
reused or recycled.
Learning Sequence … 1
Introduction: Read first half of
‘So What’s the Problem With
Waste?’
2
Introduction: Read
second half of ’So What’s
the Problem With Waste?’
Create a class definition of a
landfill.
Discussion Points: What
are the 3R’s? What do
they mean? What is the
best way to minimise
waste? What can we do
in our classroom to
reduce the amount of
waste we make?
Discussion Points: What do you
think happens when we bury
rubbish? What happens to the
rubbish? What happens to the
land around it?
Activity: Bury It (*note that this
experiment requires time to
complete). Take a digital
photograph of each sample for
comparisons. Mark the position
with a peg or stick. As a class
the students make predictions
about what will happen to each
sample.
Discussion Points: Have the
samples changed? How have
they changed? What do you
think would happen if we left
them longer? How did it
compare with your predictions?
What items would be better in
our earth in a landfill? Why
(decomposition)? What items
might be bad for a landfill? Why?
What would the land be like if we
kept putting everything in a
landfill?
Formative
Assessment
I will be looking for …
Items put out for rubbish
collection end up in a landfill.
Landfills are not the best use of
our land.
Only some waste products
decompose.
Activity: Lessons From
Your Lunch (focus on
methods for reducing
waste).
Teacher to create a poster
from the student’s
responses and implement
methods of reducing
waste in their classroom.
Activity: Feely Bag
Game.
Teacher to record
adjectives used to
describe the objects.
Properties can be things
we can see, feel and
smell.
Reducing waste is the
best waste minimisation
strategy.
3
Introduction: Sing ‘Recycling in
My House’ song.
Teacher to prepare a bag of waste.
Students identify contents of bag.
Discussion Points: Is there
anything here that we could reuse
in our classroom? What makes it
reusable?
Each student will select an item
and suggest another way it can be
reused in the classroom.
Class to negotiate how to sort the
rubbish into groups such as: by
material, by function, by colour,
by shape and using the descriptive
words generated in the previous
session.
Discussion Points: What might be
the best way to sort this rubbish
from recycling? Why?
Sort products into groups based
on physical properties and create
murals of the different groups eg
cardboard and paper, glass,
plastic, food (may like to use
pictures from magazines of these
things as well). Match the
properties and some descriptive
words to each mural.
The properties of some materials
makes them reusable over and
over again.
Recycling codes and practices are
based on the properties of
materials.
4
Introduction: Play ‘I Spy’ game.
Display waste from the previous
session.
Discussion Points: What are some
items that we can recycle?
How can we group them? How do
we choose what can be recycled
together? What might happen if
we put a glass bottle in with the
paper and cardboard?
Each child to select an item of
‘rubbish’ and place in a pile of one
of the following: cardboard/paper,
glass bottles, tin/aluminium,
plastic bottles.
Have the children prepare items
for recycling such as wash and
squash, checking bottles are 1 and
2, no broken glass, paper and
cardboard in a plastic bag (see
‘Kerbside Recycling in Invercargill’
pamphlet for guidelines).
Activity: Show and Tell
(assessment activity). Identify
what it was used for, what it is
made out of, and identify one way
it can be reduced, reused or
recycled.
Class to implement measures for
recycling in their classroom.
Recycling codes and practices are
based on the properties of
materials.
Recycling is only part of the
solution to waste minimisation.
Social Studies Unit Plan - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Level 1
Topic:
Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle
Level:
1
Strand:
Resources and Economic
Activity
Duration:
4 learning experiences
Concepts:
Resources
Sustainability
Cooperation
Consumption
Aim: Social Studies education aims to enable students to participate in a changing society
as informed, confident, and responsible citizens.
This unit meets this aim by: teaching the students about their role in looking after the
environment by participating in reducing waste, reusing resources and recycling products.
Settings:
Perspectives:
Essential Learning About New Zealand:
New Zealand
Current Issues
The physical environment of New Zealand and how people
Global
Future
interact with the landscape.
Changing patterns of resource and land use.
Achievement Objectives:
The students will demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of the:
Learning Intentions:
Children will demonstrate knowledge when
they:
Resources and Economic Activity
L1 AO1: different resources that people use.
Describe what resources are.
Give examples of resources.
Describe different ways people use waste
products as resources.
Describe activities that happen at
particular places.
Supporting Objective:
Place and Environment
L1 AO1: why particular places are important for
people.
Process Achievement Objective:
Social Decision Making
Make decisions about possible social action.
Learning Intentions:
Develop solutions for waste minimisation
in their classroom.
Assessment Activity: Students to create a ‘waste
minimisation code of practice’ for their classroom.
Criteria: Describe different ways people use waste
products as resources.
1. Student can describe waste.
2. Student can describe waste as a resource in general.
3. Student can describe how they can use waste as a
resource in their classroom.
Assessment Activity: Students to create a ‘waste
minimisation code of practice’ for their classroom.
Criteria: Develop solutions for waste minimisation in
their classroom.
1. Student can identify waste.
2. Student can identify how waste can be minimised in
general.
3. Student can suggest a method of waste
minimisation for their classroom.
Resources:
Story: So What’s The Problem With Waste? (included in kit)
Apple and knife
Poem: Working on Recycling (included in kit)
Bag of waste
Te Reo Māori me ōna Tikanga
reduce = whakaiti ake
reuse = whakamahi anō
recycle = whakahou
waste = para
Magazines
resource = rawa
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Sequence …
The students will …
1. Describe what
resources are.
2. Give examples of
resources.
3. Describe different
ways people use waste
products as resources.
4. Describe activities
that happen at
particular places.
5. Develop solutions
for waste minimisation
in their classroom
1
2
3
4
Introduction: Read first half of ‘So
What’s the Problem With Waste?’
Introduction: Read ‘Working On
Recycling’ poem.
Introduction: Share read ‘What
is the Problem With Brucie?’
Discussion Points: What is a
resource? What are some
examples of resources? Where
might resources come from? Who
decides what is a valuable
resource?
Discussion Points: What is a
landfill? What happens at a
landfill? Why might a landfill be
good? Why might a landfill be
bad?
Introduction: Read second half of
‘So What’s The Problem With
Waste?’
Activity: If The Earth Were An
Apple.
Discussion Points: What might this
mean for our resources? What is a
renewable resource? What is a
non-renewable resource? What
might be the best type of resource
to use?
Children could find and cut out
valuable resources from magazines
and paste on a poster.
Formative Assessment
I will be looking for …
Resources can be anything a person
finds valuable or useful.
Renewable resources are the best
type to use.
Products come from nature.
Class to generate questions about
landfills and research what
happens at a landfill.
Activity: Household Waste
Composition
Discussion Points: What might be
another way we can use some of
these categories? What are some
resources we can find in this
waste? Can something of these
items still be valuable? Can we
do anything to reduce the amount
of waste we throw away?
There are alternatives to using
landfills to dispose of waste.
Landfills can be harmful to the
environment and people.
Waste can be reduced, reused
and recycled.
Discussion Points: What are the
3R’s? What does each one mean?
What is the most important R?
Why is it important? What is the
second most important R?
Activity: The 3R’s At School.
Create a definition for each of the
3R’s and display in the class.
Activity: A ‘Minimise Waste’
Display.
Reduce, reuse and recycle are
three different but related
concepts.
The 3R’s can be used by anyone.
Discussion and Investigation
Points: What can we reduce in
our classroom? What can we
reuse in our classroom? What
can we recycle in our classroom?
Students to research the above
questions by talking to family,
friends and council staff.
Students as a group to decide
what measures they can include
in their classroom. Students can
develop a ‘waste minimisation
code of practice’ for the
classroom.
The 3R’s can be used anywhere.
It’s important everyone works
together to find resources from
our waste products.