+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

The Trash We Pass

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Where does our garbage go? What is the difference between a recyclable and non-recyclable item? Pose these important, but often overlooked, questions to your class and invite them to consider the lasting and damaging effects of the...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Zabbaleen, Cairo's Garbage Workers

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Here is a fascinating human geography study of the Zabbaleen. They are a sub-class of people who work as garbage collectors in Cairo, Egypt. I can't say enough good things about this resource in my limited space here. It is fabulous! If...
+
Activity
PBS

Waste Audit

For Students 3rd - 7th
Does everything in the trash can belong there? Conduct a waste audit with your class by collecting a day's worth of garbage, separating it into recyclables, non-recyclables, or food waste, and properly distributing what they find into...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Litter Crusade

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Litter, garbage, and pollution are all addressed in a nice lesson on waste and recycling. Learners discuss what litter is and how it affects the environment. Then, they sing a song about eliminating litter before going out on campus to...
+
Lesson Plan
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Waste and Recycling: Recycling and Energy Recovery

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover. Young environmentalists learn about the overwhelming amount of garbage produced and discover better ways to minimize their impact on Earth by learning the difference between garbage and recyclables. 
+
Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Taking Care of the Earth Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology

For Teachers K Standards
A read-aloud anthology closely examines human impact on the Earth while boosting reading comprehension skills. Through stories, scholars examine the concepts of natural resources, pollution, garbage, and recycling and brainstorm ways to...
+
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Turning the Tide on Trash: A Learning Guide on Marine Debris

For Teachers 1st - 12th
The lessons in this learning guide are designed to increase youngsters' awareness of the impacts of marine debris and to teach them about pollution prevention techniques. This fabulous, 30-page packet is chock full of important...
+
Activity
PBS

What We Do Adds Up

For Teachers 4th - 7th
With so many tons of trash going into landfills each year, your environmentalists can calculate how much the average person is tossing away. This activity has a series of questions not only requiring math, but a conscious thought of how...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Berkshire Museum

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Sorting Through Personal Choices

For Teachers 2nd - 6th Standards
Raise children's awareness about the importance of conservation with this hands-on science lesson. Start by breaking the class into groups and having them collect trash from around the school or local park. Students then use the provided...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Re-Presenting Race in the Digital Age

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Teen-aged scientists analyze a graphic organizer of how trash is removed from New York City and then answer standard questions about a graph and a diagram. Resources are mentioned, but there are no links to these resources, so you will...
+
Activity
PBS

Going Green

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Trash is where it's at! Using bags of garbage collected from the school, learners sort the contents into categories based on type of material and collect data on the results. The data may include weight, volume, and/or percent of the trash.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Six different lessons comprise this unit on marine debris. Science, language arts, social studies, and art projects make this an ideal interdisciplinary unit. The result will be well-informed future citizens who can help make a...
+
Activity
DiscoverE

Build a Watershed

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
What's the best way to learn how watersheds work? Build one! Combining engineering, the water cycle, and ecology concerns, the activity is the perfect fit for an interdisciplinary unit. Teams construct a model watershed with simple...
+
Lesson Plan
United Nations

Compost Monitor Training

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
What should go in the trash, and what can be composted? Guide your young conservationists through the process of composing their trash with a lesson about the different ways we can dispose of garbage. Using a trash bag with clean...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pollution

For Teachers 3rd
Young ecologists investigate some of the many ways that human activities adversely affect the environment. After identifying the main types of pollution (air, water, soil), 3rd graders fill in a Venn Diagram by pasting cut-out pictures...
+
Activity
US Environmental Protection Agency

Non-Point Source Pollution

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Investigate the different types of pollution that storm drain runoff carries into oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams with this class demonstration. Using an aquarium and an assortment of everyday items that contaminants like motor oil,...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Bonneville

Design and Engineer Solutions

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
What's the best way to collect all that trash? A culminating activity has scholars use the knowledge and skills from the unit to design a solution to the plastic trash island problem. They use 3-D pens or a 3-D printer to build models of...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
British Council

Buy. Use. Toss.

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Responsible consumption is never a waste of time. Using the engaging resource, scholars learn about the impact of waste on the planet, sorting trash into necessary and luxury piles. They then analyze their consumption habits, writing an...
+
Lesson Plan
Wilderness Classroom

Pollution

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Educate scholars on pollution—air, water, and land—with a series of lessons that begin with a thorough explanation of each type. Learners then take part in three activities to reinforce the importance of reducing pollution. They...
+
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Plastic in the Sea

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
How much plastic do people use? Class members identify how plastic is involved in their daily lives by looking at food packaging either at a grocery store or at home. Learners view statistics for the amount of plastics found on a beach...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
PJ Library

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd Standards
Teach children that just because something is old, doesn't mean you have to throw it away with a reading of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. Engaging children with an arts and crafts activity in which they patch the holes in...
+
Activity
Teaching Tolerance

Inventing a Better World

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
From play pumps that provide clean water to shoes made from trash, innovators change the world one invention at a time. After researching various inventions, young entrepreneurs develop their own. Extension opportunities include prompts...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Marine Debris

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Now is the time to educate tomorrow's citizens to care for the planet, and here is a lesson to help facilitate the process. Collect some marine debris and bring it into class. Have your class separate it into types and then test each...

Other popular searches