K20 Learn
Filling Our Land with Landfills: Solid Waste Disposal
New ReviewThough it comprises only 5 percent of the world's population, the US generates 40 percent of the world's waste. Scholars learn about landfills, their safety, and other solid waste methods. They use experiments and research to learn more....
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Waste Management
Students explore the topic of waste management. They define key vocabulary words, take a pre-quiz, complete a questionnaire, evaluate their own waste reduction habits, and write a short summary.
Intel
Composting: Why Bother?
The first STEM lesson in a group of 10 explores composting. After discussing how to make a better tomorrow, classes are challenged to track garbage in their communities, visit a local waste management facility, and conduct a survey about...
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Solid Waste and Recycling
Young scholars demonstrate effects of waste on environment and ways of reducing it, observe how much packaging goes into bag lunches each day, and survey their families to assess awareness levels and household recycling practices....
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The Trash We Pass
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...
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Waste Not, Want Not
Learners consider the types of debris that litters beaches and conduct research on waste management. They then interview professionals in a particular field of waste management and write reports for a booklet about garbage and sewage to...
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Performance Art and The Waste Stream
Students research local waste management services, discuss findings, give opinions about what they have found, offer solutions and ideas, and create performance art, design art works, and fine art works to convey information on waste...
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Dispose of Waste Properly
Students examine how to dispose of waste properly and discover how pollution affects plants and animals that live in streams. In this effects of waste lesson, students explore biodegradable detergents and the concept of dilution as the...
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Landfills: A Solid Waste Management Plan
Young scholars are able to list the types of household waste that they produce daily. They are able to describe some other types of waste that are produced by industry or agriculture to help maintain their lifestyles. Students are able...
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Disposing Garbage
Students explore environmental cleanliness by completing a worksheet in class. In this waste management lesson, students identify the technological advances in society and how they increase waste production our planet is unable to deal...
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Classifying Waste: What Kind is Mine?
Students discover what happens to their trash and garbage once it is collected off of the curb. In groups, they classify garbage and waste into seven different categories and estimate how much waste is created in each one. Using the...
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What Do We Need In Our Environment To Survive?
Students discuss and write about waste management to save the environment. In this environment lesson, students discuss what an alien coming to Earth would notice about the environmental needs of humans for survival. They pretend that...
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Spanish Lessons on Waste
Students investigate waste. In this environmental lesson, students read a worksheet in both Spanish and English and share how they recycle at home. Students are encouraged to use key vocabulary words from the worksheet such as "recycle"...
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Dispose of Waste Properly
Students explore biology by participating in an environmental role-play activity. In this animal waste lesson, students identify the appropriate way to dispose of human and animal waste when staying outdoors. Students conduct an outdoor...
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The Quest for Magic Minutes
Seventh graders explore ways to manage their time. As a class, they brainstorm time-wasters that keep them from their responsibilities. In teams, they design one time-saver for each time-waster. Afterward, they design a commercial based...
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The Urban Explosion
Students investigate the uncontrolled development of the world's major cities. They define key vocabulary terms, view and discuss video excerpts, and complete a project that involves drawing a "perfect city," developing a plan to...
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Lunchroom Trash
Students explore the amount of waste produced by humans. In this ecology lesson plan, students predict which lunch bag and its contents will produce the most waste. Leftover material is examined, amounts are recorded, and a bar graph is...
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Industrial Waste Management / Enforcement
Students discover the role of industrial waste enforcement units in the wastewater treatment process. They demonstrate active listening skills and produce a formal letter of thanks that addresses 3 points of information gained from the...
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The Hazardous Waste Dilemma
Students discuss the characteristics of a hazardous waste site and how they can cause health problems to humans. In groups, they research the various ways to deal with the hazardous materials and read recent articles on the subject. To...
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There Is No Away
Students identify how trash is disposed of. In this environmental lesson, students read and discuss the poem "Sarah Sylvia Stout" by Shel Silverstein and discuss the ways people treated the items in the poem. Students discuss how trash...
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Our Natural Resources
Students investigate natural resources and man-made items. In this earth science lesson plan, students classify items from trash into man-made items or natural resources. Students construct a flow chart to investigate the life cycle of a...
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Environment: How'd That Pollution Get There?
Students examine how global wind and water patterns aid in the spread of worldwide pollution. In groups, they read articles about the domino effect of pollution and create posters displaying its journey. On blank world maps, students...
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What's Up with Waste?
Fifth graders design a brochure that identifies types of solid waste that are often improperly disposed, explains the effects of this disposal and proposes a solution to the problem. The read humorous books, define vocabulary words and...
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3RC (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Compost)
Students examine the effects of packaging decisions and the engineering advancements in packaging materials and waste management. They observe biodegradation in a model landfill.