Curated OER
Edward Burtynsky's Ship Breaking
Seventh graders view Edward Burtynsky's artwork that represents ship breaking. They view images of recycling, the water cycle, rusted metal, and ships to determine factors that threaten the existence of a particular habitat of an...
Curated OER
Going in Cycles: The Life of an Aluminum Can
Young scholars investigate the manufacture of aluminum cans and consider the energy and resources saved when the cans are made from recycled material. They explore the concept of closed-loop recycling using charts, worksheets and...
Curated OER
Information, Please!
Students explore their community recycling program and observe how aluminum cans are processed for recycling.
Curated OER
Don't Forget the Three R's
Learners encourage one another in recycling. In this environment and art lesson, students create a new recycling bin that would help people in remembering to recycle.
Curated OER
Waste Management
Students explore the impact on waste on the environment, and the impact of the 3R's (reduce, reuse and recycle) as a means of diminishing the waste created by humans.
Curated OER
Going in Cycles: The Life of an Aluminum Can
Students explore the life cycle of aluminum cans. In this recycling instructional activity, students review the manufacturing process and how to make a closed loop cycle. Students also have the opportunity to present what they've...
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Trash or Treasure
Students explore the importance of recycling. Students are read "Can Kids Save the Earth", they are then guided in a recycling project. Students discuss Earth Day, and make poster to promote Earth Day.
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Lunchroom Trash
Students explore the amount of waste produced by humans. For this ecology lesson, 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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Fashion Forward, Fashion Functional
Learners consider the implications of waste. In this waste streams lesson, students learn what waste streams are and identify their impact on the environment. Learners also recycle waste materials to create functional objects.
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Making Your Own Sampling Tools
Students examine cause-and-effect relationship between human attitudes and behavior in the environment. They also assist citizens in increasing their sensitivity and stewardship for the environment.
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Wastewater
Students discuss what happens to their wastewater. They read about the wastewater treatment process. Students are asked what types of things get flushed down toilets or goes down drains in sinks and showers. They are taught what happens...
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Marine Debris
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...
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Biochemical Cycles: Recycling Carbon and Nitrogen
Learners construct flow diagrams of the carbon and nitrogen cycle processes. They identify sequences in each cycle that are affected by human impact and present their research to the class.
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PAPER RECYCLING
Students examine the availability and use of important resources, people practice conservation. They explore the needs of an expanding human population, societies practice resource management and employ technology.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are You Bigfoot?
Scholars independently explore several websites to calculate their ecological footprint. Using their new found knowledge, they answer six short-answer questions and take part in a grand conversation with their peers about how our...
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Information, Please!
Students examine how aluminum is recycled. In this recycling lesson, students participate in a field trip to a local recycling center to observe the process of recycling aluminum. Students take notes and report their findings.
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100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet
Students examine the possible ways to recycle, reuse, and re-imagine products and objects in order to reduce pollution and waste on our planet. In this 100 things you can do to save the planet lesson, students take three actions to...
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Dirty Decomposers
Students explore the ecosystem by conducting a ziploc bag experiment. In this recycling lesson, students identify decomposer organisms in our environment and how they speed up the recycling process. Students utilize a ziploc plastic bag,...
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Urban Ecosystems 5: In Defense Of Cities
Students explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...
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The Zabbaleen, Cairo's Garbage Workers
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...
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Salt Marsh in a Pan
Students create a model of a salt marsh to discover the impact of pollution and human activities on water-based habitats including bays and the ocean. They recognize the relationship between natural and developed areas. Students impact...
Curated OER
Garbage Pizza
Fourth graders explore the concept of waste management. In this recycling lesson, 4th graders identify materials that must be landfilled as well as items that may be recycled or reused.
Beyond Benign
Evaluating Sustainability and Lifecycle
What makes one product greener than another? Ecology scholars analyze sustainability and lifecycle through a thought-provoking activity. Individuals pick a product, then examine its components to determine its overall impact on the world...
Curated OER
After the Garbage Can: Where Does Our Trash Go?
Students explore how waste disposal has changed over time and what the current issues are. In this disposal lesson students collect data and create graphs.