Landfills: Building Them Better

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...

Nanofibers can be made through electrospinning or force spinning in order to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Pupils study the role of fibers and dye on the environment through a series of five hands-on activities. Then,...

Students investigate recycling at several scales, including local, state, national and global. They become aware of recycling, re-use, reduce efforts and policies. Students read the article Where Does Your Garbage Go. They look up where...

What does your garbage say about you? Young scientists dig through a video about things people cast aside. The narrator shows the fascinating things in George Washington's garbage pile, ancient Roman garbage, and how the landfills we...

Students identify sources of home hazardous waste and create posters to educate the community about how to handle hazardous wastes.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of several garbage patches around the world where garbage accumulates naturally. As part of a GIS unit that combines oceanography, environmental science, and life science, class members investigate...

Inspire environmentally conscious young minds with an exceptional video, which traces the life cycles of three different plastic bottles after they are thrown away and move through the earth with different journeys through a...

Students design and build model landfills using materials similar to those used by engineers for full-scale landfills. Their completed small-size landfills are "rained" on and subjected to other erosion processes. The goal is to create...

Students 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. Lessons all...

One in every seven truckloads of perishable foods delivered to grocery stores gets thrown away. Is there anything that can be done with this waste? One solution is to recycle the old produce and turn it into fertilizer. The video, part...