The Waste Paper Basket

Hold a free-throw shooting challenge in your engineering class! Each team must design a contraption that will fire off a "robot arm" or, more specifically, a catapult, to send a Ping-Pong ball into a basket. Use this as an opportunity to...

Using paper chromatography, water watchers discover that several substances might be dissolved even though they aren't visible. For this case, you will prepare a mixture of three different food colorings for them to experiment with. A...

Science Young scholars build a pooper scooper tool that helps them clean up after a dog without getting their hands dirty or their noses too close. They research the diseases that can be transported through animal waste and work in teams...

Help young conservationists appreciate the important role that trees play in ecosystems around the world with this collection of six engaging activities. From a shared reading and class discussion of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, to in an depth...

That's a ton of trash! Measure the amount of garbage generated in the classroom in order to make estimates about the waste produced by the entire school and all schools in the state. This eye-opening exercise leads into a discussion...

First graders discuss a plan to minimize waste. In this waste management lesson plan, 1st graders read "Why Should I Recycle," by Jen Green and create a classroom recycling plan.

Young scholars explore the amount of waste produced by humans. In 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...

Explore different types of recyclable materials in the second lesson of this three-part series. First, discuss and brainstorm different metal, plastic, glass, and paper products that can be recycled rather than thrown in the trash. Young...

Students work together to make recycled paper. They identify examples of recycled materials and discover what can and cannot be recycled. They explore the history of paper making as well.

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...