Teaching Sequence

15 minutes – Part A: Lesson Introduction
10 minutes – Part B: Recycling Audit – Observing Our Recycling Habits
25 minutes – Part C: Generalising Data
10 minutes – Part D: Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: Lesson Introduction

Step 1.

Watch the video 'Landfill facts and statistics - A global problem' as a class.

Landfill facts and statistics - A global problem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18FLfQDInI8).

Invite students to discuss the video, using the following questions as prompts:

Where does our rubbish go?
What is landfill?
What problems does waste cause for our planet?
Is there anything else we can do, other than sending all our used or unwanted items to landfill sites?

Step 2.

Watch the video 'Visy Recycling Education Video' as a class: Visy Recycling Education Video (youtube.com/watch?v=IFuD4V0-2fo&t=2s).

Invite students to discuss the benefit of recycling centres such as the ones Visy operates, using the following questions as prompts:

What do Visy do?
What is the benefit of recycling?
What are the types of items that can be recycled?
Do we all recycle at home?
Do we recycle in our classroom?

Step 3.

Read out the learning intentions and success criteria to students or write them on the board:

Learning intentions:

I will be able to use arrays to find the approximate amount of recycled material that could be recovered by our class each week
I will understand which materials can be put in the recycle bin.

Success criteria:

I can collect one day’s data then use an array to predict a weekly total
I can collect data about the recyclables that are in the class bin
I can use the data found to work out how many recyclables could be going to the landfill
I can name the five main groups of recyclable materials (paper and cardboard, aluminium, steel, plastic and glass).

Explain to the class that to develop these skills, they will be sifting through the class rubbish bin to collect data on how many recyclable products have been thrown into it.

Part B: Recycling Audit – Observing Our Recycling Habits

This part of the lesson should be conducted outside on sealed ground such as concrete or asphalt to ensure litter can be easily collected at the conclusion of the activity. Students should use tongs and/or gloves, to ensure this task remains safe and hygienic.

The following items will need to be taken outside:

Step 1.

Explain to students that this task will involve sorting the rubbish to see how many recyclable materials have been placed into the rubbish bin. Ensure all students have gloves and/or tongs, ready to sort the contents.

Revise the materials that can be recycled through council collection, referring to the NZ Guidelines A4 poster or the Aus Recycling Guidelines poster.

Step 2.

Spread the posters for each recycling category on the ground. Tip the contents of the bin out and provide students with time to sort the contents. They should place each recyclable item into a group near the category poster. Any items that are not able to be recycled through local council collections should be returned to the original bin.

Step 3.

Have the students count the number of recyclable items in each category and calculate the total number of recyclables found, then record this data on to the Bin Audit Record section of the Student Worksheet.

Note: If your class already has established recycling processes, this audit can still be completed as a check to ensure that the class is sorting items effectively. Recycling bins could also be checked to ensure that items are not being placed in there that shouldn’t be. Any item that is in an incorrect bin can be recorded in the tally as a representation of the number of items that would have gone to waste due to incorrect placement in the bins.

Part C: Generalising Data

Step 1.

Explain that the data found today is going to be used to estimate how much of each category of recycling our class is placing in the rubbish bin each week.

Run through the example scenario provided on the Student Worksheet, and model the following:

Select one category from the data (avoid any category with a value the same as any from the class audit)
State how many items from that category were found for one day
Explain that to estimate how many of that item would be found in a week, we need to repeat that amount five times (for five days at school)
Using magnetic counters (or by sticking with blu-tac), model on the board how to create an array to demonstrate the problem. If using the aluminium category, your model should look like this:

Emphasize the connection between repeated addition and multiplication, highlighting for the class that adding the same amount to itself five times is the equivalent of multiplying by 5.

Step 2.

Invite students to complete the Recycling Array section of the Student Worksheet to estimate how much of one category of recycling could be recovered from their own classroom bin. If only a small amount of recyclables have been found in your bin, students can calculate the total number of all recyclables found.

Reflection

As a class, confirm the weekly total for each category. Together, find the total amount of recycling that could be collected in the class each week by adding the totals for each category.

Use these figures to estimate the total amount that could be collected in:

The year level
The school.

Encourage students to reflect on key messages from the lesson, but using the following format:

I used to think…
But now I think…

Be sure to provide them with time to consider their own thoughts, then invite students to share with the class as a prompt for further discussion.

Conclude the discussion by asking the questions:

Does our class recycle well?
Is there anything we should change because of what we have found today?

Take Action

This lesson may be a suitable prompt for change within the broader school environment. In these cases, other teachers, leaders or principals could be invited into the classroom so that the students can share their thoughts and ideas and encourage further change within the school.

Differentiated Learning

Allocate categories to students based on their capabilities, e.g. students who find mathematics challenging should be allocated a category with a small quantity. Students with greater ability can be challenged by calculating totals for categories with larger quantities which will require them to add/multiply larger numbers. When arrays involve quantities between 1 and 5, encourage skip counting to find totals. Some students may be familiar with multiplication tables and can be encouraged to find totals using this knowledge.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

The information and statistics included in this document are approximate and have been simplified for educational/illustrative purposes. They should not be relied upon for any other purpose.

Visy Education - What Do We Recycle?

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Success criteria:

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