Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Creative hook

30 minutes

Find Out: Data collection

15 minutes

Take Action: Scientific communication poster

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

plan, conduct, and analyse a statistical investigation using real-world data from a mobile phone recycling campaign
create an entry for the Schools Classroom Recycling Challenge by MobileMuster.

Success criteria

Students can:

collect and interpret data using summary statistics and visual representations
present their findings as a scientific poster.

Tune In: Creative hook

Step 1

Provide each student with a copy of the Student Worksheet. Your students’ task is to view the following video and complete the See, Think, Wonder table in the Student Worksheet. This video educates students about the various steps involved in recycling mobile phones.

MobileMuster - What happens when you recycle? - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9WCi0Ij30 (youtube.com/watch?v=Et9WCi0Ij30))

Step 2

Input students' names into the interactive Wheel of Names. Once each student has completed the See, Think, and Wonder table from the Student Worksheet, the teacher spins the wheel three times, which invites students to share their responses with the class.

Step 3

Next, introduce the Schools Classroom Recycling Challenge by MobileMuster and this year's theme by reading through their webpage. Identify the prizes on offer to students. Also, be sure to open and read the judging criteria. Notice that the submission must deliver a message about what materials are inside a phone and what those materials can be recycled into.

Explain that your class will be creating a scientific poster to communicate the results of the mobile phone collection drive and that your entry to this year’s competition will be a photograph of your collection box, along with a written description of how and why it is designed the way it is.

Find Out: Data collection

Step 1

Display the fact on the board to engage students: “Did you know? Australians are storing 26 million old phones at home.”

Discuss what this means for resources and the environment. Prompt students to think about what data they could collect in their own school campaign (for example, the number of phones, chargers, or people who donate).

Next, using a digital display, share the 2025 MobileMuster Annual Report with students to explore the data they collected in the 2025 campaign.

Step 2

Divide students into small groups and invite them to decide what data to collect, such as the number of unused phones, chargers, and the number of people donating. They will use this information to develop an investigation question.

Explain that in any investigation, different team roles help organise the process. Model these roles and then assign them within groups:

Surveyors – ask peers the investigation question.
Recorders – keep tallies and complete the frequency table.
Graph designers – plan how the data will be represented (for example, a bar graph or a pictogram).
Interpreters – suggest what the data means (patterns, surprising results, environmental links).

Students record their group’s plan and assigned roles on the Student Worksheet before collecting and reviewing data.

Step 3

Students move around the classroom to survey their peers. Each student records results in a tally and frequency table on the Student Worksheet and responds to the questions. As a class, decide how to represent this data. For example, a bar graph, column chart or pictogram.

Step 4

Discuss how the class data might be interpreted. For example, 20m of charger cable contains 30g of copper, which could make 12 circuit boards or 2 copper rings.

Invite students to suggest other ways their data could be converted into meaningful comparisons for their audience. Record possible interpretation ideas on the board to guide poster creation in the next activity.

Learning extension: Students identify trends, patterns, and limitations in their data, making inferences while acknowledging bias or uncertainty (For example, ‘Our sample is only one class, so it may not represent the whole school’).

Learning support: Provide a partially completed frequency table to scaffold data recording, and model how to decide if data is categorical, numerical, discrete, or continuous.

Take Action: Scientific communication poster

Step 1

Your students’ task is to communicate their findings clearly and creatively through a scientific poster, which must include:

Method – What was your investigation question, and how did you collect the data?
Process – Step-by-step breakdown of what you did, including tools, sample size, and how data was organised and analysed.
Results – Graphs, summary statistics, totals, and visual representations of the impact.
Outcome – What you learned from the analysis. Were there patterns or surprising results?

Before students begin their task, ask them to volunteer different forms they could use to create their poster, such as Canva or cardboard posters.

Step 2

Students identify their intended audience, such as classmates, parents, and the school community. They discuss and choose interpretation methods, such as slogans, infographics, and strong visuals, that would best engage the audience.

As a class, brainstorm different formats students could use to create their posters, such as Canva, Publisher, poster paper or Piktochart. Please encourage students to use recycled and repurposed materials when creating a physical poster.

Step 3

Students create their posters using their chosen tool or medium. They check that all sections are included and that their interpretation methods (graphs, images, captions, slogans) are engaging for their audience. Encourage them to strike a balance between creativity and clarity, making the science easy to understand.

Step 4

Students prepare their final poster for submission to the Schools Classroom Recycling Challenge by MobileMuster competition webpage. They check formatting, file type, and entry requirements. They ensure that their poster clearly communicates their findings and appeals to the intended audience.

Learning extension: Students could compare their class results with national MobileMuster statistics and add an extra section to their poster showing how their findings fit into the bigger picture of phone recycling in Australia. Encourage students to consider the role scientific communication plays in creating a sustainable future.

Learning support: Provide students with a poster template containing clear section headings (Method, Process, Results, Outcome) and sentence starters to scaffold their writing and organisation.

Reflection: 21 words

Step 1

Students must use the words MobileMuster, mobile phones and recycling to write what they have learnt in today’s lesson in 21 words.

Create a Scientific Communication Poster - Investigate and Communicate Your Impact

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Summary

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Resources Required

Additional Info

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