National Recycling Week - Recycling Labels Mascots

Australian curriculum content descriptions: 

Years 3 & 4 HPE:

• Identify and practice strategies to promote health, safety and wellbeing (ACPPS036)
• Discuss and interpret health information and messages in the media and internet (ACPPS039)

Year 3 Science:

• Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of their actions (ACSHE051)
• Represent and communicate observations, ideas and findings using formal and informal representations (ACSIS060)

Year 4 Science:

• Natural and processed materials have a range of physical properties that can influence their use (ACSSU074)
• Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of their actions (ACSHE062)
• Represent and communicate observations, ideas and findings using formal and informal representations (ACSIS071)

Year 3 & 4 Technologies:

• Explore factors, including sustainability that impact on the design of products, services and environments to meet community needs (ACTDEK010)
• Investigate how forces and the properties of materials affect the behaviour of a product or system (ACTDEK011)

Year 3 & 4 Visual Arts:

• Use materials, techniques and processes to explore visual conventions when making artworks (ACAVAM111)
• Present artworks and describe how they have used visual conventions to represent their ideas (ACAVAM112)

Syllabus outcomes:  PHS2.12, SLS2.13, ST2-4WS, ST2-11LW, ST2-13MW, ST2-11LW, ST2-13MW, ST2-14BE, ST2-15I, ST2-16P, VAS2.1, VAS2.2

General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Understanding

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability

Relevant parts of Year 3&4 achievement standards: 

• Students use formal and informal ways to communicate their observations and findings.
• By the end of Year 4, students apply the observable properties of materials to explain how objects and materials can be used.
• By the end of Year 4, students describe how social, technical and sustainability factors influence the design of solutions to meet present and future needs.
• Students make artworks that communicate ideas

This lesson is part of the wider unit of work: National Recycling Week – Primary

Time required: 60 mins

Level of teacher scaffolding: Low – Teacher to introduce the topic and general ideas, and allow students to explore and research independently

• Activity Sheets (optional)
• Coloured pencils
• Device capable of presenting video to the class
• Digital research device, such as an iPad or computer
• Mascot Images
• Paper (A3)

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• communication
• community engagement
• creativity
• enterprise
• ethical understanding
• global citizenship

Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week started in 1996 to bring a national focus to the environmental benefits of recycling. This highly regarded annual campaign continues to educate and stimulate behaviour change by promoting kerbside, industrial and community recycling initiative. It also gives people the tools to minimise waste and manage material resources responsibly at home, work and school. In partnership with Planet Ark, we have developed lessons from early learning through to year 10 to help educators bring these important topics into the classroom.

National Recycling Week is held in the second week of November each year but you can recycle all year-round with these lessons which were designed to be used at any time. Click here to find out more about National Recycling Week and the Schools Recycle Right Challenge.