Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

30 minutes

Part B: The Problems With Plastics In Our Environment

10 minutes

Reflection

If necessary, use the Waste Safety Code to guide a class discussion about being safe with waste.

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Preparation

Collect a range of clean plastic waste, including food containers, water bottles, bags, wrappers, straws and food wrap. Try to collect both hard and soft plastics.

Step 1

Distribute the Student Worksheet and invite students to complete the THINK PAIR SHARE on the following questions:

What is waste?
What do we do with waste?
What are some different types of waste?

Think Pair Share
Think pair share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students work together to solve a problem or answer a question.
Think - students independently think about an issue or question and record their thoughts.
Pair - students work in pairs to discuss their ideas and record new thoughts.
Share - students share their thoughts with the whole group or with other pairs to reach consensus.

Invite students to share their answers with the class. Use the following points to clarify any points of confusion or uncertainty:

What is waste?
Suggested answer: Waste is any items/products that we no longer want or can use that we throw away into the bin.
What do we do with waste?
Suggested answer: Different types of waste should be disposed of in different ways. Some waste items can be recycled, some can be composted, some can be given to the chooks, and some should be placed in the rubbish bin. You could also repair or reuse some types of waste.
What are some different types of waste?
Suggested answer: Food waste, waste from consumer items such as packaging and bags (including wrappers, jars, bottles, tubs, cans and containers), garden waste, broken items, or items we no longer want.

Optional: If you have completed any of the other lessons in this unit, include questions that directly refer to learning from these lessons, such as:

What is food waste and where does it come from?
Suggested answer: Leftover or unused food, as identified in this lesson.
What is fast fashion and how does it contribute to the waste problem?
Suggested answer: Fast fashion is clothes and accessories that are made quickly and sold cheaply, usually in large quantities. They are often made from plastic-based products that contribute to pollution and are designed to be worn only a few times after which they fall out of fashion or fall apart often resulting in them being thrown away.
What is happening with waste and litter at your school?
Suggested answer: Check the results of your waste or litter audit.

Step 2

Once complete, invite students to repeat the THINK PAIR SHARE with the following questions:

What is plastic?
What is plastic waste?

Again, invite students to share their thoughts through class discussion and use the following suggested answers for clarification:

What is plastic?
Suggested answer: 'Plastic is a material which is produced from oil by a chemical process and which is used to make many objects. It is light in weight and does not break easily.' (Source)
What is plastic waste? Include some examples.
Suggested answer: Plastic waste is any broken or unwanted plastic item that is discarded into the bin. Examples include plastic bottles, straws, packaging, bags, toys, and devices and accessories.

Step 3

Now display the plastic waste you collected and invite students to stand around these waste items. Take a few moments to work with students to identify the different types of waste (e.g. where do they come from?). Explain to students that plastic waste is often sorted into two categories: hard plastics and soft plastics. Work with students to identify which waste items are hard plastics and which are soft plastics by introducing students to the scrunch test: if you can scrunch the plastic into a ball it’s soft plastic.

Explain to students that the scrunch test can help us sort our plastic waste. Hard plastics (with recycling logos) can be placed in the recycling bin and collected through kerbside recycling services. Soft plastics should be returned to the supermarket for recycling; most big supermarkets have soft plastics recycling bins. The reason for this separation is that at the moment soft and hard plastics require different recycling processes and facilities.

Check with your local council to find out what hard plastics you can recycle in your area; different councils have different capabilities in terms of what they can and can't recycle.

Part B: The Problems With Plastics In Our Environment

Step 1

Pose the following question:

Why should we recycle plastic waste?

Invite students to suggest answers through class discussion. Through this discussion, lead students to the idea that plastic waste can significantly harm our environment.

Step 2

Break students into pairs and give each pair a copy of the Plastic Pollution Factsheet. Students should read through the facts, then work collaboratively to highlight anything they find interesting or important, before selecting three facts that are most interesting or important to them.

You could then invite each group to share one fact with the class. The aim here is for students to gain a basic understanding of the problems associated with plastic waste, from the amount we produce to the impacts it has on our environment.

Extension opportunity: If students are interested in the facts highlighted in the Plastic Pollution Factsheet, you could use these to guide further inquiry.

Step 3

Explain to students they will now watch two clips from War On Waste. The first clip talks about what happens to waste when it is buried, and the second discusses what can happen when waste ends up in our oceans.

As they watch, invite students to take notes on things they find interesting or important.

Clip 1:

Episode 2, Australia - 22:43 to 25:17

Clip 2:

Episode 2, Australia - 31:52 to 36:03

Once complete, reflect on these two clips using the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet). This could be done through class discussion or by having students work in pairs to discuss and respond to the questions:

What were these two clips about? What happened in these clips?
What did you find interesting or important about these clips?
How do you think plastic waste compares to other types of waste in terms of its ability to decompose? Explain your answers.

Invite students to share their thoughts with the class. Explain to students that different materials have different rates of decomposition. In the next part of the lesson, they will be exploring some of these differences in more detail.

Part C: Breaking Down Waste - Experiment

Step 1

Explain to students that they will now work collaboratively (either as a class or in pairs/small groups) to design and/or conduct an experiment to test the decomposition rates of a range of different household waste materials.

Depending on time or ability, you can select one of the following activities. In Option A students are asked to design their own experiment. In Option B students will follow the instructions to conduct the experiment described.

If you are planning on conducting additional lessons in this unit, consider including those waste materials (e.g. food waste, clothing, or waste items identified in your audits) in your experiments. It would also be interesting to test materials that are described as ‘biodegradable’, such as shopping bags or packaging.

Differentiation:

The following questions can be incorporated into student work and analysis based on year level:

Year 7
- Explain how you have considered safety in your investigation.
- Explain what equipment you chose to improve the fairness and accuracy of your investigation.
- What does your data tell you about how your investigation could be improved?
Year 8
- What variables did you identify in this investigation that could be changed, measured and controlled?
- Explain how you have considered safety in your investigation.
- What modifications to your methods would you make to improve the quality of your data?
Year 9
- How did you ensure the control and accurate measurement of variables in your investigation?
- Explain how you have considered safety in your investigation.
- What relationships can you identify between variables? What inconsistencies in results do these relationships reveal?
- If you were to repeat this experiment, what specific actions would you undertake to improve the quality of your evidence?
Year 10
- How have you considered reliability in your investigation?
- Explain how you have considered safety in your investigation.
- If you were to repeat this experiment, what strategies could you use to enhance the quality of your data?
- Can you suggest alternative explanations for your findings? Can you identify any sources of uncertainty?
- If you were to repeat this experiment, how would you improve your experiment to account for these sources of uncertainty?

Step 2

Once complete, invite students to share or discuss the results of their experiments with the class. Consider the following questions:

What does this experiment tell you about plastic waste?
How useful were these experiments in helping to explain the impact of waste on our environment?

In addition, you could share the following with students:

Reflection

Once complete, invite students to work independently to answer the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How are the ideas presented in this lesson connected to what you already knew?
How has this lesson extended your understanding of this topic, or how has it pushed your thinking in new directions?
What is still challenging for you about this topic? What questions do you now have?

Take It Further

If you are planning on completing the follow-up social action lesson, War On Waste – Taking Action For Waste – Years 7-10, you can use learnings from this lesson to develop a plan for waste at your school.

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?

War On Waste - Breaking Down The Problem With Plastic

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