Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes - Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge
60+ minutes - Part B: Bottled Madness
5 minutes - Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Preparation:

Print the Single-use Plastics Images and cut out each image. The final page of the images includes information about what each waste item is, including its composition and whether or not it is designed as a single-use plastic.

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by distributing a copy of the Student Worksheet to each student and inviting students to work in pairs to create a definition for the term 'single-use plastics'.

This could be done by each student sharing what they already know about single-use plastics, recording this information in the space provided on the Student Worksheet, and then creating a definition from this information.

Once complete, clarify student understanding using the following definition: Single-use plastics are plastics that are used only once before being thrown away.

Step 2.

Students will now work as a class to consider a range of waste items and decide whether they are single-use plastics or something else.

Ask your students to form a discussion circle. In the middle of the circle place the cut-out Single-use Plastics Images (see instructions under Preparation). Invite students to look at each image and to suggest what they know about each item, including:

What is this? What do we use it for?
What is this made from?
Is this designed as a single-use plastic? How can you tell?
Do you think this can be recycled?

Use the information on the final page of the images to clarify student understanding. The aim here is for students to understand that we create a range of different types of waste in our daily lives, including many types of single-use plastics.

Part B: Bottled Madness

Step 1.

Explain to students that recently there has been an increase in awareness around single-use plastics and their impact on our environment. Pose the following question to the class and invite students to suggest answers:

Why are single-use plastics a problem when we can recycle them?

You could record student answers on the board.

Step 2.

Explain to students that they will now watch a clip about one type of single-use plastic – water bottles – and why they are a problem.

Share the following clip from War On Waste with students (iTunes or Clickview):

Episode 1, The Battle Continues - 21:45 to 30:03

Once complete, invite students to work independently for a minute or two to reflect on the clip and to record their responses. Students can use the following questions to guide their reflection (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What did you see in this clip?
What was most surprising or interesting for you?
What does this clip tell us about what happens to some single-use plastics?

Students could then share their reflections with the class. For the final question, you could revisit the following sections from the clip to review what was presented in the clip:

24:05 to 24:35 - Craig talks about polystyrene and how it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. This is an example of microplastics.
25:00 to 26:00 - Here we see the piles of plastic bottles and polystyrene on the side of the Yarra. We see an image of a bird and imagine how the bird is impacted, and Craig talks about how all this plastic will get washed into the sea.
28:15 to 28:42 - Here we see Craig and Heidi discussing the collected waste, talking about how it’s all single-use including bottles, toys, balloons and other things. All this stuff is just used once and then thrown away.

Step 3.

Students will now explore some of the themes raised in this clip. Students will either explore microplastics or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. You could do this by:

Option A: Breaking the class into pairs and assigning each pair as either ‘microplastics’ or ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’. Pairs will conduct research into their assigned topic using the questions provided on the Student Worksheet. They can then team up with another pair researching the other topic to share and compare what they have found. Each student needs to share some information, with pairs deciding who will communicate what research.
Option B: Go around the class giving each student a number one or two. Students assigned with number one will research 'microplastics' and students assigned with number two will research the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'. They can use the questions provided on the Student Worksheet to guide research around their assigned topic. Once their research is complete, students could pair up with a classmate assigned with a number different to theirs to share and compare.

Students can use the following factsheets to assist them with answering questions: Microplastics Factsheet and Great Pacific Garbage Patch Factsheet.

Extension: Students requiring extension could find a greater number of facts (see Student Worksheet) and also conduct their own research online or watch one of the clips below. You could then summarise this activity by inviting those students who researched microplastics to share three facts about microplastics with the class, and those who researched the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to share three facts about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

What Are Microplastics And How Are They Harming Our Oceans? Plastic Pollution - Behind the News (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG4AYagBz9Q)
Ocean Rubbish - Behind the News (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH75JG1EMYI)

Year 6 Extension: Students could also conduct this Microplastics Science Activity (Note: this requires some preparation, please see instructions).

Step 4.

Now invite students to think back to the clip from War On Waste that you watched together earlier. Invite students to think about what types of bottles were described in the clip. Suggest to students that there were soft drink bottles, energy drink bottles and bottled water. While not healthy options when thirsty, soft drinks and energy drinks aren’t available from the tap or bubbler. But water is; you can get it for free and drink as much as you like. So why do people buy it, especially when it contributes to such a terrible waste problem?

Explain to students that they are going to watch another clip from War On Waste. This time, Craig has invented a bottled water brand called ‘Robinet’ (pronounced robinay). Robinet is the french word for ‘tap’:

Episode 1, The Battle Continues - 12:40 to 16:39

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion around the following questions:

What happened in this clip?
What did you find interesting or important about this clip?
What were some of the reasons people gave for buying bottled water?
Suggested answer: The taste, and that they believe that it is healthier for you.

Step 5.

To consolidate learning from this lesson, students can now create their own campaign for tap water. Students should be encouraged to come up with their own ideas; however, the following ideas could also be used:

Hold a blindfold water taste test at your school ... using only tap water
Create a radio ad for tap water
Create a slogan for tap water
Record a TV news piece about tap water

The campaigns should include information about why tap water is better for our environment (e.g. when single-use plastic water bottles are littered they can end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where they can break down into microplastics that harm marine animals).

Students could work in groups or as a class. Allow students time to plan their ideas and create rough drafts or rehearse their ideas.

If students have worked in groups they could test their ideas with the class before sharing with a wider audience. If students have worked as a class, you could test your idea with another class before sharing with another audience.

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to respond to the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What was most interesting for you in this lesson?
What did you learn that was new to you?
What was the most challenging thing for you in this lesson? How did you overcome this hardship?

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 - The Impacts Of Single-Use Plastics

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