Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

45 minutes	Part B: Where Is The Litter At Your School? Identifying Litter Hotspots
40 minutes	Part C: Analysing School Litter Data
20 minutes	Reflection

Lesson preparation:

Before conducting this audit, you may need to alert teachers and office staff when your students will be collecting data for this activity.
If necessary, use the Waste Safety Code to guide a class discussion about being safe with waste.

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

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

What is waste?
What is litter?

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.

Once complete, invite students to share their thoughts with the class. Consider the following definitions in your discussion:

Waste is any stuff that we no longer want or can use that we throw away into the bin
Litter is any waste left lying about in a public or open place.

Step 2.

Now pose the following question to students:

Do you ever see litter around your school? If so, where do you usually see it?

Allow students to suggest some litter hotspots before explaining that in this lesson they will be undertaking an audit of the litter at their school. This will be done in two parts:

First, they will be looking at litter hotspots around their school
Then they will be looking at what types of waste are being littered around their school.

Step 3.

Differentiation:

War On Waste: Waste Sorting (https://youtu.be/Iuz80yD9S7A)

Part B: Where Is The Litter At Your School? Identifying Litter Hotspots

Step 1.

Introduce students to the Waste Safety Code, and explain that when investigating litter all students will need to wear rubber gloves and should try not to handle any waste.

The first task in this activity is to create a ‘litter key’. Students will use this key to mark the different types of litter they see in their litter hotspots. Discuss with students the types of waste you would expect to find in your schoolyard and add these to the Litter Key Table. You can then work with students to develop a symbol for each type of waste. See, for example, Sample Litter Key.

Step 2.

Display a map of your school to students (either using a paper map, school plan or Google Maps). Take a few minutes to allow students to familiarise themselves with the map and the features of your school.

You can then take a walk with students around the school, looking for litter hotspots. Students will probably know where the hotspots are and will be able to navigate to them quickly.

Before heading outside, remind students of your guidelines for outdoor learning, such as:

Step 3.

With an understanding of where the litter hotspots are, you can now work with students to divide the school into six to eight distinct sections, ensuring that all the outside areas are covered and all litter hotspots are included. Label the sections with a number or letter and mark these on your map/plan. You can then cut out these sections, mark 'North' on each and enlarge them using a photocopier (using the same enlarging ratio for each).

Break the class into as many groups as you have sections on your map, and assign each group with one section, giving them the corresponding enlarged map for their assigned section. Each group will need to mark any litter hotspots in their group's section of the map. Before students head outside:

Discuss the scale of the map, so that students understand what their map shows. This will help them mark the position of each item on their plan with some accuracy.
Make one copy of the class litter key (that you made in Step 1) for each group and hand them out.
Ensure each group has a device or camera to take photos. Alternatively, the teacher could visit each group in their section to take photos.

Step 4.

Groups will now go to their assigned section and collect their data by:

Taking a photo of the area to give an overview of the location and making a note of how this area is used, i.e. is it close to a classroom, the canteen or a playing area?
Taking photos of any 'litter hot spots'
Working collaboratively to identify every item of litter in their section and to record the position of each item on the map, using the key to identify each piece of litter.

Part C: Analysing School Litter Data

Step 1.

Once groups have collected their data they should return to the classroom and combine all their maps to create a complete picture of litter and litter hotspots for the school. Take a few moments to discuss this map with your students, including:

What do you notice about this map and litter at your school?
What is surprising or unexpected?

Keep a record of your map - this could be used in the Social Action lesson.

In addition, each group could examine their section in more detail by completing the following tasks (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Count the number of each type of litter and then write the totals in a table (students can use the one on the Student Worksheet or could create their own).
Add up the total number of litter items in their section.
Use the data to create bar charts or pie charts showing the composition of the litter in each section.

Each group should also work collaboratively to discuss and record the answers to the following questions (Note: Students can discuss their answers together, however, each student should record their own answers in their own words):

What was the total number of items of litter in your section?
What were the three most common items? Why might this be?
Where was the most litter in your section? Why do you think this is?
Could any pieces of the litter in your section be recycled? Represent this as a fraction or percentage.
Could any pieces of the litter in your section be composted? Represent this as a fraction or percentage.
Could any pieces of the litter in your section be placed in the rubbish bin? Represent this as a fraction or percentage.

Step 2.

Once each group has analysed their data, groups can then present their results to the class. Collate information on the board, and work together to calculate the following:

The total number of litter items recorded in the audit.
The top three types of litter at your school.
The top three litter hotspots at your school.
The amount of all litter that could be recycled. Represent as a fraction or percentage.
The amount of all litter that could be composted. Represent as a fraction or percentage.
The amount of all litter that could be placed in a rubbish bin. Represent as a fraction or percentage.

Note: Keep a record of the results - these can be used in the Social Action lesson or to guide students in their Reflection tasks.

Reflection

Step 1.

Invite students to work independently to answer the following question:

Why does litter matter to our environment?

Then share the following clip with students, explaining that it comes from War On Waste. View on iTunes or Clickview.

Episode 2, Australia - 31:52 to 36:06

Once complete, invite students to reflect on this clip using the following question:

What does this clip tell us about some of the impacts of litter on our environment?

Step 2.

If you are planning on completing the follow-up social action lesson, War On Waste – Going To War On Waste – Years 4 to 6, you can use learnings from this lesson to develop a plan for waste at your school.

If you are not planning on completing the social action lesson invite students to work in pairs or small groups to come up with some ideas about how they could:

Reduce the amount of litter generated by their school (e.g. waste-free lunch box days, address the canteen about packaging options)
Take action against littering and litter hotspots (e.g. campaign for new bins at hotspots or introduce more recycling bins or compost bins).

Consider working with students to bring one or more of their ideas to life.

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 - What Waste Do We Create At School? Litter Audit

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