Weighing in on Waste

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

• critical thinking
• collaboration
• curiosity

Australian Curriculum (v9.0) content description:

Year 3 English

Students learn to 

• use comprehension strategies when listening and viewing to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (AC9E3LY05).

Year 4 English

Students learn to 

• use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring and questioning to build literal and inferred meaning, to expand topic knowledge and ideas, and evaluate texts (AC9E4LY05).

Relevant parts of Year 3 English achievement standards: Students read, view and comprehend texts, recognising their purpose and audience.

Relevant parts of Year 4 English achievement standards: Students read, view and comprehend texts created to inform, influence and/or engage audiences. 

NSW Syllabus outcomes:

• A student reads and comprehends texts for wide purposes using knowledge of text structures and language, and by monitoring comprehension (EN2-RECOM-01)

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Understanding, Literacy, Numeracy, Personal and Social Capability 

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability 

Level of teacher scaffolding: High - oversee the waste collection and weighing tasks, and lead students in a guided discussion.

UN SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

• Target 12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse

• Class Tally Sheet (Optional)
• Device capable of displaying audiovisual material
• Writing materials

This unit of lessons is designed for students to build their literacy comprehension skills while exploring the real-world issue of waste. Cool.org thanks our philanthropic funder, Eldon and Anne Foote Trust, through the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, for their generous contributions in creating these resources.

How To Teach Sustainability With Hope

Quick summary: This course will help you teach topics that relate to climate change and the cross-curriculum priority of sustainability.