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Lesson Plans and Readings by Alpha Order
Agatha's Feather Bed
Content Areas: Reading, Science, Social Studies
This lesson is based on the book, Agatha's Feather Bed, in which Agatha explains that "everything comes from something"--wool from sheep, linen from flax, cotton from cotton bolls. Students explore this concept, as well as learn about community recycling programs and idioms.
Burn Barrel Biology
Otsego County Conservation Association in Cooperstown, NY, hired the Wildlife Learning Company to produce lesson plans and activities for grades 4-6. The lessons may be found at this site.
Business Behind the Scenes Pollution Prevention games
Content Areas: Business, Math, Science
The Clean Scene, Rev it Up and Fine Print are three, real-life simulation games in which students make business decisions. Then they play board games where they reap benefits and suffer consequences of their decisions. The lesson introduces students to small business decision-making, entrepreneurship, pollution prevention, economics and finance.
Crafts--Watching Your Waste at the Holidays and Other Recycled Craft Ideas
Content Areas: Art
The South Central Iowa Solid Waste Agency website includes how-tos for making recycled crafts, including a booklet (in pdf form) with patterns for holiday gift bags, ornaments, cards and other items.
Defining Service--A Reflection Activity
Content Areas: Science, Social Studies
Students explore on their own and with peers the various definitions of service and the value of many types of service. Environmental service projects are the focus, with special attention given to service-learning projects aimed at household hazardous materials.
Facing the Future
Content Areas: Science
The purpose of this unit is to teach important sustainability
concepts and their interconnections, including natural resources, human population growth, and resource consumption. Students will also investigate their local,
environment and design and implement an action plan to reduce their Ecological Footprint.
Food for Thought (from Population Connection)
A simulation where students populate "continents" drawn to scale in yarn on the classroom floor and discuss how people and resources are distributed worldwide.
How Asthmatics Feel When Their Air is Polluted (from Wisconsin Air Defenders)
Content Areas: Health, Social Studies
This 10-minute exercise demonstrates, using straws, how difficult it is to breathe as an asthmatic when the air is polluted.
Is Climate Change Good For Us?
Content Areas: Drama, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Students are introduced to the science of climate change and the idea that it brings uncertainties
about how regions will be affected. Students discuss advantages and
disadvantages climate change may have. For background information and more lessons on climate change, go to Climate Change North.
Is Recycling Enough?
Content Areas: Math, Science
Students review definitions of recycling and reuse, then learn about waste reduction. They then collect data and create graphs to visually see the changes in waste generation and recovery rates from 1960 to 2000.
Island Survival
Content Areas: Health, Math, Science
This activity works well as an introduction to waste reduction. Through participation in the simulation, students make lifestyle choices while considering the effects of these choices on the amount of waste generated. Click here for a copy of the Island Survival rubric.
It's a Closed System--Click here to learn about one school's investigation of shoes.
Click on "Air to Earth," then click on "Lessons," then click on "It's a closed system."
Content Areas: Economics, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies
By focusing on shoes, this lesson helps students visualize the amount of trash landfilled . It also introduces the concept of closed and open systems, and helps students understand that the earth is a closed system: Practically nothing comes in, with the exception of energy in the form of heat and light from the sun, and nothing leaves except heat and reflected light.
Click here to learn about the interdisciplinary approach that a Highland Elementary 5th grade teacher used with this lesson.
Just Look at Our Shoes Story--coming soon
Content Areas: Geography, Social Studies
Using Reader's Theatre, students learn the manufacturing story of a pair of shoes.
Know Your Resources--Click here for student comment
Content Areas: Economics, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies
Students learn about the limited supply of natural resources in the world and, by role-playing, begin to understand some of the equity issues related to the use of those resources.
Matching Match
Content Areas: Art, Social Studies
This K-1st grade lesson can be found on page 25 in the Environmental Protection Agency's Quest for Less curriculum. The objective is to teach students that products come from natural resources.
Material World--Click here for teacher comment
Content Areas: Economics, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies
Students learn about the lives of "statistically average" families from around the globe.
Click here for a handout that could be used in conjunction with this lesson, or as a stand-alone lesson.
Material World: How Does the US Compare?--Click here for teacher comment
Content Areas: Economics, Math, Social Studies
Through the process of making double bar and circle graphs, the students develop an understanding of how the United States compares to other countries with respect to years of school, income, and other factors.
A Matter of Timing from Population Connection
Each individual's choices about the timing of childbearing have an impact on population trends. This lesson illustrates the difference in a family's population when childbearing occurs at age 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40.
Oral History
Content Areas: Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
By interviewing people at least 45 years older than themselves, students discover history of Americans' lifestyles and consumption patterns.
Packaging: What a Waste--Click here for teacher comment; For more information on packaging, check out Daniel Imhoff's book, Paper or Plastic.
Click here for 2-8th grade lesson plan.
Click here for 8-12th grade lesson plan.
Content Areas: Economics, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies
Students are introduced to the functions of packaging, and its environmental impacts. They then compare the cost per ounce of a cereal and make a correlation between cost per ounce and amount of packaging.
Pack a Waste Free Lunch
Content Areas: Math, Science
This links you to an Environmental Protection Agency page of information about waste-free lunches, including how to order a free poster on waste-free lunches, a letter to send to parents, and tips for a waste-free lunch. Click here for information about an Iowa county conservation board's smart lunch program.
Population Circle (from Population Connection)
Content Areas: Math, Science, Social Studies
A simulation of the history of world population growth, students count aloud to 100 to fast-forward through 500 years of human history. With each number they count, the clock jumps five years ahead. When they reach 100, they arrive at the present. The lesson takes about 15 minutes.
PowerPoint Presentations
Solid Waste Laws in Iowa
Progress and Challenges
The Reasons for Increases in Waste Generation
Household Hazardous Materials
Global Impacts
Quest for Less: Activities and Resources for Teaching K-8
Published by the Environmental Protection Agency: Washington, DC. June 2005.
Fifty-three lessons are available and address natural resources; products; waste; source reduction; recycling; composting; and landfills and combustion.
The Quiltmaker's Gift: Discovering Happiness--Click here for teacher comment
Content Areas: Reading, Math, Social Studies
The lesson revolves around the story of a quilt maker and a rich king. The quilt maker inspires the king to give up all of his possessions and, during the process, the king discovers joy in giving. Students are encouraged to explore these ideas for themselves.
The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Hierarchy's Been Turned On Its Head
Content Areas: Science, Social Studies, Language Arts
Students explore various waste management strategies and learn that reduction is the most preferred method.
Something for Everyone from Population Connection
A simulation where students compete for natural resources in a commons, then discuss the social dilemmas that arise. The lesson, which uses poker chips, takes about 20 minutes.
Story of Stuff
This 20-minute on-line video takes viewers (middle school to adult) through the extraction through sale, use and disposal of products. As its website homepage says, "The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between... environmental and social issues." Discussion questions, group activities, and other information is also available at the site.
Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things--Click here to learn about one school's investigation of shoes.
Content Areas: Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
On page 7 of Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things Curriculum and Resources Guide is a lesson plan, "Stuff Presentation," which suggests student groups be assigned chapters of the Stuff book to review. The students ultimately give a 5-minute presentation about the product featured in their chapter.
72 hours
Content Areas: Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies
In the process of collecting their personal "trash" for a consecutive 72-hour period, students develop an understanding for the need for waste reduction.
Teen Population Awareness Campaign Kit
This 32-page kit from Population Connection is comprised of readings targeted for intermediate and secondary level students, as well as topics for research papers. Action steps and information about how to write letters to newspapers and to legislators is included.
Trash Activity
Content Areas: Math, Science, Social Studies
Dumping trash onto a tarp and exploring the contents may sound messy, but the lesson can be a powerful one. This gives students an opportunity (with latex gloves on) to sort trash into categories, explore the benefits and limits of recycling, and talk about the life cycle of garbage.
Waste in the Cafeteria--Click here to learn about one school's investigation of milk waste
Content Areas: Economics, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies
By conducting investigations, students will determine specific amounts of waste generated by students and/or school policies regarding the use of the cafeteria.
Where are our Landfills and Recycling Centers? (from Wisconsin Air Defenders)
Content Areas: Social Studies
Students find their house or street on a map and determine how far it is from a landfill, transfer station, recycling center or other regulated disposal site.
Where You Are--Where the Points of Entry Are
Content Areas: Social Studies
This lesson is used as a follow-up to Story of Stuff video (see above). Points of entry are places in a system where action can be taken to change the way the system works. This lesson asks students to identify these points of intervention.
Wisconsin Air Defenders
The Wisconsin DNR and the Wisconsin Environmental Health Association created this educational website, which includes curriculum materials for ages 10 and up.
Who Polluted the Potomac? from Population Connection (Grades 4-8)
Content Areas: English Language Arts, Geography, Science, Social Studies
Through an interactive story, students learn how our rivers have been affected by our growing population. This includes the impact of toxic materials on the environment.
Who Polluted the River? from Population Connection (Grades 1-2)
Content Areas: English Language Arts, Geography, Science, Social Studies
As the lesson's website says, Grades 1 and 2 "students participate in an interactive story and learn how, as human
populations have increased and land uses have changed, many of our rivers have
become polluted. This example demonstrates that just as we each contribute to
the problem, we can also each be part of the solution."
World Population Riddle--coming soon
World Population Video
This seven minute film depicts the history of human population growth and distribution from 1 AD through the present, then projects future growth to the year 2030.
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| Home | Education | Books/videos | Workshops | Iowa resources | E-mail archive | Links | Supporters | Contact us | Site map |
| Website mission: Provide formal and nonformal educators with resources, lessons plans,
and a forum for information exchange to facilitate education about waste in K-12 classrooms. Webmaster: Susan Salterberg,
Center for Energy and Environmental Education,
University of Northern Iowa,
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0293; salterberg@uni.edu Last Updated: January 5, 2005; Copyright 2005 University of Northern Iowa. All Rights Reserved. http://www.uni.edu/ceee/wastereduction |