DIY Wild Treasures Challenge 1:
What is waste?
At “What is Waste” students are challenged to sort a “garbage can” full of stuff into the same “bins” (“Recycle,” “Compost,” “Reuse,” and “Garbage”) they think the Director of a Recovery Center would if she were at her home. By the end of this exercise, students will articulate their definition of “waste,” compare their meaning to that of a waste expert, and begin to wonder whether garbage is a necessary part of being human.
Materials
Each of the 4 stations will need:
1. A collection of materials to sort into recyclables, reusables, compostables and garbage (see chart, “What is waste?” materials). If you don’t have access to a good collection of materials to make 4 similar sets, distribute pictures (or words) of these items instead.
“What is waste?” materials: These materials are sorted according to the Director of a New Hampshire Recovery and Transfer Station*
Recyclable | Reuseable | Compost | Garbage |
Glass bottle #2 bottle (milk jug) Newspaper Aluminum soda can Aseptic juice box Automobile battery | Glass bottle Plastic yogurt container Blue jeans Newspaper Worn sweater Cereal box Aluminum soda can Skates Old book Broken tennis racquet Broken lamp Used automobile oil | Bag of leaves Pumpkins Christmas trees Uneaten food Grass clippings Rock Soil Dead animal (insect) Dead plant | Cereal box Tooth paste tube Toilet paper roll insert Milk carton Burnt out light bulb Pencil shavings Aseptic juice box |
2. The Challenge Card, “What is waste?” [[[link to file with card layout? Include table so that teacher can modify based on what the community recycles]]]
What is waste? Before the day is out, you will add
about 4 1/2 pounds of garbage to a landfill not too far from here. Does any
other life on earth produce garbage? Is creating garbage a necessary part of
being human? Just what is your definition of garbage? Your challenge is to sort the stuff at this station. Sort
them into the categories you think the director of a materials recovery
center in You have 5 minutes. Begin now. If your
entire class can match at least 50% of an expert’s sorting, pick an Earthstone. ©2003 Wild Treasures |
Procedure
1. Divide your class into four equal groups and have each group gather around a station.
2. Tell students they have 5 minutes to sort their items into one of the four “bins” as well as to write down their answer.
3. After 5-minutes, give two teams 5+/- minutes to share their answers with each other and make any changes they can agree on.
4. Ask members from the two larger teams to put their answers on the board and to circle any contested items. Tell the class they have 5 minutes to work together to determine their final answer.
5. Before providing your students with the expert’s sorting arrangement, ask each of the smaller teams to write down their definition of waste by explaining what all the stuff they put into the garbage bin have in common?
6. Have a member from each team write their definition on the board. Use their definitions to facilitate a class-wide discussion on their shared definition of waste. Encourage students to elaborate. When the discussion ends write the following expert’s definition on the board, “Garbage is ‘stuff I think doesn’t have any more purpose or value. Garbage can also be stuff we haven’t figured out a way to make valuable.’” Ask students to articulate how their definition compares with the expert’s.
7. Share a few copies of the expert’s sorting arrangement with each team. (or project one copy for all to see). Ask each team to calculate whether or not they matched the expert at least 50% of the time.
8. If they matched more than 1/2 of the expert’s sorting, ask each team to randomly pick and set aside one Earthstone from their Earthstone bag.
Return to The DIY Challenge Trail Move on to DIY Challenge #2