Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Why should we all know about the 4Rs?

15 minutes

Find Out: 4Rs model response

35 minutes

Take Action: 4Rs communication piece

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions & success criteria

Students will:

synthesise their understanding of the 4Rs.

Students can:

create a communication piece about the 4Rs and how they can be implemented.

Tune In: Why should we all know about the 4Rs?

Step 1

Introduce the idea of the 4Rs to students and invite them to share what they already know about them. For example:

reduce - make something smaller or use less of something
reuse (re+use) - use something again
repair - to fix something
recycle (re+cycle) - taking something that could be thrown away and turning it into something new

Step 2

Share the following image with the class:

Note: Where students have completed lesson 4 of this unit, remind them of what they looked at in this lesson and how it relates to the objects in this image. Where students haven’t completed this lesson, invite them to consider what they think this image is about and explain that they will explore it later in the lesson.

Invite students to work independently to select one of the 4Rs in this image and to complete a See Think Wonder routine about this R and associated images, recording their answers on the Student Worksheet.

Students can then share their ideas with the class and use the following points to clarify student ideas:

	Pictures
Reduce	Take a fabric bag when you go shopping so that you don’t need to use a plastic bag	Take a reusable water bottle instead of buying single-use plastic bottles	You don’t need to wrap potatoes in aluminium foil when baking them - they happily cook in their own skins	Use paper on both sides to avoid using new paper
Reuse	Use empty food cans for storage	Use old clean jars for storing jam or other foods	Use plastic tubs or tin cans for growing plants	Grow seedlings in egg cartons
Repair	Use tools to repair broken furniture and other items	Repair clothes and sew buttons back on	Use sticky tape to repair books	Use glue to repair toys, crockery and other items
Recycle	Recycle wherever possible	Cans are an example of something that can be recycled	Recycled glass can be turned into new roads	Plastic can be recycled into furniture

Step 3

Engage students in a class discussion around the following question:

Why should we all know about the 4Rs?

Through your discussion, lead students to the idea that thinking about the 4Rs can help us make choices about what we use and get rid of, which means we can make less waste. Making less waste is better for the environment and better for us. By making less waste, we are less likely to harm the plants and animals that live in our environment, and we humans will save money and live in a cleaner, healthier environment.

Find Out: 4Rs model response

Step 1

Explain to students that their task is to create a communication piece based on the 4Rs. Guide students through a model response of a communication piece.

Begin by annotating page one of the Communication Piece while students are watching. Some suggested annotations you could use when working through the sample communication piece could include:

underline to identify a key detail
circle key words
add a star next to an important idea
add numbers to mark a sequence of events or ideas
add an exclamation mark for ideas that you find interesting and link to a comment in the margin
add a question mark when you have a question about something written in the text.

Step 2 (optional)

Provide students with a copy of page 1 of the communication piece and invite students to work in groups to practice their annotations on this copy.

Take Action: 4Rs communication piece

Step 1

Now, it’s time for your students to create a communication piece to an audience of their choice about one of the 4Rs and how it can be implemented in groups of four. The format of the communication piece (e.g. poster or presentation) can be differentiated for your students and their preferences.

Each group must work together to create the communication piece. Students could choose to communicate the 4Rs by:

writing a 4Rs brochure for families
making small signs prompting students and teachers to use the 4Rs when disposing of waste
writing a song, story or poem
creating 4Rs sculptures or other crafts
writing a play and performing it at assembly
writing an article for the school newsletter or the school website
giving a short talk at a school assembly
writing an article for the local paper.

Step 2

Direct each group to the Student Worksheet to create a plan for their communication piece. Once you have approved each group’s plan, allow students time to begin preparing and creating their communication piece.

As some format options require a specific audience or event, ensure that students spend this time preparing or creating the main element of their communication piece.

Reflection

Students swap communication pieces and provide feedback using the following sentence stems:

I really liked…
I think this could be improved by…

4Rs Communication Challenge

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

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