Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

20 minutes

Part B: Research

35 minutes

Part C: Creating

5 minutes

Reflecting

Make the learning intentions and success criteria visible for students throughout this lesson.

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1

Display the four Australasian Recycling Labels from the activity sheet.

Note: You can use the sheet linked here or you can find the labels on the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) website.

Ask your students to get into pairs and write down their answers to these questions:

What do these three symbols mean?
Suggested answer: They represent different actions that you should take with your packaging. The black/opaque recycling symbol means recyclable, the clear/transparent recycling symbol means conditionally recyclable, and the bin means not recyclable.
Why does some packaging need to be recycled in different ways?
Suggested answer: Because it’s made out of different stuff. There are different methods for recycling different types of materials, and not all materials are recyclable.

Step 2

After students have recorded their answers, they should get into groups of four and share their answers.

Step 3

Without providing the correct answers, ask the following set of questions to be answered in the groups of four. These next questions are open-ended and will serve as the basis for the research project throughout the rest of the lesson.

What are the difficulties of having to recycle different things in different ways?
Is there any type of packaging that you’re not sure how to recycle? Such as pizza boxes, or meat trays?
What are some common concepts you’ve heard about recycling that you’re not sure are true, or that you don’t understand?

Leave the answers to these questions open for Part B.

Part B: Research

Step 1

Watch the following video with the class:

Planet Ark - Australasian Recycling Label Animation (https://youtu.be/zWMeNH0AKRU)

Step 2

In their groups of four, students should use the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) (arl.org.au or arl.org.nz) website and consider the video you just watched to check the answers to the questions from Part A.

The first two questions are easily answered, as they are close-ended. The second group of three questions may require further work to verify; support your students as they hunt for information.

If they cannot find information to confirm their answers, ask them - what can they find in the resources provided above? For example, what is explained about how to recycle different types of packaging?

Step 3

Thinking about the questions they have answered and their research to find the answers, ask the students to write a short summary of their understanding of recycling in their own words. Students could think about what recycling is, the sorts of materials that can be recycled and those that can't be recycled, and why those materials can or can't be recycled.

Part C: Creating

In this part, using their newfound understanding, students create a poster that teaches other younger students (Prep to Grade 2) about the Australasian Recycling Labels, how they work, and why we need to recycle.

Step 1

Students should take their questions and answers from the previous parts of the lesson, and, in their groups of four, plan how to arrange them in poster form, so that they can communicate that information.

The Australasian Recycling Label has recently released a campaign that uses mascots to communicate key messages about recycling. Students could either use these mascots to help organise their posters or they could create their own. You can find a file with the mascots in v arious poses here to print out for students to cut out and use in posters or to provide inspiration for what the mascots could look like.

Note: If you do decide to use the Australasian Recycling Label mascots, be sure to let us know! We’d love to see the results and share them on social media. You can reach out to us via our email address: info@coolaustralia.org.

Step 2

Each group should swap their drafts with another group and provide feedback. Feedback should be positive and constructive, offering suggestions for improvement rather than criticisms about things that teams don’t like.

Depending on timeframes, and the number of sessions allotted to this lesson, you could also ask that students submit their drafts to you for your feedback before they begin to create them.

Step 3

Once feedback is complete, groups should revise their drafts where they so desire, and begin to create their posters.

Make sure that each group has assigned a role to everyone in the team so that no-one is missing out.

Step 4

When students have completed their posters, ask them to give a presentation to the class about what they’ve done, and how it helps communicate key ideas about the ARL.

You might want to foreshadow this task to students while they are planning so they can think strategically about the purpose of their posters and how they might report on it.

During these presentations, discuss more generally with your students what they learned about the Australasian Recycling Label and their thoughts on its importance.

Step 5

Once the final presentations have been completed, display the posters for your younger audiences. This might be in their classroom, or in a communal space like the library or school hall.

Reflection

Have students reflect on the process of putting their posters together. Could they have done anything better? Would they change anything going back? Try and keep their focus on the process, rather than the final product - for instance, if they notice a spelling mistake in their poster, how could they improve their spelling and punctuation checks?

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Students might be challenged to move beyond a standard printed poster. Discuss other effective strategies for informing and engaging the target audience. Students could create a short film, animation, news report - any medium that they are inspired to work in and communicate their understanding of the Australasian Recycling Labels.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

National Recycling Week - Recycling Labels Mascots

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

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