Student worksheet

The history of waste

Let's take a historical look at what's left after people have finished using things and places. You will compare the waste of three different cultures from three different periods, tens of thousands of years ago, two thousand years ago and currently. Use this visual explainer and the videos to source your answers.

Questions

Lake Mungo

Watch the two videos about lake Mungo here.

1 a) Describe why the site at Lake Mungo is so valuable?

1 b) Summarise what has been found out about Lake Mungo traditional owners.

1 c) Compare how has Lake Mungo changed over time.

1 d) Recommend what should be done to protect the area.

1 e) Discuss what we might still learn about the area?

1 f) Discuss if their rubbish had an impact on the environment?

The Romans meant business

Go through the second part of the PowerPoint about the archaeology found about the Romans in Rome.

Find out more about digging up Roman history by looking at this video.

2 a) How much older are the Aboriginal peoples finds compared to the Romans?

2 b) Compare the finds of Aboriginal peoples to those of the Romans?

2 c) Summarise how peoples life compared at Lake Mongo with Rome?

2 d) How much impact did the Romans have on their environment?

Are we over the top?

Finish going through the PowerPoint that looks at the world’s waste.

3 a) What do you think future archaeologists will mostly find from our time?

3 b) How much impact on the environment will they see?

3 c) Make up a name they might use for our period.

Press release

Press releases are written by organisations that wants the news media to become involved in their issues or events. A press release will have contact details, the issue or event and why the issue or event is of interest. A press release is usually short and less than a page.

Organise yourselves into groups.

Choose one of these three topics to write for your press release

Preventing an Aboriginal archaeological site form being damaged by people, tractors or grazing cattle.
Stopping souvenir and treasure hunters from removing Roman artefacts from archaeological sites around Europe.
Preventing people from exploring old tips or landfill sites as there is a chance of it containing toxic waste. (Often illegally dumped in the landfill.)

These Planet Ark resources were developed by Cool.org with funding from the Alcoa Foundation.

National Recycling Week - Rubbish Isn't Ancient History

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