Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Weighing up waste

20 minutes

Find Out: The weight of waste around the world

30 minutes

Take Action: Solutions to waste

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions & success criteria

Students will:

use prediction skills to make judgements about waste use within their school.

Students can:

practice prediction and questioning skills to understand a waste issue
identify solutions to waste problems in their school.

Tune In: Weighing up waste

Step 1

On the whiteboard, draw a table with three columns (classroom, playground and office). Begin by asking students to predict what they would expect to find in a bin in each environment. Use the following prompts to guide your discussion:

I predict that in a classroom bin, we would find…
I predict that in a playground bin, we would find…
I predict that in an office bin, we would find…

As students respond, write their predictions in the relevant column on the whiteboard.

Learning extension: Invite students to think about the waste that could be found in their bins at home and consider how this waste could differ from the waste they would find in a school.

Numeracy extension: Without doing any measurements or calculations, can students suggest the weight of waste your class creates over one day in kilograms? How about over one school week (5 days)?

Step 2

Once students’ predictions have been documented on the whiteboard, ask them to predict what environments in their school are creating the most waste. For example, the art classroom is likely to produce the most waste due to the nature of this subject, which relies on experimentation and different materials.

Prediction is a key literacy comprehension skill that helps students actively engage with a text by using prior knowledge and context clues to anticipate what will happen next. This strengthens critical thinking, inferencing, and understanding while motivating students to read. Reflecting on predictions also deepens comprehension and encourages self-assessment.

Find Out: The weight of waste around the world

Step 1

Lead students on a tour of the three environments (classroom, playground, and office). At each space, stop and ask students to observe the amount of waste collected from a bin in the area.

Invite students to share their thoughts about their initial predictions by using the following prompts:

Is there more or less waste than you predicted?
Why might there be more or less waste in this environment?
How do we interact with this environment?
Are we more or less likely to create waste here?
What type of waste problems are there?

Lead students back to the classroom and add to the table on the whiteboard other items of waste they observed in these environments that they didn’t initially predict.

Step 2

Explain to students that predicting how much waste each environment (classroom, playground, and office) produces prompts them to consider how much waste is created in our town, city, country, and world.

Invite students to guess how much waste is generated by one person each year and to use the following prompts to guide their thinking:

I think that…
I think this because…
I am using my knowledge about… to make this prediction.

Step 2

Watch the following video with your class discussing how much waste is generated per person around the world.

WASTE (per capita) | 3D Animation - (youtube.com/watch?v=5yuNWT1Jx6)

Take Action: Solutions to waste

Step 1

Divide your students into three groups and assign each group a different environment: the classroom, the playground, or the office.

Step 2

Direct groups to the Student Worksheet to respond to a series of reflection questions about the waste in their environment, such as:

What items in this space are often thrown away?
Can these items be reused or recycled?
Are there eco-friendly alternatives that could replace the waste?
Could we repurpose the waste?

Step 3

After students have reflected on the types of waste in their environment, they are to create a list of solutions to the problems they can identify in their environment.

When considering the solutions, encourage groups to consider the following:

How much of the waste could be recycled?
How much could be added to a compost bin/worm farm/fed to the chickens?
How much rubbish would have to go to landfill?

Possible ideas for solutions could include:

creating posters or signs to remind people to recycle or reduce waste
implementing a classroom recycling station
designing a playground litter-reduction campaign
suggest ways to reduce paper waste in the office, such as double-sided printing or digital.

Numeracy extension: Students could use the Class Tally graphic organiser to monitor the progress of their solution over a set period of time.

Weighing in on Waste

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Summary

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