South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Classifying Waste: What Kind is Mine? (Grades 4-6)

MASTER TEACHER

Majorie Smith

ITV SERIES

Haniet's Magic Hats, Lesson 4: Garbage Collector

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to

understand where garbage and trash goes once it leaves the curbside
classify the type s of garbage and trash into the seven categories of waste
determine the proportions of waste created in each category
list the technologies used to collect garbage

MATERIALS

garbage bag of trash
transparencies
"pizza" crust
tomato sauce (Elmer's glue and red food coloring)
old paintbrush
rubber gloves (optional)
magazines, newspapers or flyers
Activity Sheets:: Classifying
Activity Sheet 2: Classifying Pictures of Waste
Activity Sheet 3: Vocabulary

VOCABULARY

Community: a group of people with common interests living in the same general area.

Compactor: a device used for reducing the volume of waste by compressing it into a smaller space.

Environment: a community and all of the interrelated physical factors. Garbage: refers to only the organic or food waste thrown away.

Garbage truck: a truck specifically designed for transferring waste from the pick-up point to a landfill or alternate site.

Grinder: a machine that grinds garbage into smaller pieces, enabling the trucks to transfer more garbage in each load.

Landfill: a site in which waste from households and businesses are deposited.

Municipal solid waste: waste made up of trash and garbage from households, commercial, and institutional sources in a community.
Transfer: to move from one place to another.

Trash: broken, discarded, or wortmess things (e.g., rubbish and other forms of refuse which are not food).

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

1. Ask " What kinds of trash have you created this week?" Allow students to brainstorm and list on the chalkboard examples given by students.

2. Discuss with the class the kinds of trash that have been created. Look at the examples on the chalkboard and ask students to try to group the waste into categories. The categories are: paper, metal, yard waste, plastics, glass, food wastes, and others.

FOCUS FOR VIEWING

To prepare students for the video, explain who Harriet is' and how her magic hats work. Then ask students to observe the types of garbage that people throw away in the videos. Also ask the students to pay attention to where the waste goes after it is picked up from the curbside deposits by the garbage collectors.

VIEWING ACTIVITIES

View Lesson 4: Garbage Collector from Harriet's Magic Hats in its entirety.

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

1. Ask students to trace the path of the garbage from curbside to landfill. Draw a diagram on poster board. Ask students to name the technologies used to collect the garbage. List these on another piece of poster board.

2. Use the transparency to introduce information from the EPA about the waste percentages. (Each American creates about 25 pounds of trash a week). Illustrate with some "from home" examples.

3. Instruct students to go outside (if possible) and pick up trash on the grounds. If this is not possible, provide the trash. Have students do a 'trash sort" by grouping the kinds of trash into the categories.

4. Divide the class into groups and allow them to make a slice of the pizza with one or two of the categories, depending upon the number of students in the class. Provide the "pizza sauce" and the appropriately sized slice to make the garbage pizza. All the students are to add "topping" by gluing the trash into the "tomato sauce."

5. Have students return to their seats and complete Activity Sheet 1 using magazines, newspapers or flyers.

6. Activity Sheet 2 could serve as a homework activity.

EXTENSIONS

Students can draw a diagram showing where waste goes after it leaves the house.

Students can visit a landfill and talk to garbage collectors.

Extend research and discussion to how landfills affect our environment. Students can research the best way to dispose of waste.Students can look at the kinds of waste that are created and offer solutions to reducing the large amounts of waste that are created.

Students can research the cost involved in managing municipal solid waste.

Students can write acrostic poems entitled "Talking Trash." Using each letter in the title, students can write a word or a brief sentence about garbage.

ASSESSMENT

Student assessment can be achieved by evaluating picture placement under the categories on Activity Sheet 1. (It may be necessary to come to some agreement on items that are made up of several kinds of material.)

Activity Sheet 2 requires the student to demonstrate an understanding of items by classifying familiar objects under the seven headings. Accurate classification would demonstrate comprehension of how waste is classified.

Students can be assessed in groups. Each group can be given a bag of trash, rubber gloves and sheets with the categories spread out on a table or on the floor. To encourage cooperation, the group can be required to come to a consensus on where to place each item.

Students can list and draw pictures of all technologies used in transferring garbage from households. A flow chart can be developed. Students can then distinguish between low technology and high technology.

Students could respond to the open ended question: Are garbage collectors important to us? Why or why not?