PITCH-IN CANADA
Resource Centre

Re-Think Activities
An educational Unit for children up to Grade 4
Written by Valerie Thom, B.Ed. and edited by Allard W. van Veen, APR, Fellow, CPRS

This unit has six chapters, each filled with information, ideas and projects. Words in bold and in italics are featured in the glossary which you can reach by clicking here

LITTER AND OUR ENVIRONMENT: ACTIVITY 7 -  ***Let’s Be E.Q. Inspectors!                             2 – 3

Skills: mapping

Time: one to two class periods, possibly repeated a few weeks later

Learning Objective: students will consider the concepts of a "clean" and "dirty" environment; students will inspect the school grounds for clean and dirty environments; students will consider how littering reflects an attitude towards the environment; students will examine the correlation between the cleanliness of the school grounds with the presence or absence of garbage cans; students will identify and use the PITCH-IN symbol.

NOTE: LITTER: ACTIVITY 6 is a similar activity designed for younger students. The PITCH-IN symbol was discussed in Activities OUR GARBAGE: ACTIVITY 12 and REUSING AND RECYCLING: ACTIVITY 6. APPENDIX 3 provides information on the PITCH-IN symbol.

Materials and Equipment: map of the school grounds; pre-made stickers (such as a happy face, a sad face).

1. Discuss the concepts of a "clean environment" and a "dirty environment" with the class and the effects of each on the health and safety of people and animals, aesthetics, waste of reusable/recyclable resources, etc.

2. Explain to the class that they are going to be "Environmental Quality Inspectors", and will be inspecting the school grounds for clean and dirty areas.

3. Introduce the PITCH-IN symbol to the students if OUR GARBAGE: ACTIVITY 12 or REUSING AND RECYCLING: ACTIVITY 6 was not already done. Discuss why the PITCH-IN symbol is an appropriate symbol to us in this Activity to indicate the presence of garbage cans on the map.

4. Take the class for a walk around the school grounds (preferably right after recess or lunch). On a master map of the school grounds, make notes from the students’ evaluations about the quality of the school ground environment. On the map, mark the location of garbage cans with the PITCH-IN symbol.

5. Back in the classroom, post the map. Discuss the students’ comments and have students affix the appropriate "environment quality" stickers to the areas inspected.

6. Have the students analyze the map, looking for correlations between the presence or absence of garbage cans and the quality of the surrounding environment. Is there less garbage close to the garbage can? Is there more? What might cause this?

7. Discuss the results with the students:

• Do your results indicate that more garbage cans on the school ground might improve its environmental quality?
• Do your results indicate that moving the existing garbage cans might improve the environmental quality?
• Do you think better identification of the garbage cans, such as brighter colours, use of the PITCH-IN symbol, etc., would encourage their use?

8. If students feel some action regarding the garbage cans is needed, help them formulate and carry out a plan.

9. After the action plan has been in place for some times (a few months) repeat the inspection.

10. Discuss the results again:

Has there been an improvement in the environmental quality of your school grounds?

RE…Think

Discuss with the students:

• Why is a clean environment important? (Health, safety, aesthetics, etc.)
• What sort of attitude to the environment does the people who throw their garbage around, without thinking about the health, safety, of others and the appearance of their environment, and sometimes without trying to recycle their recyclable garbage show?
• How can we encourage students at our school to keep the school grounds clean?
• Why is it important to care about the environment now; nobody thought about it very much about 100 years ago?

Carry out the students/ suggestions, which might include E.Q. (Environmental Quality) Awards for those used seen using litter/recycling bins, a clean-up campaign, posters, commercials, displays, etc.

NOTE: PITCH-IN CANADA has a variety of materials available to support environmental awareness and clean-up campaigns. See the RESOURCES section for more information.

You may wish to discuss how the traditional North American native attitude to the environment differed from those of the Europeans. Which culture promoted environmental awareness and a conservation ethic?

Click here to return to the Index for Chapter 6 and more activities

Click here to return to the Index for Re-Think