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

Skills: story writing

Time: one class period

Learning Objective: students will realize that some of the things we discard into the garbage could be reused.

NOTE: In REUSING AND RECYCLING: ACTIVITY 11 students will examine their attitudes towards owning and using "pre-owned" items.

Materials and Equipment: catalogues, magazines.

*** A few days before you do the activity, ask students to think about what their family throws away as garbage. Ask them to think of some item that they’ve seen thrown away, at their home or elsewhere, that might surprise the class, or that they thought was unusual or interesting.

This activity could be scheduled during a special garbage pick-up week. Ask students to observe the items put out for pick-up in their neighbourhood. (Special pick-ups are often held in spring, during PITCH-IN WEEK in May, and sometimes also in the fall. Contact your local solid waste management authority for more information.)

Activity:

1. Discuss:

• What was the most unusual or surprising item thrown away?
• Why do you think this item was thrown away?
• Did you see anything that you thought could be used again?
• What might have to be done to the item before it can be used again?
• Did you see anyone taking some of the trash for recycling, such as a scrap metal collector?

2. Have students use magazines and catalogues to make a picture collage of what they would expect to see thrown away at their local dump/landfill site (or sent to the incinerator).

3.    Have students imagine that they are one of the items that they saw, then write the story of their life. They can change the ending if they wish OR have students paint a picture showing the story of the item.

RE…Think

Discuss the pictures and/or stories with the students.

Ask students:

• Is there anything in this room that could not be thrown away when we no longer need it, or when it is broken?
• Is there anything at home that could not be thrown away when we no longer need it, or when it is broken?

Ask students to think about all the homes in our neighbourhood, and all the things in them, and all the things in this school, then imagine it all in one garbage dump. Help students to realize that every object around them could one day end up in a garbage dump, landfill, or incinerator.

Discuss:

• What can we do with some of it, when we’ve finished with it?
• What can we do with some of the broken things, rather than sending them to the dump?

Click here to return to the Index for Chapter 4 and more activities

Click here to return to the Index for Re-Think