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: conducting interviews

Time: one class period

Learning Objective: students will consider the work of the sanitation worker now and in the future as we learn to reduce and recycle more of our garbage.

NOTE: If your community has a recycling program, you may wish to do REUSING AND RECYCLING: ACTIVITY 7 as well. This Activity could follow OUR GARBAGE: ACTIVITY 2 and OUR GARBAGE: ACTIVITY 4.

Materials and Equipment: none

Activity:

1. If done, review OUR GARBAGE: ACTIVITY 2 with your students. Discuss:

• Where does your garbage go?
• Who picks it up? OR if not already done, take students outside to watch the sanitation workers picking up the neighbourhood garbage.

2. Ask students to imagine an interview between a radio or TV interviewer and a sanitation worker.  Have students prepare the interviews individually, OR prepare a class interview. Questions could include:

• Do you like your work better in the winter or the summer?
• Why?
• Do you wear special clothes, if so, what?
• Could anyone do this job?
• What sort of things do people throw away?

3. Select pairs of students to conduct the interviews.

 RE…Think

As more and more people in communities all across Canada reduce, reuse, and recycle their garbage, the amount of garbage thrown out to go to the landfill or incinerator will be reduced.

Discuss:

• Where might the sanitation worker be needed, if he is no longer needed to handle the garbage going to the dump?

How might the sanitation worker’s job change?

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

Click here to return to the Index for Re-Think