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

REUSING AND RECYCLING: ACTIVITY 7          Our Community Recycles!                                     K – 3
(For communities and curbside (household) or other easily accessible recycling programs.)

Skills: drawing

Time: two class periods

Learning Objective: students will be able to describe the recycling program in their community; students will consider the importance of the recycling program to their community.

You may wish to contact your local recycling agency for information on your community’s recycling program, including which materials are and are not accepted for recycling.

NOTE: this Activity can accompany OUR GARBAGE: ACTIVITY 1 and ACTIVITY 2. It is not necessary that the students understand exactly what happens to the items at the recycling centre(s), but it is important that they be able to distinguish between what happens to non-recyclable household garbage (landfilled or incinerated) and recyclable household garbage (turned into something useful again).

Materials and Equipment: clean items that are accepted in your municipality’s recycling program: tine, bottles, newspaper, plastic containers, etc.

Activity:

1. Use the sample(s) to introduce the topic of recyclable garbage to the students.

2. Discuss:

• What is this?
• What was it used for?
• Why was it thrown out?
• What do you think will/should happen to it now?

What happens to things like this at your house, does it go into the garbage can, or does it have a special place (e.g. a "blue box") after they are collected, where do the recyclable items from our houses go?

3. On recycling pick-up day, take students for a short walk to observe the recycling containers waiting for pick-up, and, if possible, the recycling truck at work.

4. Together, count the number of recycling containers observed.

5. Students observe the work done by the recycling personnel, especially noting how the items are separated.

6. In the classroom, discuss:

• Describe what the workers do.
• How is the truck designed to hold the recycled items?
• Where will the truck go when it is full?

7. Have students fold a large piece of paper into four squares. In each square show one of the following steps:

• A recyclable item being used at my home
• The item in the recycling container outside my house on garbage day
• The recycling truck picking up the items/container
• The items being accepted/processed at the recycling centre

RE…Think

As students to imagine and then make a picture showing what their household garbage putout would be like if they didn’t have a recycling service OR have students use scraps from the class "junk" pile to make the picture.

Discuss with the students:

• Why do we need this service?
• How does this service help our community?
• If we didn’t have this service, how would it affect our garbage collection?

How does this service help the environment?

Click here to return to the Index for Chapter 5 and more activities

Click here to return to the Index for Re-Think