Activity Introduction

Quick summary: In this activity your class will look for litter hot spots around their school, taking photos of these sites to help explain why this litter is there. Students will then suggest solutions to reduce this litter.

Learning goals:

  • Students understand that they can take leadership around a waste issue, litter, in their school.
  • Students learn to propose and actions to address the issue of waste.

Australian Curriculum content descriptions:

Year 5 English:

  • Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1704)
  • Use a range of software including word processing programs with fluency to construct, edit and publish written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements (ACELY1707)

Year 5 Science:

  • Science involves testing predictions by gathering data and using evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena (ACSHE081)
  • Scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE100)
  • Communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS093)

Year 6 English:

  • Create literary texts that adapt or combine aspects of texts students have experienced in innovative ways (ACELT1618)
  • Participate in and contribute to discussions, clarifying and interrogating ideas, developing and supporting arguments, sharing and evaluating information, experiences and opinions (ACELY1709)

Year 6 Science:

  • The growth and survival of living things are affected by the physical conditions of their environment (ACSSU094)
  • Construct and use a range of representations, including tables and graphs, to represent and describe observations, patterns or relationships in data using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS107)
  • Communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS110)

Syllabus Outcomes: ST3-4WS, ST3-6PW, ST3-11LW, EN3-1A, EN3-2A, EN3-7C. 

Topic: Solid Waste

Time required: Several session of 48 mins

Level of teaching scaffolding: Medium – assist students with identifying litter hot spots and developing solutions.

Resources required: Digital or video cameras, or mobile phones with a camera or tablet devices, student worksheet.

Digital technology opportunities: Video and camera recording, digital sharing capabilities.

Homework and extension opportunities: This activity can be extended over several lessons. This activity includes opportunities for extension.

Safety: Follow the Class Safety Code.

Keywords: Litter, waste, school, video, photo.

 

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

Teacher preparation:

Overarching learning goal: In this activity students will look for litter hot spots around their school, taking photos of these sites to help explain why this litter is there. Students will then suggest solutions to reduce this litter.

Teacher content information: We are all familiar with rubbish littering our schools and communities.  We all know that we should put unwanted things in the bin, but sometimes this doesn’t seem to happen. Why is that?  Is it that people don’t care or is that people just drop things accidentally and then are too busy or lazy to pick them up.  Looking at some litter hot spots around the school may help to uncover some of the reasons for littering.

Hot tips: Remind students of the Safety Code for working outside. They are only to photograph or film the litter spots, not touch the litter items.

Student and classroom organisation:

Step 1. Begin this activity by discussing the term 'litter hot spot'. What does it mean? (Suggested

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Student Worksheet

Where are the litter hotspots at your school and what types of litter do you find there? - Using the two tables below, record only what you can see in the 'litter hot spots'. Don’t touch the litter!

 

Table 1. Describe each spot as clearly as you can e.g. near the front door of the gym.

Spot #1

Spot #2

Spot #3

 

Table 2. At each hot spot, record the number of items of litter found on.

Item

Spot #1

Spot #2

Spot #3

Sheets of paper

Small pieces of paper

Paper bags

Cardboard - boxes or pieces

Drink boxes - (fruit juice or milk)

Paper sandwich wrap

Plastic drink bottles

Plastic straws

Plastic bottle lids or caps

Plastic lolly wrappers

Plastic chip packets

Plastic wrap

Plastic bags

Other small items of plastic

Wh

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