Activity Introduction
Quick summary: Students will learn about the concept of closing the loop and investigate the environmental savings their school can make by using recycled paper. They will conduct an investigation regarding paper usage in their school and use rate, conversion and percentages to calculate and comprehend findings.
This lesson has been developed in partnership with Visy. For over 60 years Visy has been striving for sustainability, reducing the amount of waste going to landfill by collecting recyclable materials and recycling them into new paper and packaging products. Click here to find out more about Visy and their innovative work in recovering and transforming recyclable materials into new products to preserve our earth’s precious resources.
Learning intentions:
- Students will understand the concept of closing the loop.
- Students will know how the use of recycled products reduces our impact on the environment.
- Students will be able to use rate, conversion and percentage to solve problems related to paper usage.
21st century skills:
Australian Curriculum Mapping
Content descriptions:
Year 7 Maths
- Find percentages of quantities and express one quantity as a percentage of another, with and without digital technologies (ACMNA158).
- Connect fractions, decimals and percentages and carry out simple conversions (ACMNA157).
- Recognise and solve problems involving simple ratios (ACMNA173).
Year 8 Maths
- Solve problems involving the use of percentages, including percentage increases and decreases, with and without digital technologies (ACMNA187).
- Solve a range of problems involving rates and ratios, with and without digital technologies (ACMNA188).
General capabilities: Numeracy, Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding.
Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.8.
Relevant parts of Year 7 Mathematics achievement standards: Students express one quantity as a fraction or percentage of another, and solve problems involving percentages and all four operations with fractions and decimals.
Relevant parts of Year 8 Mathematics achievement standards: Students solve everyday problems involving rates, ratios and percentages.
Topic: Waste, Sustainability.
Unit of work: Bright Sparks – Secondary Mathematics.
Time required: 75 mins.
Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – teacher will be required to facilitate an investigation as well as classroom discussion.
Resources required:
- Student Worksheets (one per student).
- Device capable of presenting a video and projecting images to the class.
- Recycling logo (to project for the class to view).
Keywords: Recycling, closing the loop, making projections, percentage, conversion, rate.
The information and statistics included in this document are approximate and have been simplified for educational/illustrative purposes. They should not be relied upon for any other purpose.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.