Objective
My approach to teaching and learning is that of a constructivist. The constructivist approach allows for the learner to build new meaning from hands-on real world experiences that build upon prior knowledge. This approach will be evident throughout the learning activities found in this unit. I am always looking for ways to facilitate student "discovery" as I believe that all children, not just my gifted students, learn best when they construct meaning by doing. The shift is from the traditional teaching method of "telling" the students what I want them to know to wanting the students to show and tell me the meaning of the various learning activities. The question then becomes, "What do you think?" as opposed to the statement, "This is what I (the teacher) think." This does not mean that my opinion, thoughts, knowledge and objectives are unnecessary it is actually the opposite. I am looking for their ideas first, based on carefully designed activities derived from the learning objective and the state standards.
I hope to provide sufficient, concise background information using everyday analogies combined with factual information which will help the educator and then the student build meaning. The end outcome being action and application in everyday life based on empirical evidence and understanding.
Ultimately, with this unit I want the students to be more aware of what they are throwing away, how their trash is affecting the environment and their health, and to see an overall reduction in the amount of food wrappers. I will assess this by having the students collect data on the amount of food wrappers being thrown away in the fourth grade and to draw conclusions via researching and discovery lessons about the implications for the environment and human health. Next they will design a new recycling labeling system and create a campaign to encourage the use of reusable food containers (hopefully an easy to conclude solution). Finally, they will continue to collect and analyze data on food wrappers to see if there is indeed a reduction due to campaign efforts by asking the questions: Did I make a difference? How can I find out? If not, how could my campaign be more effective? If so, how can I get more people to make the switch to reusable packaging?
The realization that the food package waste in the classroom garbage can is mostly unrecyclable plastic helps to guide my unit. I will begin by summarizing plastics and their composition. Then, plastic's impact on the environment (landfills, ocean, animals), and the impact of the chemicals found in plastic on human health. Finally, I will explain the coding system for recycling plastics, and share some statistics on school food packaging waste. The end result being a concise body of knowledge for the educator to use in conjunction with constructivist learning activities designed for students to reduce their impact on the environment and human health.
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