Energy, Climate, Environment

Lesson 2

This lesson comes from Brain Pop Jr. website www.brainpopjr.com. They have a very good section that teaches about reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Trash for a Day

Objective:

Students will see how much trash that they generate in one day.

Materials Needed:

2 plastic shopping bags per student or 1 large zip top bag per student, rubber gloves, a scale

Procedure:

Have each student keep all their trash for a day. Whenever they want to throw something out, they should place it in a bag. Have them continue with their day, but still carry their garbage around. This is a great way to show students how much waste they produce in a day. You can add a math connection by weighing each bag at the end of the day and comparing weights. You may want them to use clear zip-top bags so students can see the garbage and discuss what could have been reused, recycled, or reduced.

Extensions

To extend this activity even further, students can bring their bags home and continue to collect all of the trash that they throw away to truly represent one days worth of trash. This is where they would use 2 plastic shopping bags doubled up. Discussions would have to be had in regards as what to do about food scraps. The bags should be brought in the next day and analyze the contents similar to the earlier exercise. Use the rubber gloves when analyzing the contents.

Have the students do the activity again but challenge them to cut their waste in half.

Lesson 3

This lesson comes from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The lesson was written by Carole Bell and Martha Schwartz.

Build a Mini-Landfill

Objective: Students will understand how little decomposition occurs in landfills.

Materials: Two identical samples of food scraps, newspaper, cardboard, glass, cloth, aluminum foil, plastics, copper wire, etc.; several small plastic bags; a small aquarium or clear plastic box; clear plastic bags to line the tank or box; soil (not potting soil); masking tape; index cards or small cardboard squares; water; magnifying glass; "Build a Mini-Landfill" worksheet (See Appendix B)

Time: 1 hour the first day, 10 to 15 minutes each day thereafter for 3 weeks

Before the Lesson

What kind of decomposition happens to food in landfills? How do other types of material decompose in landfills?

Procedure

1. Explain to the students the purpose of a landfill and how they are constructed.
2. Have the students, individually or in small groups, construct their own mini-landfill. Line a small aquarium or clear plastic box with a plastic bag and fill it half full of earth.
3. Have each student prepare two identical groups of trash. Place the trash from the first group in one of the small plastic bags and seal it, simulating what they do with their household waste. Do not place the second batch of trash in a bag. Bury the two groups of trash in adjacent rows, marking the location of each item with a cardboard label.
4. On the worksheet, each student or group should note the items placed in the landfill, along with the date. Have them add water to moisten the soil and place the mini-landfill in a sunny spot. The landfills should be watered regularly, keeping the soil moist but not wet, to simulate rain.
5. After 7 to 10 days, have the students carefully remove some of the waste items from each of the rows of trash and examine them. (A magnifying glass may be helpful at this point.) Students should complete the questions for Week One on the "Mini-Landfill" worksheet.
6. Wait another 7 to 10 days and repeat the procedure for the remaining trash in each row. Have the students complete the questions for Week Two on the worksheet.
7. Use the students' observations to discuss the results, comparing the condition of waste in the plastic bag with that which was buried directly in the soil. Address questions such as: Which items in the landfill decomposed the most? Were the decomposed items natural or manmade? Did the type of decomposition in the bag differ from the type that occurred in the soil? What characteristics are shared by the items that decomposed the quickest? Some items showed no signs of decomposition: Will they remain unchanged for a long time? Why?

Extensions

1. Have students replace the items removed in step 6 and cover the box or aquarium. Let it sit for at least 2 months to allow for leachate formation. (Leachate will collect in the bottom of the liner plastic bag.) Have students empty the contents of the landfill to determine which items decomposed and which did not. Also have them collect a sample of the leachate and test its acidity. (Note, the mini-landfill does not contain the kind of toxic materials that exist in real landfills. These toxics would have an effect on the acidity of the leachate, were they present.)
2. Have the students research why leachate needs to be controlled at landfills, addressing what kinds of materials are commonly found in leachate and whether or not they are harmful.
3. Items such as disposal diapers and plastic trash bags are being advertised as biodegradable. Discuss with the class the meaning of biodegradable and whether these products are indeed biodegradable and why.