Rationale
I teach students in a lower middle class, Title I school. Many of my students don't have a lot of some resources, but, they usually have a lot of consumable products at their disposal. Most of the time they take them for granted, as most of us do. If their pencil happens to roll onto the floor at the end of the day, it stays there. They don't think about it getting thrown away, regardless if it is still useable or not. I find paper, pencils, broken pencils, markers, bottle caps and the like on the floor around the room after the students leave. While they may not consciously litter outside, they are littering inside. In addition, they don't think about what they throw into the trash, plastic water bottles, often still filled with water, and paper. My students are not conscious about how they dispose of their resources or what happens to them. I doubt they know where the landfill is or how big it has been growing thanks to trash that is thrown out. Most of the students might think a little about recycling since our school had a program to recycle the plastic milk bottles. But all they had to do was put their bottle in a special container before leaving the cafeteria. It hardly required any thought. They don't think about recycling their water bottles or paper. They don't think.
One of the fifth grade science units is Ecosystems. In the unit, the students set up a model ecosystem, (in a two liter plastic soda bottle). Then, they pollute the ecosystems with three different pollutants, salt, acid, and fertilizer. While the students see the pollutant effect of these elements, they don't relate to the pollutants very well because they don't see themselves as the polluters. They don't really see the link between the salt put down on the roads to melt ice and salt in the water supply. Also, they don't personally use fertilizer, so it's hard to relate to that pollution. They can link the acid to pollution from automobile engines, but this is the closest link they have to these substances- and they really don't have any control over that.
I want my students to feel their personal connection with pollution and the part they play in it. I want them to see themselves, their friends, and families, as potential polluters by examining everyday products they do use and what they do with them when they dispose of them. I want them to want to change the ways they act as a direct result of this connection. I hope that they will spearhead a recycling program in the school and take responsibility for it.
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