Lesson 5: Pollution
Day 2
Activity 4: Trash
Materials: glue, scissors
Give your child the pages called "Trash." On this page your child will find an empty trashcan. Ask him to draw a variety of trash in the can. Encourage him to go beyond paper products. Then ask him to circle the items that can be recycled.
On the second page, he can look at three categories of waste that can be recycled. Then he will cut out three examples of items from his trashcan or draw three new items that would fit in each category. The remaining items he can glue in the landfill.
On the second page, he can look at three categories of waste that can be recycled. Then he will cut out three examples of items from his trashcan or draw three new items that would fit in each category. The remaining items he can glue in the landfill.
Student Activity Page
Student Activity Page
Activity 5: Recycled
Materials: crayons or colored pencils, glue, note cards, scissors
Discuss that some trash can be reused in creative ways. Give your child the sheet called "Recycled." Ask him to color the pictures, cut them out, and match the original item with the recycled or reused item. There are two empty boxes where he can draw an example of his own that shows how an item can be reused for something else. Once he finds the pairs, he can glue one picture on the front of a note card and then match the other on the back of the note card.
Note: To extend this activity, ask your child to think of other ways items can be recycled or used for different purposes.
Answer Key:
- milk jug/ planter
- newspaper/magazine (this one can go either way)
- empty box/gift
- coat on older child/coat on younger child
- glass soda bottle/vase
Student Activity Page
Activity 6: How Much Trash?
Tell your child that on average every American produces four pounds of trash each day. Let your child answer the questions on the page "How Much Trash?" If some of these problems are too challenging for your child, highlight the problems you think he can solve and then replace the challenging problems with simpler problems about trash. For example, if one family produces 52 pounds of trash in a week and another produces 76, how much trash do the two families produce in all?
Tips for solving the math problems:
Tips for solving the math problems:
- How much trash is produced in your house? (multiply the number of people in your family by 4)
- How much trash is produced in your neighbor's house? (multiply the number of people by 4)
- If your family recycled 3 pounds of trash each day in your house, how much trash is produced in a week? ([Answer from question 1 - 3] X 7)
- If each person in your family produces four pounds of trash each day, how much trash is produced in a week? ([Answer from question 1] X 7)
- How much in a month? ([Answer from question 4] X 4)
If your child does not yet understand multiplication, demonstrate the concept by adding a number to itself multiple times. For example, 4 X 7 can be calculated as an addition problem: 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4
Student Activity Page